The battle raged like a storm over the swamp's trembling soil. Smoke curled from scorched earth, the stench of burnt moss and sulfur choking the air. Broken trees leaned or fell outright, their trunks split by claw strikes and elemental blasts. The ground itself quaked beneath the weight of the ancient crocodile's every step, turning what little solid land remained into fragmented, unstable ridges. Water sloshed violently against the island edges, stirred by shockwaves and the creature's relentless tail strikes. In every direction, chaos reigned, spells clashing, weapons ringing, and screams echoing between bursts of flame and thunder.
The ancient crocodile unleashed another terrifying roar, its twin tails sweeping in a devastating arc. Water, mud, and debris surged outward. The party scattered, but not fast enough.
WHAM!
Gigih flew through the air like a broken doll, crashing into a tree with a crack. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious, dead again.
"Gigih down!" shouted Sinryo, narrowly ducking under the crocodile's back leg as it stomped, caving in the ground.
Kyle, still behind cover, aimed his rifle and shouted, "We've got to buy time!"
BANG! His mana bullet struck the crocodile's jaw, barely leaving a mark.
Fuhiken's shield strained under each blow. "Jessica, Adiw, attack from opposite flanks! Now!"
Jessica blurred forward, her form vanishing and reappearing like a flicker of wind, Quick Step I engaged. She became a streak of steel and purpose, her katana flashing in a clean arc along the crocodile's thick right leg. Sparks burst from the impact, scales cracking but not breaking.
"Tch... even that didn't cut deep enough," she muttered, landing and immediately rolling to avoid a tail flick.
At the same time, Adiw charged in from behind, shouting, "Let's see you ignore this!" He jumped and brought his flaming greatsword down with full force, Earthbreaker I, onto the beast's rear left limb.
The ground quaked with the impact. Mud exploded upward. The crocodile buckled slightly but held its stance.
"Jessica, it's like hitting a mountain!" Adiw called out, frustration in his voice.
She flipped her katana and tightened her grip. "Then we chip away, piece by piece."
The crocodile roared, spinning its upper body with unnatural speed, one tail crashing toward both of them.
The ground cracked beneath the beast, but it roared, not in pain, but rage. Its tail whipped again.
BOOM!
This time, both Adiw and Jessica were caught mid-motion, no time to dodge, no room to react. The ancient crocodile's tail struck with crushing force, a blur of power and weight that tore through the air like a wrecking gale. Adiw was lifted off his feet, his heavy armor offering no anchor, his sword slipping from his grip as he spun through the air before slamming into the muddy ground with a bone-jarring crash. Jessica fared no better, flung like a broken doll, her limbs limp mid-flight before she skidded across the cracked earth, motionless. Their weapons lay scattered. For a long moment, neither of them moved. The swamp swallowed their silence.
"Kyle, Yetsan down!" Gabyola yelled, knocking a wind-arrow into her bow. "Cover fire!"
Yetsan tried to stand, armor dented, helmet cracked. Then a massive tail sweep knocked him into the swamp edge. He didn't rise.
Sakura rushed from cover, healing staff glowing. "Revive I!"
Another light circle bloomed. Gigih stirred, gasping again. He looked exhausted. "I… can't keep doing this…"
"Try!" Fahleena shouted, flipping away from another fire breath. "We need you!"
The crocodile's belly shimmered again, then boom, it fired another burst of scales.
Sinryo was clipped. He spun in midair and hit the swampy ground. Blood trickled from his shoulder.
"SINRYO!" Fahleena yelled, leaping in to pull him to safety.
"I'm okay… just scratched." He gritted his teeth and handed her a potion. "For Gigih. He's fading."
The battle was chaos. The party's formation had collapsed.
Fuhiken bled from a dozen shallow wounds, but stood strong at the center. Orchid stayed close, sword heavy in her hands, swinging slower now.
"I… can't block it much longer…" Fuhiken panted. "Hold… the line…"
Fahleena became the libero, darting across the battlefield with unbound energy, slipping through danger like a phantom breeze. Scales whistled past her, but none found their mark. Her keyblade spun through the air in repeated arcs, Keyblade Boomerang I, striking the enemy, returning to her hand like a loyal servant.
As a fresh volley of shimmering scales tore toward her, she jumped onto a broken tree trunk and struck a dramatic pose mid-air, eyes gleaming with manic confidence.
"Behold, foolish beast! You face the destiny-bound tempest of fate itself!" she shouted, pointing her keyblade toward the sky. "O sacred weapon of stars and judgment, return, cut through chaos, and carve my legend!"
She hurled her keyblade again with a flourish, spinning mid-leap, landing perfectly as the weapon arced back and struck true.
Orchid, dazed in the background, muttered, "She's doing it again…"
But Fahleena, caught in the heat of her chuunibyou glory, was unstoppable. With a gleam in her eyes and a theatrical spin, she didn't pause, not even to catch her breath. Instead, she dashed forward in a blur of pink twintails and righteous fury.
"Braveblade I!" she cried, voice echoing like a battle hymn from another realm. Mana surged beneath her feet as she accelerated, her body a streak of light, her keyblade aimed like a lance of divine justice.
She struck the ancient crocodile's flank with a resounding crack, the impact echoing across the battlefield. The force of the blow staggered the monster for a fraction of a second, just long enough for dust to lift and time to hold its breath.
But then came a sharper sound, crrrrk. Her keyblade, the Keyblade of Destiny, splintered down its core. A jagged crack ran along the blade's spine, mana flickering unstable across its length.
Fahleena skidded to a halt, her breath ragged and uneven. Her chest rose and fell with desperate gasps as adrenaline drained, replaced by sharp fatigue. Her eyes locked onto the jagged crack running the length of the Keyblade of Destiny, her trusted weapon now fractured, flickering with unstable mana. Panic flashed across her face, but she quickly masked it with a forced glare of determination. She raised her hand sharply, a clear signal to the others: she couldn't stay in the frontline. The weight of reality pressed down, her reckless charge had ended, and the party needed her to live, not fall. With a reluctant step back, she melted into the shadows of the battered battlefield, ready to support from afar.
Yuuna, hidden behind a shattered stump, watched everything. Her mind raced. "It's too powerful… we're only surviving. Not winning."
Her hand trembled slightly, fingers curling around her wand as doubt and urgency battled within her. The weight of the moment pressed heavily on her mind, one wrong move could shatter their last chance. Slowly, she turned toward Sakura and Gigih, eyes sharp and calculating despite the exhaustion in her bones. Their faces reflected the same fierce resolve she felt, the unspoken understanding that only together could they wield the power needed. "This has to work," she thought, steadying her breath. "No more mistakes."
"I have an idea," she said calmly, "but I need both of you."
Sakura was panting. "I've got mana to spare. What do you need?"
Gigih looked like he might collapse again. "If it's another revive, "
"No," Yuuna said. "We're casting together. A spell I've been developing. I'll channel. Sakura supplies mana. Gigih, you're the caster."
Gigih blinked. "Triple-channeling magic? That's, "
"Doable," Yuuna interrupted. "We don't have a choice."
The three formed a triangle behind the main battlefield. Yuuna knelt, wand glowing white. "Mana Sync: Initiate."
Sakura pressed her staff into the ground. "Mana Transfer: Ready."
Gigih opened his scorched spellbook. "Name the spell."
Yuuna took a breath. "Alphaflare."
The air shifted, subtle at first, like the hush before a lightning strike. Then came a deep, pulsing hum that vibrated through the earth, resonating in bone and breath alike. Mana thickened, pressing down on the battlefield like a rising tide. Above the three mages, threads of raw energy spiraled upward, weaving together into a radiant core. Light began to swirl, condensing into a searing white orb that floated above them, growing larger, denser, impossibly bright. Heat radiated from it in waves, warping the air around it. The orb pulsed like a heartbeat, its surface flickering with unstable power, each flare brighter than the last. It was no ordinary magic, it was ancient, unrefined, devastating. A sun being born in the swamp.
The ancient crocodile paused. Its yellow eyes narrowed, sensing danger.
Fuhiken saw the spell forming. "All frontliners, pull back!"
Adiw stumbled heavily, each step a struggle as pain radiated through his battered legs. With grim determination, he hoisted Jessica's limp form over his shoulder, her katana clattering softly against his armor. Blood stained his torn clothes, but he pushed forward, limping toward the shelter of the tree line where the others could regroup safely. Nearby, Sinryo and Kyle crawled low, grimacing as they dragged themselves behind jagged rocks, using every ounce of strength to avoid the crocodile's deadly strikes. The swamp's shadows embraced them like a fragile shield, offering a brief respite amid the chaos.
Then the orb burst into full bloom.
"NOW, GIGIH!" Yuuna shouted.
"ALPHAFLARE!"
The spell erupted, a beam of non-elemental white fire, shaped like a falling sun, roared across the battlefield and engulfed the crocodile in blinding light.
A wave of heat blasted outward. Mist evaporated. Trees caught fire. The very swamp recoiled.
The crocodile shrieked.
It burned.
Its scale armor cracked, warped, then shattered from internal pressure. The blast didn't stop, it scoured the ancient beast from tail to teeth.
When the light faded, silence returned.
Only the distant bubbling of swamp water remained.
The crocodile's body, once unstoppable, now lay in smoldering ruin. Its flesh hissed with residual mana fire, but it had not burned to ash, its massive, durable leather remained intact.
Yuuna's knees buckled as the spell's overwhelming strain surged through her. Her wand slipped from trembling fingers, clattering softly onto the soaked ground. Eyes fluttering shut, she sagged backward, muscles losing their fight against exhaustion. Her breath came slow and shallow, chest rising and falling in fragile waves as darkness claimed her senses. Unconscious, she lay still, her mind retreating into silence after pouring every ounce of energy into the desperate, final spell.
Sakura staggered and fell to her knees. "I'm… not doing that again…"
Gigih dropped his spellbook. "I can't feel my fingers…"
Fuhiken exhaled, then collapsed to one knee. "We did it…"
One by one, the others emerged. Injured, weary, but alive.
Sakura's expression was tense but focused, her large mana pool steady and strong despite the battle's toll. She moved swiftly among the fallen, hands glowing with gentle light as she healing each sibling with practiced ease. "Heal… Great Heal …" Her voice was calm, a soothing anchor amid the storm.
Fahleena sat beside Yuuna and gently brushed her hair back. "Sleep tight, genius…"
Gabyola wiped her eyes. "That was too close."
They looked at the body of the ancient crocodile. A monster of an age long forgotten. Now, dead, its scales charred, its power undone. Victory. Barely.
The battle had raged for nearly an hour, though it felt like an eternity stretched thin by pain and desperation. Sakura emerged as the party's MVP, unceasing in her efforts to heal the battered frontliners and revive the fallen backliners, especially Gigih, who teetered on the edge more than once. Now, as the chaos faded, the party finally caught their breath, weary bodies leaning against the scorched earth.
Above them, the cloudy sky churned with restless shadows, a silent witness to their hard-fought survival.