The storm above no longer obeyed nature. The clouds twisted like molten steel being poured through the heavens, lightning lancing sideways in jagged arcs of crimson and gold.
Kiel—no, the thing that had once been Kiel—stood at the center, hybrid flames bleeding into the ground. Every heartbeat sent a ripple through the earth, making the air taste of ash and iron.
The Alpha, half-drained but still deadly, circled just outside striking range. It wanted the core. It could smell it—the impossible fusion of human, Titan, and shadow. But it also knew the risk.
For once, predator and prey hesitated.
---
Nyra broke the standoff. She lunged low, dragging her dagger through the fractured ground to throw up shards of rock. The Titan's head snapped toward her, claws sweeping wide—
She ducked under, came up behind him, and slashed for the tendons at the back of his knee. The blade bit in—black ichor sprayed, sizzling where it landed.
The roar that followed was not human. It shook the bones in her ears.
---
From above, Aeloria dove again, this time trailing not light, but compressed beams of heat so intense the air warped around them. She drove both into the Titan's shoulders, pinning him for just a heartbeat—enough for Seris to snap off a spell.
"Collapse!"
A sphere of violet energy detonated against Kiel's chest, imploding instead of exploding. Armor buckled inward, crushing ribs that weren't entirely flesh anymore.
---
The Titan stumbled.
The Alpha pounced.
Its jaws clamped around his torso, shadow-teeth piercing deep. The Titan screamed—a sound part fury, part pain. But instead of falling, he twisted, planting one claw under the Alpha's jaw and ripping upward.
Bone and shadow split in a single, hideous motion. The Alpha reeled back, shrieking, its blood smoking on the ground.
---
"Fall back!" Seris yelled, but Nyra ignored him.
"Kiel! I'm still here! You're not gone!" she shouted, darting between the Titan's legs and stabbing upward. Her blade found the gap between two armor plates, punching deep.
For a moment, he froze. The claw meant to swat her aside trembled mid-swing. His fractured eyes flickered, gold fighting against the abyss.
"…Nyra…"
---
She smiled, even through the sweat and blood. "That's it. Hold on."
But the Alpha wasn't going to wait. It lunged again, this time slamming its full weight into both of them. The force sent Nyra skidding across the dirt, her dagger ripping free.
The Titan staggered—but instead of falling, he caught the Alpha mid-charge, locked both arms around its neck, and lifted.
The ground cratered when he slammed it down.
Once.
Twice.
A third time, hard enough to split the earth open. Crimson light erupted from the fissure, lancing into the sky like a beacon.
---
The battlefield began to fall apart.
Chunks of rock lifted into the air, caught in the pull of the storm. Lightning struck in sheets, igniting the air. The smell of burning ozone made every breath raw.
Aeloria yelled over the chaos. "Seris! This is your only shot!"
He didn't hesitate. The mage began carving runes into the air, each one burning like white fire. "If this works, it'll strip the hybrid core out entirely. If it doesn't—"
"We're all dead anyway!" she snapped.
---
Nyra scrambled to her feet, running toward them. "Don't you dare kill him!"
But the Titan had already seen. He dropped the Alpha's twitching body and turned—faster than anything that size should move.
One claw swept for Seris, but Aeloria intercepted, blades clashing against blackened armor. Sparks rained as they locked in a deadly push, her wings straining to hold the strike back.
---
Seris finished the last rune.
The sky split.
A column of pure, searing white light slammed down on the Titan.
He roared—Kiel's voice and the shadow's voice merging into one, the sound bending the air. The armor cracked, the flames guttered.
But as the light intensified, something inside him… fought back.
The column began to turn black from the inside out.
---
Nyra screamed his name.
The Alpha rose again, eyes locked on the dying light, ready to take the core in the instant it broke free.
And the sky itself seemed to tear apart.