The night was long but it didn't hold the twin suns to rise again. The twin suns cracked the horizon like a forge hammer striking molten steel. The desert was awake again. And so were its monsters.
Ethan and Velina marched without speaking. The silence between them wasn't awkward. It was focus. Determination. After the duel with Cael, after the battles behind them, they knew the next threat wouldn't be just another beast.
It would be a reckoning.
They crested a dune.
The wind shifted.
The sand hissed.
Then came the sound, a low, rattling screech, like stone on bone. The ground beneath their feet vibrated softly. Ethan slowed, eyes narrowing.
Velina gripped her sword tighter. "You feel that?"
He nodded. "Too quiet."
Then—
[WARNING: WRATH SURGE DETECTED]
[TARTARUS BEASTS – CLASS II]
[NAME: CRIMSON-FANGED SERPENT – ×2]
Two monstrous shadows slithered across the sand ahead. When they rose, they cast towers of shade.
They were serpents, not ordinary ones, but Crimson Fanged serpent, just like cobra but in magnified form, Tartarus Beasts, class II. Twice the height of a grown man, their bodies were armored red carapace, gleaming due to the golden rays of the twin suns reflecting on them, their hoods flared like shields. Their fangs dripped green venom thick enough to melt bone, and their golden eyes burned with cruel intelligence.
Velina's breath hitched. "Saints…of Vellis"
The aura they emitted hit like a wall. Both aspirants froze for a second, caught in the pressure. Paralyzed.
Ethan gritted his teeth, no able to lift a single finger. He heard the system flicker softly.
[PASSIVE ASSIST: WRATH COMPRESSION IN EFFECT]
[MIND UNLOCKED. FOCUS RESTORED.]
Ethan could move again, his grip on his blade tightened.
Velina shook off the daze and drew hers. "What are those things?"
Ethan didn't answer. The beasts roared. A sound so deep it rattled the sky.
SCREEEEEEAAAAAATCHHHH!!! The serpents screatched. So loud, ear piercing. Freezing both aspirants in place once again. The aura was full of blood lust and fury. The system once again flickered
[PASSIVE ASSIST: WRATH COMPRESSION IN EFFECT]
[MIND UNLOCKED. FOCUS RESTORED]
Once again, Ethan could move but same couldn't be said for Velina. She was paralyzed with fear. Ethan turned to her "Velina, focus...this is not the time to fear.. Wake up and fight"
She shook off her daze and took her stance. Incoming, we're the serpents, then they struck. The sand exploded as one serpent lunged toward Velina, too fast for something its size. She dove sideways, slicing upward mid-roll. Her blade scraped the monster's armor, leaving only a faint line.
"Carapace... too hard!" she shouted.
Ethan clashed with the second serpent, his blade parrying its fangs just in time. The impact sent him sliding back, boots carving grooves in the dune.
"They're faster than they look!" he growled.
They regrouped, back-to-back.
Velina was panting. "Split them?"
Ethan nodded. "Keep them away from each other. Alone they're manageable."
They moved like fluid. Velina sprinted right, drawing one beast with her. Ethan charged left eyes locked on the other.
The duel began. Ethan rolled beneath the first strike, slashing upward, steel ringing against red armor. He twisted, pivoted, kicked sand in the monster's face, buying himself half a second. The serpent snapped its tail forward like a whip.
CRACK.
Ethan's blade blocked it, but the force still knocked him off his feet. He landed hard, coughed, and scrambled up. Across the sand, Velina spun, ducked, and parried with desperate finesse. Her ribs still hurt, Ethan could see it in her stagger, the small wince she tried to hide.
"Velina!" he called out.
"I'm fine!" she snapped.
But the Serpent wasn't waiting. It coiled and lashed again, Velina barely rolled in time, but dodged the lash. The fight dragged on. And the beasts did not tire. Their armor turned aside slash after slash. Their strikes were punishing, coordinated. Worse still, they worked in tandem, never straying too far from each other. Ethan slammed his blade down on one's hood, sparks flew, but no blood.
It whipped its tail into his side, sending him crashing into a dune. He groaned, dragging himself upright, sand coating his face. The system stayed silent now, watching. So did Ethan. He wiped his mouth, spat blood, then rose again.
"No skills," he reminded himself. "Not yet... though I've used it earlier...i will use them only when necessary"
Velina landed a shallow cut across the jaw of her beast, drawing a hiss. But she was already limping. Her ribs weren't letting her breathe properly. Sweat soaked her armor. Still, she stood. Still, she fought. They regrouped again, breathing heavy, blood smeared across arms and armor.
"They're smarter than they look," Velina said, grimacing.
"They're waiting for mistakes."
"We're bleeding energy."
Ethan nodded. "We have to take them down."
"Yeah...as fast as possible," she agreed.
They struck again, one at each monster. Velina used footwork and agility, her smaller frame keeping her just outside fang-range. Her strikes weren't deep, but she made them count, each one meant to test. To read. To wait for an opening.
Ethan's style was different. He met power with power. Every clash was loud, full of weight. The monster struck, he parried. The fangs dove, he spun inside them, pressing his blade to the neck, only to be thrown off again. One blow connected with his shoulder, he stumbled, cursed, and rolled.
His hand trembled.
But he stood again.
Wrath stormed in him, the temptation to use his skills, but he held back. They were watching. Judging.
He gritted his teeth. "They want to see how far I go without breaking."
Velina winced as her beast struck her side again. He turned sharply. They couldn't keep this up.
And yet… they did. More minutes passed. Each one filled with agony. Parries. Dodges. Wounds. Neither serpent was slowing down. Ethan's blade dug in once, and only left a scratch. They were taking damage… but not enough. He was losing ground.
[WRATH OVERSURGE]
[WRATH : 110/35]
[WARNING: Prolonged oversurge might trigger seal weakening]
The system flickered, reacting the continuous rising of Ethan's Wrath. It was warning him. But he didn't break. Didn't trigger the Abyss.
Not yet.
Not with the eyes watching. He refused. Not until he had no choice.
The Crimson Fanged Serpents coiled for another assault. Ethan and Velina stood again, wounded, panting.
Sand clung to sweat and blood.
And still, the fight raged.
A storm of teeth, blades, venom, and rage.