----Chapter 37----
The ground still trembled from her last strike. The jagged fissure carved by her axe yawned wide, a gaping rift between her and her enemy.
Faetalis rose slowly, each breath a plume of fire that wrapped her in a shimmering haze.
Golden light blazed on her brow, horns catching the moon's gaze. The forest held its breath, a silent witness to her rebirth.
Gobura steadied himself on the far side of the chasm, eyes narrowing at her glowing horns. Break them, and she falls.
He slid Crimson Blood and Radiant Flash into their sheaths. The forest seemed to freeze, every leaf suspended in anticipation.
With a guttural roar, Gobura launched himself skyward. Crimson Blood and Radiant Flash tore through the night, crossing mid-air in a deadly X that screamed downward like a hurricane of steel.
Faetalis did not flinch.
Her hand closed on the axe buried in the earth, grip firm. Time stretched thin. Her eyes locked on Gobura's descent. One thought consumed her: This ends here. For everyone on this island.
Golden veins flared beneath her skin, racing up her arms, across her shoulders, toward her horns.
As the light reached them, the axe vibrated violently. Steel warped, molten gold and starlight twisting together like a galaxy forged in her grasp.
The battered weapon reshaped itself into a Cosmic Axe, thrumming with otherworldly energy. The air shimmered, bending under the sheer force of her awakening.
The cross slash descended, then vanished the instant it touched her Cosmic Axe. Faetalis raised the weapon toward Gobura, his attack dissolving like fireworks against the blade.
Like sparks scattered into the night, his assault disintegrated into fading embers.
Gobura froze mid-leap, eyes wide. "Impossible…"
Faetalis didn't move. She tightened her grip, the axe humming like a heartbeat. Steam and light spiraled around her, her aura a torrent of raw power.
She was no longer the girl with a battered axe. She was a storm, unleashed.
Before Gobura could react, Faetalis surged forward, appearing before him. The Cosmic Axe rose high. Gobura smirked.
"Now this is the fight I've been dying for."
Black lightning crackled around him, aura flaring. As Faetalis' axe fell, the lightning struck, unleashing an explosion that rocked the forest.
Shockwaves ripped through the trees, sending splinters flying.
Faetalis was thrown back, dust and smoke swirling. She rose, horns blazing, Cosmic Axe humming.
Gobura planted Crimson Blood and Radiant Flash into the ground to arrest his momentum. Biting down on the hilt of his black sword, he drew his third blade, black and sinister, humming with malevolence. The air recoiled from it.
Faetalis felt it before she saw it: a pulse of dread, a whisper of something ancient and cruel.
Gobura rose slowly, a predatory grin spreading.
"You've earned the honor of dying beneath my final blade," he said, voice low and dangerous. His eyes gleamed, hungry, certain. The smile never touched them.
"Few ever saw it, and none lived to tell."
The woods trembled. Lightning cracked, dust and smoke swirled, every tree shivered.
Faetalis' mind flashed back to her twelfth birthday. Her uncle, Chief of the Celestial Ogres, handing her a battered, scarred axe.
Her peers had laughed, but she had swung it with joy, eyes gleaming as the weapon connected with a massive tree stump.
She hadn't known the axe held a secret; even her uncle hadn't revealed its power, sleeping, waiting for this moment.
Now, the secret had awakened.
Her horns flared, golden veins pulsing. The Cosmic Axe thrummed with starlight, her connection complete. She lifted the blade toward Gobura, focus absolute.
Gobura dashed forward, his two swords flying alongside him. Guided by his aura, they obeyed every thought. A barrage of strikes came from the two blades, Faetalis deflecting both in unison.
Meanwhile, Gobura attacked with his black blade, forcing her to fight three opponents at once.
The impacts thundered through the woods. Sparks and dust erupted. Yet even his combined might dissolved against her Cosmic Axe.
Gobura's eyes widened. He staggered as Faetalis dashed forward again, faster than thought, appearing before him. Her axe rose like a comet, poised to cleave him in two.
Lightning erupted, black energy surging. As her axe fell, it met his lightning in another explosion that rocked the forest. Trees shook, the ground split, the woods trembled.
Faetalis gritted her teeth, Cosmic Axe humming. Gobura, gripping Crimson Blood, Radiant Flash, and Black Edge, braced himself.
For the first time, he felt the full weight of the storm he had challenged.
The woods held its breath as golden light met black lightning, cosmic energy met evil, and two warriors poised to decide the island's fate.
And then, the true battle began.
Both waited in silence, muscles coiled, eyes locked. Each waiting for the other's move.
Gobura struck first. With a flick of his wrist, Crimson Blood shot forward like lightning.
Faetalis twisted, but not fast enough. The blade grazed her cheek, burning a shallow line.
She whirled, Gobura already before her, Black Edge raised.
Instinct saved her. The axe whipped upward, catching the blade with a thunderclap of sparks. The force jolted her arms, rattling her bones. She deflected, but hadn't accounted for the third sword.
From behind Gobura, Radiant Flash darted like a viper, plunging into her shoulder.
Pain tore through her. Gobura yanked the blade free, his grin widening as blood poured down her arm.
His laughter echoed in the night.
"Hopeless," he sneered. "Crimson Blood's wounds never close. Radiant Flash… faster than your eyes can follow."
Faetalis blinked. Her vision swam, blood hot in her mouth. "Damn it… He's right. Too fast to dodge," she whispered, frustration sharp.
A chill ran down her spine. One of his blades had remained hidden until now, its cursed nature cloaked in silence.
"Oh, is that so?" Faetalis said calmly, voice steady despite the blood soaking her arm.
She lunged. The Cosmic Axe sang arcs of gold and fire. Gobura met her head-on, deflecting with brutal precision, each impact splitting the earth. But the other swords did not rest.
They darted and weaved like wolves, stabbing again and again, tearing fresh wounds. Blood spattered the ground, every step leaving crimson behind. Her chest heaved. Her skin went cold. The taste of iron filled her mouth.
Searing pain wracked her. Crimson Blood's curse, Radiant Flash's speed, each wound sapped her strength. Her hearing dimmed, her vision narrowed. Her body screamed to stop.
But her resolve held. Even if she shattered, she would not stop. If she fell, the island and its people would die.
Gobura's grin faltered as he defended.
Is she insane? She's bleeding out, and still won't stop.
The barrage pressed harder, brighter, as if the cosmos itself poured into her strikes.
Gobura's heel struck the base of a fallen tree. He noticed too late. He was cornered.
Faetalis saw it: the moment, the chance.
She clenched the hilt of the Cosmic Axe, golden veins burning. Her horns blazed, body trembling.
Gobura lifted both arms high, straining to catch the falling weapon. Muscles bulged, skin cracking. Behind him, the tree groaned under the weight of the clash.
Still his flying swords carved into her back, blood spraying. Her breath hitched, vision flashing white. Her life spilled from her, but still she pressed harder.
For the first time, Gobura felt it: true killing intent. Her golden eyes locked with his, blazing with one message. You die here.
The smile vanished from his face. Sweat streaked his temple. His silence was louder than any taunt.
The Cosmic Axe collided, the clash ringing like a divine bell. Gobura's arms shook, his body screaming. The tree splintered, bark exploding.
Desperate, he summoned Crimson Blood and Radiant Flash. They hovered, wicked, ready to pierce her heart.
"This is your end, warrior," Gobura hissed.
Faetalis didn't look back. She felt the blades approaching, death brushing her soul. Fear gnawed at her.
If my axe breaks him before his blades break me, the island will live. Let my name vanish, let my blood soak this forest, but let him fall.
The swords darted, tips inches from her spine.
And then, the unexpected.
From the roots of the massive tree, something stirred. A whisper of movement beneath the soil, faint but growing. Then a figure burst forth. A small boy, eyes burning with desperate courage, threw himself upward.
His hands seized the flying swords just as they lunged for Faetalis' back.
The weapons shuddered in his grip. Gobura's eyes widened. "What—?!"
Faetalis' golden gaze flickered in disbelief, even as her axe pressed down.
The boy had come from the roots. The boy none of them had seen.
An unseen savior, appearing at the very moment death closed in.
The clash held, the forest trembling, as three fates collided in the dark.
And the outcome had yet to be decided.