Chapter 62 ( Part 14)
Extera sank to one knee, wings sagging, violet embers leaking from cracked feathers.
His chest heaved, molten energy flickering in wild bursts across the chamber. His eyes, once flames of dominance, now reflected disbelief.
"What… this lowly human… standing before me? I… fall to my knees?" he murmured, almost to himself.
The Core's pulsing light seemed to hum in mockery. Every fiber of Extera's being his pride, his mastery, his very divinity quivered.
He had devoured his commander, mastered the Wordsal flow, and yet, here was a mortal, unbroken, unshaken.
And then Extera saw him Rihan.
The warrior stood, sword trembling slightly, but his aura radiated unwavering courage. Every step he had taken to defend, every strike he had risked, now resonated in Alok's heart.
Extera realized, with sharp clarity, that it wasn't just Alok's skill keeping him upright it was the strength of his friend, his comrade, Rihan, channeling spirit and courage into him.
Extera's eyes narrowed, fury boiling.
"You… you refuse to bend! You… refuse my offer!"
Alok's chains coiled around his arms like molten gold serpents, shimmering with violet traces. He shook his head, calm but resolute. "I will not give you my pendant. I will not follow your path of madness."
The words were like a spark in a storm.
Rage exploded in Extera.
He surged forward with inhuman speed, violet flames trailing like streaks of dying stars. His strike struck Alok's left leg with devastating force.
Alok felt a sickening snap; pain surged, sending him to the ground, but his will remained unbroken.
Then Extera turned his fury on Rihan, his hand piercing through the air, stabbing into Rihan's chest with a precision born of divinity.
Blood spurted, heart threatened to stop, and the warrior's knees buckled. A strangled gasp escaped his lips.
Alok's eyes widened. Fear, anger, and desperation collided within him.
"Extera… I… will never forgive you… I will kill you."
Then something surged inside him a pulse he had never felt before. His heart hammered, expanding like a living drum of thunder. His muscles tensed, veins lit with golden lightning, and his body seemed to awaken as if responding to the Core itself.
The golden chains around him shimmered violently, breaking the constraints of the labyrinth floor. Sparks of lightning coursed across his limbs, enveloping him entirely in a blazing aura of divine power.
His hair lifted slightly, charged with static, eyes glowing as if twin suns had ignited within his skull.
He rose to his feet, pain and determination mingling into pure fury.
"Monster… I will kill you… forever!" he roared, voice cracking like thunder.
In a blink, he closed the distance. Lightning speed carried him across the hall in an instant.
His fist, wrapped in crackling energy, collided with Extera's chest.
The impact exploded with force, sending the devourer skidding backward, smashing through walls and glyphs, sparks of violet and gold dancing violently across the chamber.
Extera struggled to rise, chest heaving, wings fractured, but a grin crept across his face equal parts admiration and malice. "Ha…ha…ha… So, this is your true color. I see now… the fire that burns within you… and yet, even so, you resist me. That is why… we need to work together."
Alok's jaw tightened. His aura flared, lightning crackling across his skin, the Core's pulse syncing with his heartbeat. Anger roared louder than reason. He did not answer.
He did not listen. Words were unnecessary.
He prepared for the next strike this time, not measured, not restrained.
The Devourer had risen.
And now, Alok's fury had become a storm.