The ground split like cracking glass.
Heat surged in violent waves, turning the air into liquid light. Every surface — stone, armor, even the sky itself — shimmered under the blinding fury of Vulcarion Basal.
The wyvern's body blazed white from within, magma spilling through the fractures in its shell. With each roar, rivers of fire poured down its sides, flooding the battlefield in molten light. The mountain wasn't just awake now — it was furious.
Kael staggered, hand shielding his visor as another eruption tore through the ridge beside him. "Fourth rage," he hissed. "It's losing control!"
Hunnt's reply came sharp and steady through the flames. "Then we take control!"
The wyvern roared again — a sound so immense it felt like the world itself screamed. Shockwaves rolled through the ash field, scattering molten rock in every direction. One boulder streaked toward Kael, glowing red-hot.
Kael's pupils flared gold. Observation Haki.
He saw it coming a heartbeat before it hit.
"Soru!"
The world blurred. He vanished, reappearing on a slanted ridge twenty meters away, boots skidding through grit. He inhaled through gritted teeth, heart hammering. "I could feel the heat from that one…"
Then another quake — Vulcarion's wing swept through the air, hurling molten debris in all directions.
Kael's body bent with impossible fluidity, Kami-e flowing through his movements. He twisted under the fiery gust, dropped to a knee, and snapped his bowgun upward. His sight locked on a glowing seam across Vulcarion's chest.
"Hunnt! Left vent's exposed for three seconds!"
Hunnt was already moving.
He blinked from his position near the ridge, Soru kicking up an explosion of ash beneath his boots. In a flash, he was at Vulcarion's side, gauntlets gleaming like twin obsidian suns.
The wyvern turned — too slow.
Hunnt's Anchor Step locked his stance; the ground fractured beneath him. He drove both fists into the weak seam.
The impact was thunder.
A burst of molten light erupted from the wound. Vulcarion reeled, roaring in outrage.
But it wasn't down. Its massive claw came sweeping back, faster than before — a blur of molten power.
Hunnt's Observation Haki screamed a warning. He leapt backward, the claw skimming his chest. Even through his armor, he felt the searing heat. He landed hard, sliding backward through the gravel.
Above him, a shadow cut through the ash — Alder.
The Great Sword user launched into the air using Geppo, the heat shimmer trailing behind his boots. With every step into the sky, shockwaves rippled outward. When he reached the apex, the veins of his sword pulsed red — Armament Haki wrapping around it in a dark sheen.
Alder gritted his teeth. "Let's see you shrug this off!"
He came down like a meteor.
The impact split the earth open. His blade tore straight through one of Vulcarion's shoulder plates, molten fragments scattering like fireworks. The wyvern screamed, thrashing wildly. The ground beneath Alder exploded in retaliation, a surge of flame bursting upward.
Alder crossed his arms, Tekkai activating — his entire body hardened like iron. The flames slammed into him, engulfing him in fire.
For a moment, Kael thought he was gone.
Then, Alder's silhouette emerged from the blaze, armor glowing red-hot but unbroken.
He stumbled forward, coughing, but raised his sword again. "Still standing!"
Kael smirked faintly. "Show off."
Hunnt's voice cut through the comms. "Keep pressure! Don't give it time to burrow!"
He sprinted forward again, Geppo blasting him across the field. Vulcarion turned, chest glowing — preparing a Scalding Breath. Hunnt's Observation Haki pulsed like sonar, warning him a split-second before the eruption.
He threw himself sideways, Kami-e flowing through his movement, barely escaping the inferno. The blast hit where he'd stood — the explosion melted stone into rivers of lava.
Hunnt landed beside Kael.
"Eyes?"
Kael's gaze tracked the creature's movements, his Observation Haki reaching through the chaos. "Its neck vents — two still stable, but its chest is overheating. You've got an opening under the left plate!"
"Perfect." Hunnt's gauntlets darkened — Armament Haki coating them in a metallic gleam.
He sprinted forward again, using Soru to blur across the battlefield. Vulcarion swung downward — a wing like a falling wall.
Hunnt didn't slow.
He planted his heel, twisted his stance — Redirect.
The momentum of the incoming blow shifted. Vulcarion's wing struck the ground instead, shattering rock and momentarily exposing its underside.
Alder saw it.
"Now!" Hunnt shouted.
Alder leapt again, Geppo launching him high. He brought his great sword down in a full charged arc. The blade struck the exposed plate, Armament Haki flaring crimson.
This time, the shell broke.
The explosion of molten heat was deafening.
Chunks of burning armor flew outward; one struck Kael's shoulder, spinning him around. He hissed in pain, stumbling — but recovered fast, using Soru to reposition and line another shot.
"Don't waste the opening!" he yelled.
Hunnt and Alder didn't.
Hunnt's fists flashed in rapid succession, striking every visible seam across Vulcarion's underbelly. Each hit detonated with compressed force — Pulse Drives syncing to Alder's swings.
Vulcarion howled, the ground fracturing from the vibration. Its molten core flared bright, spewing magma streams like geysers.
Through the chaos, Seren stood at the edge of the battlefield — shield up, stance locked. She deflected every ember that flew toward Kael's firing line, her armor blackened from heat.
When the blast winds hit, she anchored her lance deep into the rock and shouted over the storm, "Don't falter! This thing bleeds fire — but fire can bleed!"
Her voice broke through the roar like a battle cry.
Kael grinned, firing a volley directly into the fissures where Hunnt and Alder struck. "Then let's make it bleed more!"
The combined barrage detonated beneath Vulcarion's chest. For the first time, the wyvern faltered.
It slammed both claws into the ground, wings outstretched. The basin erupted into an inferno, molten dust spiraling upward.
Kael's Observation Haki flared. "It's building something — a final rage surge!"
Hunnt felt it too. The pulse under the earth changed — deeper, sharper, faster.
He looked to his comrades — each battered, burned, but unbroken.
"Stay alive," he said quietly, eyes narrowing. "We're almost there."
The wyvern's light reached its peak. The fissures across its chest glowed white-hot, brighter than the sun itself.
Seren raised her shield again.
Alder steadied his sword, breathing hard.
Kael reloaded, eyes locked on target.
And Hunnt — Hunnt lowered his stance, heat swirling around his fists, the marks of the Eternal Wanderer glowing faintly across his gauntlets.
The wyvern's roar came one last time — a call that shook the sky.
And the Wanderers charged.