The guardian monster's hesitation shattered—not gently, not gradually, but violently. Its massive frame convulsed, as if something ancient and insatiable had just erupted within.
CRAAAAAAACK—!
Thunder veins exploded across its hide, splitting open like glowing fissures. A new, denser aura surged outward, thick with primordial malice. Storm clouds overhead dimmed, cowering. Beneath it, the earth caved in two meters, crushed under its newborn power.
Alys noticed the danger first. Her crimson aura spasmed in alarm—a warning that this monster had become something no longer meant for mortal confrontation.
Auren's eyes narrowed, tension burning in his stance.
The guardian monster transformed. Its shape contorted and expanded, tendrils unfurling as jagged blades of black lightning, core whirling into a violet storm. Its roar echoed from an ancient, forgotten world.
KRRRRRRRYYYYAAAAAAAAHHH!
The forest shook violently. Rocks vibrated in terror. The sky flickered, split by wild, dying light.
And then—it attacked.
All three moved in the same, explosive heartbeat.
Auren surged forward, jade flames spiraling behind him like a comet's tail. Alys vaulted high, her crimson aura forming deadly shapes—spheres and spears, lethal and bright. The monster folded lightning into itself and then detonated it outward in a starburst.
When they collided—
THE WORLD BROKE.
The explosion was not a sound; it was a phenomenon. A shockwave ripped the forest apart, pulverizing trees into powder, smashing mountainsides to gravel, sweeping soil into the sky like a hurricane of knives. The legendary Mist Forest was obliterated in a single instant.
Trees didn't fall. They vanished.
Stone didn't merely crack. It liquefied.
Mist didn't swirl. It was immolated, sucked into the vacuum their clash carved through reality.
Auren and Alys struck as one.
Auren's jade claw tore through black lightning veins, carving the air into violent, whirling green. Alys's crimson blast hammered the monster's flank, twisting its storm aura into a whirlpool of blood and thunder.
The monster retaliated with a pulse of pure annihilation—violet lightning that detonated the ground from beneath their feet.
The earth began to sink.
Two meters.
Ten meters.
Fifty—
Then, all at once, the battlefield collapsed.
A massive circle of land—nearly three miles across—erupted, sinking into a colossal pit full of dust and smoke, as if the world itself had been struck in the heart.
Auren, Alys, and the guardian monster fell into the abyss, swallowed by churning darkness.
And, for an instant, everything fell silent.
***
### The Betrayal
The mutated monster thrashed with world-breaking power. Every swipe tore deep rifts into the scarred land; mist vanished, and even distant mountains trembled. Amid this chaos, the guardian unleashed a wide-range onslaught—a violet thunderwave surging toward Lura and Mark.
Auren's heart lurched.
"Lura! Mark!"
He dashed between his friends and the annihilation, jade flames surging as he raised his shield. The thunder struck him like a collapsing star, chains of agony racing through his limbs. His shield split, cracked, but held—barely.
And then—
scccchhk.
A faint, cold noise behind him.
Auren froze, mind going blank. He looked down to find a sword protruding from his chest, slick with his own blood.
He turned and saw Lura—her face twisted into a cold, mischievous smile.
Before he could speak—shhk! A second blade pierced his ribs from behind. Mark's eyes held no warmth, only open disdain.
Auren's lips trembled.
"…Why?"
Mark said nothing. He simply shoved Auren forward.
Auren stumbled—
And the ground howled beneath him.
***
### The Pit Opens
Suddenly, the world fractured again—a gaping chasm opening beneath them. Alys leapt back, Mark and Lura sprang aside. The guardian monster plunged into the abyss.
Even in descent, it fired a murderous blast upward, aiming for Lura and Mark. Their eyes widened in horror.
Auren, despite his wounds, saw it coming. Memories crashed over him: Lura's laughter, Mark's rivalry, the victories they'd shared.
"Move—!!"
With the last of his strength, he cast a shield—jade and corrosive flame, crackling with defiance. The monster's violent blast vanished, erased by his sacrificial ward.
But Auren, blood pouring from his wounds, followed the beast into the pit.
He looked up, catching one last sight of Alys—smirking in triumph.
Realization struck him like a thunderbolt:
"…Ahh… So it was all your doing."
The thought vanished—
BAM—!!
The monster's blow crashed into him. Hollowed by betrayal and blood loss, Auren couldn't resist. His flame guttered. His shield failed.
shhk! shhk! shhk!
Tendrils pierced him, agony surging through his body—blood pouring in rivers.
But even as his consciousness faded, his eyes burned with one last, desperate defiance.
"Master…
I'm sorry…
I failed…"
Tears welled—then ignited into furious flame.
A burning mark seared into his brow—the forbidden sigil of Vaerion: the Mark of Flames.
At that same instant, his blood began to boil. The Blood-Burning Technique awakened—a ritual known for demanding every last heartbeat, trading the rest of his life for a torrent of raw, unstoppable power. The air itself trembled. The abyss became a furnace, shadows recoiling from the brilliance of imminent destruction.
Auren's dying flame surged outward, swelling into a violent storm. Thunderous fire roared, whirling like a star on the verge of collapse. His fist clenched tight; the flames wrapped his arm, spiraling like a furious serpent, each flicker dissolving nearby stone, sending rivers of light through the darkness.
All pain forgotten, he launched himself at the guardian monster.
BOOOOOOM—!!
His flaming fist crashed into the monster's chest. The beast's hide—hard as steel—resisted, but Auren refused defeat.
He struck again.
And again.
Flames detonated with surging fury. Each blow grew more wild, burning brighter.
CRRRRAAAAASH—!!
On the third strike, the monster's chest split open. Jade and thunder flame spiraled along its flank, unleashing another detonation. What remained was devoured by his raging storm, the final mass of corrupted power torn apart.
The monster screamed—a twisted, agonized cry that rolled through the pit and back up to the shattered surface. It tried to hold itself together, but the flames ate at every atom, swallowing its soul and fury alike.
Auren's own body followed suit—broken, blood pouring from countless wounds, burned from the inside by his own sacrificial power. His flame shield would not return; his breath slowed; his vision tunneled. But he knew, even as the darkness pressed in, he had not fallen in vain.
The monster's death shriek faded.
Ashes filled the chasm.
The storm quieted, flame fluttering down like embers onto the stone.
Auren… beaten, spent, hollowed… finally collapsed.
His body dropped, limp and weightless, into the deepest void.
Silence reigned.
***
### The World in Aftermath
In the oppressive quiet, even the Mist Forest seemed to grieve. There was no longer thunder overhead or mist curling between ruined roots.
All that lingered was the abyss—a wound carved into the very world.
Above, the survivors stumbled to the edge, gazing down into silent darkness. No one spoke. Even Alys, her smirk now faded, felt the gravity of the sacrifice: the price paid, the world reshaped by one shattered vow and a forbidden flame.
Nothing moved in the dust and ruin.
No sound escaped from the pit.