I have been gracious enough to play with you," Aria said calmly, her voice carrying effortlessly through the ruins, "because you are the only toy in this filth of a settlement I deemed worthy of my entertainment."
Her gaze slid past Aris.
Straight to Cyan.
"Do not mistake that for mercy."
Aris felt it.
That moment—when the air shifted, when instinct
screamed—
She moved first.
"Whatever you say, bitch—"
She never finished.
Aria was suddenly there.
Not movement.
Not speed.
Presence.
One moment Aris stood before Cyan—
The next, her sword was gone.
Metal screamed in the air as it was thrown away from her grip . Aria's fist followed, driving into Aris's stomach with a sound like collapsing stone.
Aris's body folded.
Blood burst from her mouth as she was hurled backward, skidding across broken ground. She barely had time to breathe before she forced herself upright, teeth stained red.
She swung.
Her fist connected with Aria's face.
The impact cracked the air.
Shockwaves rippled outward, shattering what little remained standing. Stone ruptured beneath their feet as they exchanged blows—too fast, too violent to follow. Fists collided. Knees struck.
Elbows tore through the air.
Aris roared, aura flooding her limbs, and drove
her fist into Aria's abdomen.
The black armor shattered.
Not cracked.
Shattered.
Fragments burst outward like glass.
For the first time—
Aria's eyes widened.
She drifted backward, boots touching down lightly atop Tyranimite's massive skull. The armor flowed back into place, reknitting itself as if it had never been broken.
Amusement curled her lips.
"Impressive," she said softly. "Way to live up to your name, human."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You're strong enough to make me regret killing you slowly."
Aris launched herself again.
Aria caught her punch mid-air.
The ground beneath them exploded, fissures racing outward like a spiderweb. Aris switched to a kick—
Aria vanished.
She reappeared behind, armor flawless, wounds erased.
"I like you," Aria said, voice almost gentle. "So I'll offer you something rare."
A deal.
The word alone felt wrong.
"What game are you playing, demon?" Aris growled.
Aria's smile vanished.
"A simple contract," she said. "And unlike humans… demons keep their word."
The flames around them dimmed.
"I leave this settlement," Aria continued. "I heal the wounded. I take my dragon and never return."
Aris hesitated.
Cyan felt it.
That tiny crack in certainty.
"And the price?" Aris asked.
Aria's eyes slid back—
To Cyan.
"I want you," she whispered. "And the boy."
The words landed like rot in Cyan's chest.
"No," Aris hissed instantly.
Aria tilted her head.
"You misunderstand," she said. "I wasn't asking."
Aris stepped forward, fury boiling over. "You think I'd trade my brother? I'd tear you apart first."
Aria's expression darkened—not anger.
Interest.
"I was ordered to retrieve the child behind you," she said. "Nothing more."
The air grew heavy.
"For ten years, I searched."
Tyranimite growled low.
"There were no orders restricting what I could destroy along the way."
Her gaze burned into Cyan.
"Do you truly believe I would abandon my prize now?"
Silence crushed the ruins.
"Comply," Aria said calmly. "Or watch everything else disappear."
Aris didn't answer.
Her aura ignited.
Transparent, violent, spiraling—her power erupted outward, warping the air itself. The ground shattered beneath her feet, cracks screaming across the earth.
Wind howled.
Debris lifted.
Cyan stared.
Frozen.
"So this is…" his thoughts trembled, "…a ninth-tier aura master."
Beautiful.
Terrifying
The moon above turned crimson behind drifting smoke, bathing the ruins in sick red light. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, writhing, twisting—watching.
Cyan couldn't move.
Couldn't scream.
Couldn't look away.
And somewhere deep within him, something ancient stirred—
Not fear.
Recognition.
The sound of Cyan's own breathing was wrong.
Too loud.
Too fast.
It scraped inside his skull, uneven and wet, as if his lungs no longer remembered how to work. His heart hammered against his ribs, not with fear—but with confusion, like it was trying to escape something it could already sense.
Aris stood between him and Aria.
Her aura still flickered, unstable, snapping like a dying flame. Her face was twisted in fury, jaw clenched so tight her teeth creaked.
"Bring it on," she spat. "Demon."
Aria tilted her head.
The air split.
Not violently—quietly. Like fabric tearing somewhere far away.
"Remarkable," Aria said, her voice sliding through the ruins, bending the space around it. "That aura. At your age."
Her words didn't echo.
They pressed.
Cyan felt them in his bones.
With a casual snap of her fingers, the world screamed.
Crimson energy poured outward, not exploding, but spreading—thick, suffocating, alive. Houses folded in on themselves like wet paper. The ground convulsed, cracking open as a pillar of red light stabbed into the heavens.
The moon darkened.
Turned blood-red.
Cyan's vision tunneled.
The dragon didn't roar.
It dissolved.
Its massive form unraveled into crimson sparks, thousands of them, spiraling inward—into Aria. The air filled with the sharp sting of ozone and burnt metal. What remained of Tyranimite ceased to exist, as if it had never been real.
Aria levitated.
Slowly.
Like gravity had decided she was no longer included.
Her eyes burned—two fixed points of crimson light, unmoving, unblinking. Around her, rocks, splintered wood, bent iron—everything lifted, trembling, as though reality itself was afraid to let them fall.
Aris's aura flickered once.
Then died.
Snuffed out like breath on glass.
Her eyes widened—not in fear.
In understanding.
"…What kind of monster…" she breathed.
Cyan coughed.
Hard.
The pressure crushed his chest, forced the air out of him. His knees buckled. Black crept into the edges of his vision.
"Idiot!" Aris shouted. "Use your aura!"
Instinct saved him.
Barely.
Cyan wrapped his aura around himself, thin and desperate. The pressure eased just enough for him to gasp, lungs burning as they refilled. His eyes never left Aria.
Her hand rose.
Fingers spread.
Everything above them fell.
The objects screamed as they descended, weight multiplied, aura-infused. The earth shook violently. Cyan barely registered movement before pain exploded in his gut—
Aris.
One precise strike.
The world went dark.
He came to with motion.
Wind tearing past his face.
Aris was running.
He was on her back.
The ground behind them collapsed as debris slammed down, shockwaves rippling through the ruins. Aris didn't slow. She didn't look back. Blood streaked her face, dust caked her armor, but her movements were flawless—automatic.
Like she'd accepted something.
She's not chasing, Aris realized.
She's herding.
Her breath hitched.
Plants withered as Aria's power surged. Leaves curled and blackened mid-air. Crimson lightning crawled across the sky, branching unnaturally, moving too fast for sound.
Then—
Silence.
A gathering.
Aura condensed ahead of them—blue at first, then purple, rotating slowly, hungrily. The air bent inward. Sound died.
A void forming.
Aris skidded to a stop.
She turned.
Aria hovered within the storm, glowing like a dying star, gravity broken around her. The village—what remained of it—was being drained, its natural aura torn free, consumed.
There was nowhere to run.
Cyan stirred.
His legs shook violently as Aris set him down. He couldn't stand. Couldn't think.
"…No choice," Aris murmured.
She stepped forward.
Cyan's breath hitched. "What are you—"
"Don't worry," Aris called back, forcing a grin that didn't reach her eyes. "I'll be the bait."
Something snapped inside Cyan.
He forced himself upright, legs screaming. "No—!"
His voice cracked. "I won't allow that!"
The light detonated.
Heat erased thought.
Aris moved.
She was suddenly in front of him, arms spread wide. Rings flared violently as she tore every last fragment of aura from her body.
A 5 blue barrier formed.
Thin.
Fragile.
The explosion swallowed them.
Sound vanished.
Light consumed everything.
When it ended—
There was nothing.
No village.
No ruins.
Only a vast crater where Ranon had been.
Aris stood.
Barely.
Her arms were blackened, skin split and burned beyond recognition. Her aura was gone—completely. She swayed once, then steadied
herself.
She smiled.
"No—no—no—" His voice broke. "You should've run… you should've saved yourself…"
Aris leaned down.
Her voice was faint.
Calm.
"…Because you're my friend."
She paused. "…And my brother."
Her eyes closed.
END OF CHAPTER 15