The Box: Fate
Chapter 67 — The Convergence of Ash and Void
The air in the ruined throne room didn't just feel thick anymore; it felt like breathing crushed glass. On one side stood Ignis, the volcanic colossus, his jagged rock armor glowing with rivers of boiling magma. On the other stood Gideon the Ash-Bringer, his crimson dragon-scale plate reflecting the dark purple sky that visible through the shattered ceiling.
Between them, the air hummed, a violent friction created by two native powerhouses clashing without a single word.
"Stand back, you damn kids," Gideon growled, his hand tightening around the leather wrap of his jagged greatsword. He didn't look at Kataki's fractured wrist or Zanaki's trembling hands. "This lava-brained freak doesn't use logic. If you get caught in his swing, your new 'flesh-and-blood' bodies will turn to charcoal before you can scream."
Ignis let out a low, rumbling grunt, the magma in his throat bubbling. He took a single step forward, and the stone floor beneath his foot instantly melted into a pool of orange slag. "ASH TO ASH," the colossus roared, his voice like two tectonic plates grinding together.
The volcanic general launched himself forward with terrifying velocity for his size. His massive, magma-infused fist drove straight at Gideon's head.
Gideon didn't dodge. He planted his back foot, his white-hot aura expanding outward in a violent burst of heat that counteracted Ignis's pressure. With a guttural shout, he swung his greatsword upward in a brutal, parrying arc.
BANG—!!
The collision sounded like a cannon firing inside an iron vault. A shockwave of pure thermal energy blasted outward, shattering the remaining marble pillars into dust and forcing Axel to dig his boots into the stone to keep the injured backline from being blown away.
Gideon's blade held the strike, sparks of white heat flying from the edge, but the sheer weight of the colossus was pushing his boots an inch into the solid floor.
"Kataki! Now!" Zanaki yelled, his sapphire eyes burning through the smoke. He didn't wait for his dragon claw to fully heal; he forced the sapphire lightning to wrap around his regular fist, ignoring the agonizing strain on his muscles.
Kataki didn't need a system prompt to see the opening. Despite the throbbing, hot pain in his left wrist, his silver eyes locked onto the glowing magma core pulsing behind Ignis's rocky shoulder joint.
"Sharky! Kuro! Cover the flanks! Anastasia, suppress his heat!" Kataki commanded, his voice sharp and flat.
Anastasia knelt, forcing her burned palms onto the cold stone. She didn't try to summon a massive magic circle. Instead, she closed her eyes, visualizing the atmospheric moisture, and forcibly dragged the temperature down. "Void Frost: Absolute Stasis!" A thick layer of dense, non-magical ice rapidly spread across Ignis's lower legs, hissing violently as it turned into thick steam, but effectively slowing the giant's pivot.
Sharky Bee and Kuro moved like twin gusts of wind. Moving without the safety of the Phantom Veil skill meant they had to rely entirely on their raw reaction speeds. They sprinted up the giant's rocky back, their daggers driving deep into the crevices of his stone armor, redirecting Ignis's attention away from Gideon.
"Insolent insects!" Ignis roared, his body erupting into a localized explosion of volcanic ash that blinded the field.
Through the gray haze, a streak of gold pierced the dark. Axel Hatanaki leaped from a shattered ledge, his entire physical strength focused into his shield arm as he slammed directly into the side of Ignis's neck, destabilizing the colossus's balance.
"He's open, Gideon!" Axel roared, his teeth clenched as the heat from the armor began to singe his gauntlets.
Gideon grinned, a savage, predatory expression. He ripped his greatsword free from the parry, the white-hot aura on his blade condensing until the steel looked like a sliver of the sun.
"Good setup, brats," Gideon shouted. "CINDER SHATTER: CATACLYSM!"
He delivered a devastating, two-handed downward slash. The greatsword cut through the volcanic rock armor like paper, splitting Ignis's chest wide open and exposing the blinding, roaring magma core within.
Kataki and Zanaki hit the opening simultaneously.
Kataki, using his right hand to drive The Twin Fangs of the Eclipse deep into the core, channeled the raw, void-black willpower of his silver sight. At the same instant, Zanaki drove his sapphire-charged fist right alongside the blade, letting the lightning explode directly inside the monster's heart.
BOOOOOOOM!
The volcanic colossus stiffened, the violet and blue energies violently fracturing his rocky frame from the inside out. With a final, deafening explosion of rock shards and cooling obsidian, Ignis shattered into pieces, the heavy dust settling over the ruined battlefield.
Kataki fell to one knee, panting heavily, his right hand smoking from the heat. Zanaki collapsed beside him, his knuckles bleeding. They had done it—the second general was dead—but the price was absolute physical exhaustion.
Through the clearing smoke, Malakor remained standing near the shattered throne. He hadn't moved a single inch during the entire fight. He looked down at the shattered remains of his strongest general, then slowly looked up at Gideon and the bleeding teenagers.
"You have combined the strength of the native apex and the broken remnants of the outer world," Malakor said, his violet eyes glowing with a dark, terrifying amusement. He slowly raised his left hand, and the tattered robes around his arms dissolved into tendrils of pure, solid shadow that began to turn the ambient light of the room into absolute pitch black.
The pressure didn't just drop this time; the room lost all color, turning into a monochrome nightmare of gray and black.
"You have proven you can kill my soldiers," Malakor whispered, his voice echoing from inside the ears of every person present. "Now, let us see if your mortal flesh can survive a single breath of the Void."
Gideon's cocky grin vanished. He raised his heavy greatsword, his white aura flaring defensively, but for the first time, his arms were trembling. The real war wasn't coming—it was already standing right in front of them