The Apex Echo didn't move at first.Its armor hummed like a trapped storm, and the tear behind it pulsed faster with every second—alive, unstable, ready to snap.
Vael stepped toward it slowly.Shadows curled around his boots in thin, restless threads.
Lira's voice shook from behind him."That rift… it's beating too fast. If it breaks, we're all dead."
Mira didn't blink.Her runes glowed faintly around her fingertips."No. We'll be dead before it breaks if we don't deal with the Apex."
Talon cracked his knuckles and glared at the towering Echo."Then we start cracking."
The Apex's mask shifted.One long vertical slit glowed across the surface—cold, watching.
A wave of resonance shot outward.It distorted the air so sharply that the trees trembled.
Vael kept moving.
His sword lowered, shadows rising behind him like a second spine.
The Apex stepped forward.The ground dipped under its weight.
Then—it moved.
The giant's blade cleaved downward with enough force to split the earth.Vael leapt sideways, landing in a roll before the ground exploded behind him.
"Vael!"Lira aimed an arrow, but Mira grabbed her wrist.
"Not yet! He's testing its reaction speed—don't distract him."
Vael dashed in.His blade scraped against the Apex's armored wrist.Sparks scattered.
He didn't try to cut deeper.Not yet.
Tough… tougher than anything before it.He felt the crown pulsing behind his eyes, whispering caution and hunger at the same time.
The Apex twisted, swinging an arm like a hammer.Vael ducked under it.The wind alone almost threw him off balance.
Talon sprinted in, aiming a heavy strike at the Apex's knee.His fist hit armor—and cracked it.
Only a little.But enough.
Mira's eyes widened."That's it! That mask—focus on the mask! It's channeling power from the rift!"
Lira already had an arrow ready."Say less."
The Apex reacted instantly.The slit on its mask widened, burning white.
A shockwave erupted.It blasted Talon backward and threw dirt into the air.
Vael felt a ringing in his skull.Even shadow couldn't dull the vibration.
But he still moved.
He blurred toward the Apex, appearing behind its shoulder.His sword flashed—
Clang.The blade hit the mask's edge and bounced off.
He landed hard.The Apex crashed an elbow toward him.
Vael slid beneath it, breath sharp.
"Vael, stop attacking so fast!" Mira shouted."Every strike on the Apex pulls the fracture open more! If you hit too hard—"
A deep rumble shook the forest.
Lira's eyes widened."Too late…"
The tear split wider—a new shape pressing through from the other side.A horn.A claw.Something massive.
Talon swore under his breath."We don't have time to worry about physics. Just break the mask."
Mira gathered runes, forming a rotating sigil."If we time it together, we can overwhelm its defenses for a moment."
Vael tightened his grip.Shadows spiraled higher around him.
Artemis whispered in his mind.You must finish this quickly… but hold yourself steady. Do not fall into the fracture's pull.
Vael inhaled.Exhaled.Stepped forward.
The Apex rotated its blade, aiming downward.It expected another head-on charge.
But Vael didn't attack.
He vanished.
Shadow swirled around the Apex's legs, rising like smoke.Vael emerged above its shoulder—Lira's arrow streaking beside him.Talon rushing from below.Mira's rune pulse firing from the side.
For a split second—everything lined up.
Vael swung at the mask.The Apex lifted its blade.
The tear shrieked.
Light burst out, blinding them.A shockwave threw Vael back, smashing him through two trees.
He rolled to his feet, coughing.
Lira called out, voice cracked."Vael! Are you—"
He didn't answer.He walked forward, slow but steady.
The Apex's mask flickered.A single crack now ran across it.
Small—but real.
Mira swallowed hard."One more hit like that and the link breaks. But the tear… it's becoming unstable."
Behind the Apex, the creature pushing through clawed harder at the rift.Each scrape widened it by another inch.
Vael lifted his blade.The shadow behind him rose higher than before—twisting like a second figure.
And the Apex braced for the next clash that could break the world open.
Support me on patreon-https://patreon.com/ohara_zetsu?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink