The guardian monster hesitated.
Not with thought. Not with fear.
But with instinct— a primal, ancient warning thrumming through its colossal frame as the jade storm
behind Auren thickened the air into molten glass.
Its tendrils curled inward. Its thunder faded.
Even the forest felt it—branches trembling, mist swirling backward.
Something had changed.
The Monster Evolves
Then—
CRAAAAAACK!
Black lightning ruptured across the creature's hide, splitting its flesh like molten cracks in volcanic stone. Its
body expanded, veins bulging with storms. A deeper aura surged—ancient malice reborn.
The ground collapsed beneath its weight. Air warped.
Alys froze mid‑step. Her crimson aura spasmed, warning her of something far beyond a normal guardian.
Auren narrowed his eyes.
"It mutated…?" he whispered.
No. Not mutated. Awakened.
The creature unleashed a roar that felt like a planet dying.
KRRRRRYYYYAAAAAAHHHH!
The forest shattered under the sound.
1
Collision of Three Powers
The monster attacked first. A starburst of violet lightning erupted outward—
Auren moved. Alys launched.
Three forces collided.
The world broke.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion wasn't sound. It was an event.
Trees didn't fall—they evaporated. Stone didn't crack—it liquefied. Mist didn't swirl—it was obliterated.
Auren's jade claw tore through lightning veins. Alys's crimson spear stabbed into the monster's flank. The
guardian retaliated with annihilating pulses that swallowed the battlefield.
Then—
The earth gave way. A three‑mile circle collapsed into a chasm.
Auren. Alys. The guardian.
All three fell.
The world dimmed. Sound vanished.
Only the storm remained.
The Betrayal
At the cliff's edge, chaos raged.
Lura and Mark struggled to catch their breath—barely alive after witnessing divine forces clash.
The guardian gathered a massive blast and fired it upward toward them.
Auren, mid‑fall, saw it.
His heart lurched.
"LURA! MARK! MOVE!"
2
He didn't think. He didn't hesitate.
He cast his shield—a jade‑corrosive barrier that collided with the thunder blast.
The explosion swallowed him.
But his shield held. He saved them.
Then—
SCHK.
Something cold pierced his chest.
Auren froze.
He looked down.
A blade.
Through him.
He turned his head.
Lura.
Her smile wicked. Cruel. Mocking.
Before he could speak—
SHHK!
Another blade entered his ribs.
Mark.
Expression cold. Emotionless.
Auren's breath trembled.
"…Why?"
Mark shoved him toward the edge.
"Because you're too dangerous to live," Mark said flatly.
3
Lura laughed sharply. "And too stupid to see it coming."
The ground cracked. The abyss opened wider.
Auren fell.
The Pit
Even falling, the monster attacked—firing a final orb of annihilation upward.
The blast streaked toward Lura and Mark.
Their eyes widened.
Auren—bleeding, fading, dying—saw it.
His heart screamed.
"MOVE!" he roared.
He used the last of his strength.
A second shield formed. Jade and violet. Pure defiance.
The blast vanished. Saved them.
Even after betrayal. Even after the blades.
He saved them anyway.
He fell deeper. Bleeding. Vision fading.
He saw a last glimpse of Alys—smirking above.
The truth hit him.
"Ah… So it was you… All of it…"
Alys's smile sharpened. She didn't deny it.
The monster reached him in the darkness.
CRACK!
4
Tendrils pierced him. Three. Four. Six.
His body convulsed. Blood poured. Bones shattered.
Pain blurred into numbness. Numbness blurred into void.
Auren's consciousness slipped.
He whispered.
"Master… I'm sorry… I failed…"
A tear slid down— And ignited.
The Last Flame
The Mark of Flames seared across his brow.
The Bloodburn Technique awakened— Not at Level One. Not at Level Two.
At the final, forbidden level.
Auren's blood boiled. His veins ignited. His body cracked. His flame erupted into a star‑storm inside the
abyss.
The monster recoiled. Terrified.
Auren rose. Barely human. Barely alive.
A star raging inside a dying body.
He threw a punch.
BOOOOOOOM!
The monster's chest cracked.
He struck again.
CRAAAAAASH!
Thunder bled.
He struck a third time.
5
The guardian's torso exploded.
Jade and thunder flame devoured it.
eating bone, eating flesh, eating soul.
The monster screamed.
Auren didn't. His voice was gone. His strength was gone. His blood was gone.
But he kept hitting. And hitting. Because he refused to die on his knees.
At last— The guardian dissolved into ash.
Auren's flames flickered. Dimmed.
He collapsed. Falling into the deepest dark.
A single ember drifted behind him.
Then vanished.
Silence
Above the pit, the surviving cadets stared down.
No sounds. No wind. No thunder.
Alys watched the darkness. For the first time, her smirk faded.
Lura's fingers trembled. Mark's jaw clenched.
They said nothing.
The Mist Forest fell quiet. As if mourning.
Auren Kael was gone.
6