The wind over the desert felt like it was scratching the sky. Sand and silence.
Malhar still floated upon his golden cloud, his gaze lazy yet sharp, fixed on the horizon split by the explosion before.
The glow of the ancient runes carved into the earth's crust still trembled. That energy… he hadn't felt it in ages.
> "Interesting… that power… it's not something mortals should possess."
— he murmured, resting his chin on his hand, eyes gleaming with the curiosity of a bored god.
The smoke of battle began to fade.
The ground, once consumed by the chaos between Cerberus and Ignaroth, was now covered in craters and pillars of solidified magma.
At the center, Hinata stood — untouched. Her black hair swayed in the burning wind.
Her pupils shimmered with a cold lilac hue — marks of her clan's ancient curse.
Runes of light still pulsed across her skin, glowing like a seal that refused to be contained.
Malhar leaned forward, intrigued.
He could see it — her aura danced between the sacred and the profane, a living contradiction.
> "The curse is active… yet she wields it as if it were part of her.
That's… rare."
— thought Malhar, between a smile and a sigh.
---
The Desert Field
Ignaroth, still in his humanoid form, emerged from the rocks. His eyes, burning like fire, were cracks of pure rage.
His body was covered in molten runes, but his pride was unbroken.
He raised his arm, and the ground trembled — columns of magma rose, trapping Hinata inside a suffocating ring of heat.
> "I'm not done with you, insolent witch!"
— he roared, his voice tearing the air like thunder.
Cerberus, now partially healed, appeared behind him.
The demon blood beneath his pale skin boiled, and his black horns had grown longer — a sign he was taking this seriously.
His grin was wild, almost gleeful.
> "Ignaroth, let me have some fun first.
You're far too restrained."
— mocked the half-demon, spreading his arms wide.
Hinata closed her eyes.
For a moment, silence reigned.
Then — time stopped. Literally.
The waves of heat froze mid-air, grains of sand hanging like golden dust.
She opened her eyes again, and Malhar smiled.
> "Hmph… temporal manipulation. So she inherited that too."
— he muttered, impressed.
With a single motion, she lifted her hand.
The circle of magma shattered like glass.
When time resumed its flow, the shock of her magic rippled through the entire desert.
---
Hinata — The Burden and the Power
She looked at the two Primordials with the calm of someone carrying a weight the world could never understand.
> "Kael gave me an order.
And you… are nothing but echoes of what's already been forgotten."
— she said, her voice steady.
Her words cut deeper than any blade.
Cerberus growled and lunged forward, his fist wrapped in demonic energy that cracked the ground for miles.
Hinata vanished — reappearing behind him — a white flame of divine light erupted from her palm.
> "Purifier of Light."
The impact was instant.
Cerberus roared, launched skyward.
Ignaroth tried to intervene, but Hinata whispered something in an ancient tongue — and the magma around him hardened into stone, binding him.
Malhar folded his arms, watching.
His smile widened.
This wasn't just strength — it was control. Balance between destruction and purpose.
> "So this is what you learned from him, girl…
Kael shaped you with the patience of a weary god."
— murmured Malhar, with a trace of pride and wonder.
---
Judgment of the Echoes
Ignaroth broke free of the stone with a roar, his body cracking like molten iron.
He charged at Hinata, turning the air into fire. Cerberus followed, laughing like a freed beast.
Hinata raised her arm — the sky opened.
Spears of light rained down, colliding with the flames and splitting the horizon in flashes.
The entire desert shook.
Cerberus dodged with inhuman agility, using portals of dark energy to teleport.
He appeared behind her, landing a clean hit.
Hinata was thrown across rocks and dunes.
Malhar's eyes widened — not from fear, but from awe.
She rose slowly, blood dripping from the corner of her lips.
Even wounded, she smiled.
> "You still don't understand.
I'm not fighting alone."
— she whispered, extending her hand.
The ground glowed — and for an instant, Kael appeared as an ethereal projection behind her.
An echo of his soul, a spiritual remnant.
Cerberus froze. Ignaroth too.
The name Kael still carried weight among Primordials.
> "You dare raise your hands against one blessed by him?"
— said the echo, as runes across the desert lit up.
Hinata's spiritual power surged.
Streams of light around her took the form of translucent wings.
She ascended — the sand rose in golden cyclones, the desert blazing with radiance.
> "If you wish to see the true power of my curse…
then watch."
She spun her crystal staff — time slowed again.
Ignaroth tried to react — too late.
She teleported above him, trapping him within a ring of light.
Cerberus leapt — but Hinata was already elsewhere, conjuring multiple spheres of pure energy.
Malhar laughed.
> "Hah… she's toying with them."
— he said, amused.
> "But that magic… it's ancient. Nearly forgotten.
Where did she learn it?"
---
Memories of the Ancient Clan
As he watched, memories resurfaced — the curse of Yuta's clan.
That ancient lineage of warrior-mages who balanced light and darkness, sacrificing their souls to contain their own power.
> "There were few of them… but each one was an empire.
Until Yuta destroyed them."
— Malhar muttered gravely.
He knew what it meant.
If Hinata had truly inherited the curse — and mastered it — the balance of the world was about to collapse again.
The earth itself began to react — cracks of energy spread through the desert, draining life and birthing chaos.
---
The Flame and the Roar
Cerberus attacked again, now in full fury. His eyes glowed crimson.
Ignaroth roared beside him — lava and demonic fire collided, forming a sun over the desert.
Hinata crossed her arms before her face. The explosion devoured everything.
Even Malhar clenched his jaw — for a moment, he felt the weight of it.
When the light faded… Hinata still floated, surrounded by a golden barrier.
She looked at them, weary yet unbroken.
> "You don't deserve death. Not yet."
— she said coldly, opening her hands.
Time froze once more.
She moved to them, touched their foreheads, and sacred symbols flared to life.
Both were thrown back, unconscious.
> "Sleep. Until Kael decides your fate."
Malhar descended from his cloud, intrigued.
He landed on the cracked ground.
> "You truly are something rare.
Time magic, telekinesis, purification, sealing… all within one soul.
You're anything but ordinary."
Hinata met his gaze, her eyes glowing beneath the dying sun.
> "And you, Monkey God… did you come just to watch the world burn?"
— she asked, calm yet piercing.
Malhar raised an eyebrow, surprised.
> "You know who I am… and arrived before I sensed you.
That's no small feat."
— he replied, folding his arms.
Hinata gave a faint smile.
> "Kael told me you'd come.
He said to give you this — an invitation from the King of Ruin himself."
— she said, materializing a sigil of violet energy before him.
Malhar stared at it.
The sigil pulsed — the same glow that burned in Kael's eyes.
> "So… he's finally making his move."
— Malhar muttered, glancing at the sky.
Hinata turned, floating upward once again.
> "The awakening has begun, Malhar.
And when the echoes converge… even gods will tremble at the sound."
She vanished into light.
Malhar stood there, gazing into the emptiness.
The wind returned.
And the desert became only a desert again — for now.
> "So the echoes truly return… Kael, Yuta, Lyra… and that girl.
Heh. The world will crack before it ends."
— he murmured, rising back onto his cloud and vanishing among the skies.