Adlet had no time to think.
Every heartbeat, every second of inaction could mean the difference between life and death.
He pressed his palm against his wounded leg, letting the green Aura surge through it. The warmth spread quickly, but it wasn't enough to ease the depth of the burn. Pain subsided slightly, but the damage was deep — he needed time, and time was the one thing he didn't have.
He dragged Polo further back behind the rocks, ensuring his unconscious friend was completely hidden from view. The weight of Polo's life in his hands only added to his urgency. Then, he risked a glance past the jagged edge of his shelter.
The Ruby Turtle was still advancing — massive, relentless, its eyes glowing like molten gold. It was barely twenty meters away.
A sudden roar split the air, and another whirlwind of fire erupted from the creature's mouth.
Adlet ducked back into cover as the flames scorched the stone, sparks raining down around him.
He clenched his teeth.
Fighting it head-on was impossible in his condition… but if he couldn't defeat it, he could at least draw it away from Polo.
The green Aura around his leg faded, replaced by the dark, writhing shade of the beetle's power. The black Aura rippled across his arms, swirling with a harsh, metallic hum. His muscles burned with the unnatural power as he seized one of the nearby boulders, straining against its weight.
He began to move, step by step, using it as a crude shield against the creature's next attack.
Flames burst against the rock, molten streaks dripping down its surface. The heat was suffocating, and every breath he drew felt like inhaling fire. His vision swam in the rising haze.
But he kept moving.
Still, the Ruby Turtle was closing the gap — unstoppable, each heavy step cracking the ground beneath it.
He couldn't hold out much longer.
When it finally reached striking range, Adlet dropped the boulder with a grunt and shifted his Aura once more.
The green energy coiled around his arm as he launched his whip of Aura upward, the tendril latching onto a rocky ledge. With a sharp pull, he swung himself out of the monster's reach, landing heavily on another slope further away.
He gasped for breath, immediately channeling the green Aura again. His leg pulsed with light, muscles knitting together faster than ever before. The healing felt almost unnatural, as though his very will to survive was forcing his body to catch up.
Faster than he'd ever managed during training — as if the sheer terror of death had unlocked something dormant inside him.
Within moments, he could move again.
He rose, just as the creature's colossal form loomed once more into view, its shell gleaming like a field of burning gemstones.
Adlet gritted his teeth. Running wasn't an option anymore. He had to try something, anything.
With a flick of his wrist, he sent his whip of Aura flying once more — this time, it wrapped tightly around the top of the turtle's shell.
He pulled himself up and landed on the creature's back. The surface was hot to the touch, vibrating with inner energy.
Adlet pressed both hands against the shell, forcing his dark Aura outward, trying to crack it, crush it, anything.
Nothing.
The shell didn't even flinch.
He struck it again, and again — the shockwaves from each impact vibrating up his arms — but the Ruby Turtle might as well have been carved from the bones of the earth itself.
From this vantage point, he could see the entire beast — an impregnable fortress of fire and stone.
Then, the turtle's massive head began to turn, its serpentine neck twisting, the glowing eyes finding him even here.
Even the top of its shell wasn't safe.
Adlet's instincts screamed. He leapt off the creature's back, landing on the other side just behind it.
And there — right beside him — was the tail.
Unarmored. Unprotected.
The realization hit him like lightning.
Every fortress has a weak point.
He grasped the tail with both hands, channeling every ounce of black Aura into his muscles. The beetle's power roared to life within him, veins of shadow streaking across his skin.
Then he began to spin.
At first, the massive creature barely moved, its claws scraping against the ground. The effort tore through him, every joint aching, every bone on fire as the weight of the turtle strained against his will. But Adlet refused to stop.
He spun again. And again.
The earth itself seemed to tilt beneath the strain, the Ruby Turtle sliding inch by inch across the dirt.
His aura flared brighter, screaming in resonance with his body's pain — and yet, he felt something else beneath it.
A strange, exalting force.
He had never felt this alive.
The monster's shell tore through the ground, sparks and dirt flying in all directions.
Then, with one last, desperate roar, Adlet heaved with everything he had —
And the colossal Ruby Turtle began to lift.
The air exploded in a thunderous shockwave as tons of living rock and fire rose from the earth, spinning with terrifying momentum.
Then, with a cry that was half roar, half agony, Adlet released his grip.
The Ruby Turtle flew.
The massive body crashed into the rocky mountainside with a deafening explosion, the ground shaking violently as tons of debris rained down. A cloud of dust swallowed the battlefield, followed by the thunderous collapse of the rock face.
When the echo finally faded, silence returned — heavy, suffocating.
Adlet fell to one knee, gasping for breath, his arms trembling violently.
He stared at the mountain of shattered stone where the creature had disappeared.
It was over.
Or so he thought.
The pile of rubble began to tremble. Pebbles slid. Cracks split the mound of stone.
Then, with a guttural roar, the Ruby Turtle's head burst free from beneath the debris, eyes burning brighter than ever.
Adlet's heart sank.
This thing wasn't going to stay down for long.
He faced a choice. Run — take Polo and flee while the creature was trapped — or finish what he had started.
For a moment, doubt flickered. His body screamed for rest, every nerve alight with exhaustion.
But as he stared at the half-buried monster, memories flashed through his mind — of his village, of every time he had refused to back down, of every moment that had shaped who he was.
If he ran now, he would betray everything he had ever fought for.
His breath steadied. His gaze hardened.
No. He wouldn't run. Not this time.
He stepped forward, limping slightly, every movement echoing with resolve. The Ruby Turtle's head turned toward him, fire already building in its throat.
Adlet didn't hesitate. His body moved on instinct.
He dashed forward, planting his feet just as the creature unleashed its burning breath.
Both his hands slammed onto the creature's snout — gripping it, forcing its massive beak shut.
The world ignited.
Flames burst from the creature's jaws, trapped within. Fire leaked through its nostrils, sparks and smoke searing the air around them.
Adlet screamed in pain, his skin blistering, his arms burning as the temperature soared. But he didn't let go.
"Resist… RESIST!" he thought, his voice echoing only in his mind.
The Ruby Turtle thrashed, its claws gouging the ground. Its eyes bled red light, body convulsing as the fire turned inward, consuming itself.
Pain was everywhere — his, the creature's, the world's.
A brutal contest of endurance, of will, of pure defiance.
"RESIST!"
The flames sputtered.
The creature let out a final, strangled cry before going still — its eyes dimming, its body collapsing in on itself with a heavy, echoing thud.
The heat faded. Silence fell once more.
Adlet's hands, charred black, dropped limply to his sides. His breath came in shallow gasps as the massive body of the Ruby Turtle began to tremble. Cracks of light split across its shell — faint at first, then blinding.
A low hum filled the air, almost peaceful, as the creature's form started to dissolve. Shards of red and gold light drifted upward, breaking apart into thousands of glowing fragments that floated into the dark sky like dying embers.
Adlet watched, his vision blurring, the world dimming around him. Those fragments — warm, soft — fell gently over him, like a silent rain of stars.
He sank to his knees, then onto his back, eyes fixed on the shimmering motes above.
"I… did it…" he thought faintly, a weak smile tracing his lips as the last remnants of the monster faded into the night.
Then the darkness claimed him.