Outside the temple.
Dark clouds gathered above the mountain peak as if summoned by rage itself. They rolled in heavy, layered, bruised with lightning that crawled within their depths like living veins. The air thickened, pressure sinking into the bones of every living thing that remained on the mountain.
Thunder struck.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again, lightning speared down into the stone courtyard outside the hidden temple, shattering ancient tiles and sending shockwaves through the compound.
The villagers, who were scattered in the temple, woke in terror. Some collapsed to their knees instantly, pressing their foreheads to the ground. Others whispered frantic prayers with trembling lips.
"The mountain god is enraged…"
"We have failed her…"
"Heaven save us…"
Yet none dared to go near the temple.
From the temple's courtyard, they could only see fragments of the battle as lightning tore the sky apart, the silhouette of a massive white tiger towering within the temple, and two darker shapes dancing around it like living shadows.
Inside the temple.
Kelya moved.
Not with measured brutality this time, but with pure annihilation. She wanted to go all out now.
Her massive body blurred with lightning as she charged straight toward Kevin. Each stride cracked the floor beneath her, claws outstretched, electricity roaring along her forelimb like a guided weapon.
The air shrieked.
Kevin raised his dagger just as Black Rabbit darted in from the side, shadow compressing around his limbs into cutting edges. The shadow leapt for Kelya's blind spot.
Too slow.
Kelya twisted mid-charge with terrifying precision. Her tail whipped outward, intercepting Black Rabbit and slamming him hard into a shattered pillar. Stone exploded around his body as he vanished into dust and debris.
Kevin met the charge head-on.
Lightning tore into his enhancement aura, shredding it layer by layer. Heat scorched his face as Kelya's claw descended like a collapsing tower. Kevin crossed his arms and dagger to block—
The impact launched him across the temple.
He crashed through two pillars, stone bursting into clouds of white dust before he finally struck the far wall with a bone-rattling thud. Pain detonated through his spine. His breath left him in a violent gasp.
Before he could rise, Kelya was already there.
Her paw slammed down again, barely missing his head as Kevin rolled sideways. The floor where he had been standing cratered inward, molten lightning crawling across the broken surface.
Kevin surged to his feet and rushed forward in a desperate blur, slipping beneath her chest and carving upward with his dagger. The blade bit into her torso—but not deep enough.
Kelya roared and kicked him away like a broken doll.
Kevin flew, struck another pillar, and fell to one knee in a daze.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard three things at once:
The thunder above.
The distant panic of villagers at the temple's courtyard.
And his own heartbeat—too fast, too loud.
Kevin pushed himself up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Even now… they were still losing.
Yes, they had wounded her.
Yes, Kelya bled.
But her movements were still strong.
Her aura was still violent.
Her storm still answered her will.
Kevin tightened his grip on his dagger, hands trembling—not from fear, but from the crushing weight of helpless realization.
We can't win like this.
The thought struck him with brutal clarity.
Black Rabbit staggered from the wreckage, one arm hanging wrong, shadow mist leaking from fractures like smoke from shattered armor. He was still ready to fight, but Kevin could see the strain now.
Even his Fallen beast shadow was being pushed to the brink.
Kevin's chest tightened.
I want to become stronger. I need more power.
The thought didn't feel like desperation.
It felt like an invitation.
Something moved inside him.
A pulse.
Then another.
Heat surged through his core, then spread outward in waves. His vision darkened at the edges. His veins burned—not with electricity, but with something deeper, mysterious.
Then the voices came.
A man's voice, raw and feral:
Kill. Slash. Stab.
A woman's voice, calm and consuming:
Burn everything. Why hesitate? Why protect?
Kevin staggered, clutching his chest.
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
His vision collapsed into darkness—
And then opened again.
His eyes all turned black.
Kevin moved.
Not forward.
Not sideways.
He simply appeared in front of Kelya.
The air buckled where he crossed it.
Kelya recoiled in surprise just as Kevin drove his dagger forward in a brutal, straight thrust. She barely twisted in time—the blade grazing past her throat, carving a line of sizzling blood across her neck.
Before she could retaliate, Kevin was already moving again.
No footwork.
No setup.
Only instinctive violence.
He leapt upward and rained slashes across her chest in a blur of steel, each strike guided not by thought but by unrelenting hunger. Sparks and blood flew together as the shadow-covered dagger tore across Kelya's fur.
She roared and unleashed a discharge of lightning that flattened nearby pillars.
Kevin didn't dodge.
He passed through it.
Electricity tore into his body and vanished into the dark glow encasing him.
Kelya struck back, armored tail lashing out in a lethal arc.
Kevin caught it.
Mid-swing.
His fingers crushed into the armored plating as if gripping soft metal. With a savage twist of his body, he swung the five-meter Storm Tiger off her feet and slammed her into the floor.
The temple shook.
Black Rabbit rushed in to assist, claws glowing darker than ever.
Kevin backhanded him without looking.
The strike sent Black Rabbit skidding across the floor in a burst of shattered stone and shadow mist.
Friend and foe no longer existed.
Only targets.
Kelya surged back to her feet in fury and disbelief.
She lunged.
Kevin met her charge head-on.
They collided in an explosion of thunder and shadow. Claws tore across Kevin's torso, drawing deep gouges across his chest and back. Blood sprayed, but his body did not slow. Dark green glow covered his wound, healing him.
He climbed up her body like a predator scaling prey, driving his dagger repeatedly into her shoulder, neck, and spine. Each stab came faster than the last, powered by something far beyond mortal strength.
Kelya's tails wrapped around him and crushed inward.
Bones cracked.
Muscles tore.
Kevin didn't scream.
He only pushed harder.
With a roar of raw, inhuman force, he tore free of her grasp, flipping backward through the air and landing in a low crouch.
Kelya staggered.
Lightning flickered erratically around her form.
Before she could recover, Kevin sprinted forward in a straight killing line and leaped.
He drove his dagger directly into her chest.
Through muscle.
Through bone.
Through storm-charged flesh.
Into her heart.
Kelya screamed.
A scream that shook the mountain.
Lightning erupted outward in every direction, blasting Kevin away like a cannon shot. He flew across the battlefield and smashed into the far temple wall, stone collapsing around his body as he slid to the ground.
The blackness in his eyes shattered.
Kevin blinked.
Once.
Twice.
His vision returned to normal.
Pain hit him all at once.
He groaned, struggling to rise as fragments of memory slipped through his fingers like water.
"…What… happened…?"
Across the ruined temple, Kelya collapsed.
Blood poured freely from the wound in her chest. Her lightning failed in unstable flashes. Her massive form trembled as life bled out of the goddess she once claimed to be.
She lifted her head with great effort and looked at Kevin.
Her voice was no longer mocking.
Only weary… and faintly awed.
"You are no longer… human…"
Her body fell.
The Storm Tiger stumbled the temple floor one final time.
And the thunder above the mountain finally fell silent.
Rain began to fall.
Soft at first.
Then heavier. Like the sky is crying.
The mountain god had fallen.
Kevin lay against the broken wall, breathing hard, staring at the lifeless form of Kelya. Black Rabbit slowly dragged himself back to his side, battered but alive.
Far beyond the temple walls, Celize felt the storm end. And ask Sallie to go back.
Sallie put down Celize and started going back to the temple.