The sky above the Fire Continent disappeared.
It wasn't covered by clouds.
It wasn't dark because night had fallen.
It simply vanished.
The entire horizon was swallowed by a black shadow descending from the massive portal above the crater. Cracks of light spread through the air like wounds across the sky, then shattered one by one.
Amid the destruction—
the Abyss Devourer opened its mouth.
Inside its jaws, a void twisted and churned.
Not fire.
Not energy.
Nothingness.
Then it fired it at the world.
WHOOOOOOOOMMMMM!
A wave of blackness fell like a cosmic meteor.
The air shattered.
Rocks lifted from the ground.
Lava surged out of the crater like screaming red waves.
Sinta screamed with everything she had.
"ARGA!"
Her voice was nearly swallowed by the sound of the apocalypse.
Bimo took a step back, his face pale.
"There's no way we can stop that!"
Farhan stared at his laptop screen, which was nearly overheating from the massive data surge.
"That's not a normal attack!"
His hands trembled.
"It's trying to erase the resonance of all seven Cores at once!"
At the edge of the crater—
Arga didn't move.
His body was covered in glowing cracks. A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. His breathing was heavy, his shoulders rising and falling as he fought through pain beyond anything he could describe.
Yet his hand remained wrapped tightly around the MBG Lunchbox.
Inside, twenty-three glowing rice grains spun rapidly like a tiny galaxy.
Kai stood beside him.
His eyes glowed gold.
"We still have one chance."
Arga stared at the collapsing sky.
Then he nodded.
He raised the lunchbox high.
"As long as the world is still alive…"
He took a deep breath.
"…I won't back down."
The Abyss Devourer's attack reached them.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
But just before the darkness touched the ground—
golden light exploded from Arga's body.
WHOOOOOOMMMMM!
A warm wave swept across the crater.
Cracked lava rocks stopped collapsing.
The scorching air transformed into a soft golden glow, spreading outward like a newborn sun rising from the earth.
Gold and black collided in the sky.
The sky exploded.
Flashes of light tore in every direction.
Volcanoes spewed ash.
The sea surrounding the continent churned violently.
The two energies tore into each other.
Consumed each other.
Repelled each other.
The Guardians looked up.
Ignivar Draco roared from the sky.
Solaris Lion burned brighter.
Ursus Glacialis slammed its claws into the ice forming over the lava-covered ground.
Himal Yaksha lowered its massive horns.
The Forest Guardian raised roots from the dead earth.
They all felt the same thing.
Not Core energy.
Not ancient power.
But—
human determination.
Kai raised his hand.
Golden light flowed from his body into Arga.
Their resonance merged.
The stream of light grew stronger, slowly cutting through the darkness.
Bimo stared with his mouth hanging open.
"Seriously…"
He gave a nervous laugh.
"We're actually fighting an otherworldly monster now."
Dika stood beside him, his eyes fixed on the sky.
"If we survive this, I'm sleeping for a week."
Above them—
the Abyss Devourer growled.
For the first time, the creature was forced half a step backward.
Its eyes burned an even deeper red.
It was angry.
It opened its mouth again.
This time, the void forming inside was far larger.
The sky around it began to be pulled inward.
Rocks floated into the air.
The light surrounding the portal faded.
Farhan looked at his screen and immediately went pale.
"This is bad!"
"The energy output just tripled!"
Lila stared at the sky in horror.
"If that hits…"
"…the Cores themselves could shatter."
Sinta turned toward Arga.
"We have to close the portal. Now!"
Arga didn't answer.
He stared deep into the light connecting the seven Cores.
Inside himself, he could feel all of them.
The breathing forest.
The burning savannah.
The silent mountains.
The sleeping ice.
The pulsing fire.
The living Earth.
And the Earth was calling.
The lunchbox in his hand began to shake violently.
The twenty-three rice grains spun faster and faster.
Then—
a new light appeared among them.
Small.
But so bright that everyone turned toward it.
Bimo pointed with a trembling hand.
"Wait…"
"Don't tell me that's—"
Farhan stared at the data exploding across his screen.
"Guardian energy is surging!"
Lila covered her mouth.
"The twenty-fourth rice grain…"
Golden light erupted.
Bigger than before.
Warmer.
Pure.
The entire crater was bathed in its radiance.
The Guardians responded immediately.
Ignivar Draco unleashed a storm of magma.
Ursus Glacialis summoned spears of ice from the sky.
Solaris Lion fired a beam of solar light.
Himal Yaksha raised a massive wall of stone from the earth.
The Forest Guardian unleashed thousands of energy-infused roots.
And at the center of it all—
Gaia Primordia spread her golden wings.
She roared.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!
All their powers merged into a single colossal beam that shot toward the sky.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The beam struck the Abyss Devourer directly in the chest.
The enormous creature was hurled backward.
The portal behind it cracked.
CRAAACK!
Cracks spread across the entire ring of the sky.
Kai's eyes widened.
"The portal is weakening!"
Farhan shouted.
"Keep pushing! We can close it!"
Sinta raised her hand.
"All Guardians!"
"ATTACK NOW!"
The Guardians roared, their voices shaking the world.
They attacked again.
The sky filled with light.
But—
the Abyss Devourer stopped moving.
Then, slowly…
it smiled.
A faint smile.
The smile of a predator.
Black energy engulfed its entire body.
Its enormous wings spread to their full span, swallowing the light around it.
Kai froze.
"No…"
He stared at the sky, his face pale.
"It hasn't even used its full power."
The Abyss Devourer turned its head.
Not toward Gaia.
Not toward the Guardians.
Toward Arga.
Its eyes narrowed.
At last, it understood.
What threatened it wasn't an ancient Guardian.
Not a dragon of the world.
Not the seven Cores.
But a single human standing at the edge of the crater.
The creature opened its mouth.
Every trace of light in the sky was sucked into the black vortex inside its throat.
Then it fired everything—
straight at Arga.
The sky turned completely black.
Sinta ran.
Bimo screamed.
Kai leaped forward.
"ARGA!!!"
And in one eternal second—
the void descended and swallowed the entire Fire Continent.