The monstrous Voidborn slammed its fist into the soil, creating a shockwave strong enough to hurl Andromeda through two dead trees.

He scrambled up, coughing dust.

"WHY DOES IT HIT LIKE MY FATHER'S BELT?!"

Juno leapt over the creature's oscillating limb, Taishin-enhanced muscles snapping like tightened cords.

Too slow. I need more speed. More push.

Matthew rolled under a sweeping shadow-tendril, Harmonae wrapping around him.

Their twin voices shimmered:

"Matthew… steady… synchronize…"

Matthew inhaled sharply.

Wind exploded from his feet, propelling him upward in a spiraling burst.

"GALE DRIVE!"

His spinning kick connected with the Voidborn's chin, snapping its molten jaw sideways.

But instead of falling…

it laughed.

Dozens of hollow mouths opened across its torso, echoing with distorted delight.

Ceyla cursed violently. "Okay no. Nope. Hate it. Hate everything about it."

Juno shouted, "Focus! Hit the joints! Voidborn don't regenerate emotion they don't have!"

Andromeda pointed mid-air.

"I found a joint! It's the giant glowing heart thing in the center!"

"It is not the heart!" Juno barked.

"It's glowing!"

"That doesn't mean—!"

"It's glowing!!"

The Voidborn swung at them, cutting their argument short as they scattered.

Mari trembled as the sky flashed red above the trees.

Ryn held her steady, pressing his hand over hers.

"Don't watch. Just breathe."

Mari swallowed hard. "But… Khael…"

Ryn's gaze flicked toward him toward the boy standing opposite the monster who wore a calm smile like a blade.

"That boy trusts his team."

His voice softened.

"He always has."

Mari pressed her forehead against his shoulder.

"Stay with me… please."

Ryn didn't look at her.

His eyes were locked on K.

"I am not letting him take what Vince died protecting."

Khael tightened his stance, heart thundering.

K approached in fluid, measured steps like a lion approaching prey that didn't interest him yet, but soon might.

"Your friends are amusing," K mused.

"But they cannot stop a Sanctum Spawn. Not with their current Gate levels."

Khael's voice cracked into a snarl.

"Then try getting the shard from me yourself."

K laughed softly.

"I'm giving you the chance to hand it over willingly."

"I said I don't have it."

K stepped closer again.

The entire forest bent away from him, leaves recoiling, air thinning.

"And I said,"

he whispered, voice like a blade tracing Khael's spine,

"lying doesn't suit you."

Khael gritted his teeth.

I need to buy time. Juno and the others need to finish the Voidborn. I can't let K interfere.

So he smiled.

A reckless, sharp, defiant smile.

"Then come and take it… if you think you can."

K's smile widened

but he didn't move.

The Voidborn reared back, pulling in the corrupted Shinrei around it, forming a massive spear of writhing shadows.

Ceyla's storm flared.

Matthew's wind howled.

Andromeda leapt with a scream.

Juno surged forward Taishin Gate still burning in his veins.

But

The creature stamped down, creating a crater that swallowed them in dust and darkness.

Juno coughed, staggered, wiped blood from his lips.

We're losing ground. And if we fall, Khael dies. Vince dies for nothing.

He forced air into his lungs.

And found it.

The opening.

"MATTHEW!! ANDROMEDA!!"

They snapped their heads toward him.

Juno pointed at the Voidborn's exposed spinal column where molten bones vibrated.

"Break its balance!! I'll finish it!!"

Matthew exhaled, focus sharpening.

Harmonae encircled him.

Wind spiraled.

Andromeda clapped his hands together, grin manic.

"On three!"

"WE DON'T NEED THREE! JUST DO IT!" Juno roared.

They attacked.

Matthew's tempest strike hit the left side.

Andromeda's wind-knee hammered the right.

The Voidborn staggered for the first time.

Juno sprinted in, Taishin strength exploding through every tendon.

Vince… lend me your resolve.

He drove in a crushing blow

the kind that shattered boulders

straight into its core.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the monster's chest.

A screech ripped out of its hundred mouths.

They had done it.

They broke the Sanctum Spawn's anchor.

Mari flinched at the sound as shockwaves rippled through the trees.

Ryn wrapped an arm around her.

"The kids… they might just do it."

His voice held something unfamiliar something like pride.

Mari whispered,

"Ryn… will you stay with us? After this?"

Ryn didn't answer.

He couldn't.

Because his eyes were locked on K.

Still smiling.

Still watching Khael.

Still waiting.

"The moment they win," Ryn breathed,

"he'll strike."

Khael stepped backward, sweat sliding down his forehead.

K tilted his head, amused.

"Look at you," he whispered.

"So desperate not to die. So desperate to protect what you were never meant to hold."

Khael spat blood.

"I'm not letting you touch them… or the shard."

K raised a finger.

The Voidborn behind them shrieked.

The creature's body split open, dark ichor spiraling into the air like unraveling threads.

Khael's heart dropped.

No… don't tell me

K smiled softly.

"Sanctum Spawn… detonate."

The Voidborn's core cracked open like a star collapsing.

Juno screamed, "MOVE!"

Ceyla's lightning ignited.

Matthew shielded Sae.

Andromeda's lungs collapsed in fear.

The explosion of Void Shinrei swallowed the battlefield in roaring, world-eating blackness

K stood with his hands folded behind his back, the wind of the battlefield brushing past him as if he were nothing but a spectator in an arena he already knew the outcome of.

"I told you, Khael Corzedar…" His voice cut through the clamor calm, patient, almost bored. "Hand me the Shard of Flesh. Now look at your decision. Your own arrogance that you could win."

The ground trembled as Juno and the others unleashed their Vein Gates, explosions of color and pressure rupturing the air. And still, K didn't move. He simply watched.

"Damn it…" Khael hissed, teeth grinding as sweat rolled down his jaw.

Wind sparked around his arms, flickering against the debris storm swirling around him. Every instinct screamed at him move, defend, do something but his eyes never left K.

His friends were fighting for their lives. The gates were open. The world sounded like it was cracking apart.

But K

K just watched him.

Khael stepped back, pulse racing, mind snapping between the battles unfolding on both fronts.

Meanwhile Ryn stumbled forward as another shockwave hit, but Mari caught him, her arms wrapping tight around her brother.

"You idiot," she muttered, her voice shaking. "Don't scare me like that."

Ryn laughed weakly, hugging her back. The air was thick with burning Shinrei and flying debris, but in that second their world shrank to just the two of them blood, bruises, and relief.

Then the next explosion shook them apart.

To be continue

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.