As Ravihiro and Krishima surged ahead, the cavern walls trembled. A sharp, chilling voice echoed through the abyss.
🔥 "And where do you think you're going, little princess?"
From the darkness, a silhouette emerged—a towering warrior clad in obsidian armor, with crimson horns protruding from his forehead. His deep violet eyes glowed with an unsettling hunger for battle. His massive spear, wreathed in flickering black and red energy, pulsed with an ominous aura.
🔥 "I am Vokar ,"
he declared, his voice a growl that sent vibrations through the stone. "And your path ends here."
Rumina's eyes narrowed, her sword humming with raw energy as she stepped forward.
🔥 "Then I'll cut a new one."
Ravihiro turned back, but Rumina held up her hand without even looking at him.
🔥 "Go," she said softly, but there was steel in her voice. "You have bigger fights ahead."
Krishima hesitated, glancing at Ravihiro. "She'll be fine. Let's go."
With that, the two disappeared into the darkness, leaving Rumina alone with the monstrous warrior.
🔥 Vokar smirked, twirling his spear.
🔥 "Brave. But also foolish."
In an instant, he vanished—appearing behind her in a blur, spear thrusting forward like lightning!
🔥 CLANG!
Rumina barely dodged, her blade clashing with his spear, sending shockwaves through the cavern. The sheer force of his attack sent cracks through the stone beneath them.
🔥 "You're strong," Vokar admitted, spinning his spear, the tip whistling through the air. "But not strong enough."
🔥 "We'll see about that."
Rumina's body shimmered, her speed increasing as she vanished, appearing above him in the blink of an eye.
🔥 "Scarlet Lotus—"
🔥 BOOM!
A fiery explosion erupted, consuming the battlefield in a storm of petals and fire. The cavern roared with energy, as their duel
BOOM!
A massive explosion shattered the towering obsidian gates of the Viroshis' fortress, sending shockwaves rippling through the dark, storm-ridden stronghold.
Ravihiro and Krishima stepped through the smoke, their weapons dripping with the blood of the abominations they had just slain. The air was thick with the scent of burnt flesh and steel, and the eerie silence beyond the gates sent a shiver down their spines.
🔥 "Something's off," Krishima muttered, gripping his wrist as a faint blue aura flickered around him.
Ravihiro said nothing, but his Ryugan eyes burned, scanning the desolate halls of the fortress. The entire place reeked of death, yet there wasn't a single Viroshis in sight.
Instead—monsters.
Grotesque chimeric creatures lunged from the shadows, their bodies stitched together from the corpses of beasts and humans alike. Fangs. Claws. Writhing tentacles.
🔥 "Tch. Annoying."
Ravihiro vanished, appearing behind one of the creatures as his sword sang through the air.
SLASH!
A single stroke—the monster's head flew off before it even realized it had been struck.
Krishima charged ahead, his fists shattering an abomination's skull with a single punch. He didn't stop. Another leaped at him from above—but he twisted mid-air, grabbing its throat and slamming it into the stone floor with bone-crushing force.
🔥 "This is too easy," Krishima growled, crushing another creature's ribs with a single kick.
Ravihiro wasn't convinced. His sword flickered, cutting down a dozen monsters in seconds, but his expression remained unreadable.
🔥 "That's the problem."
They had fought their way through a supposed stronghold… and not a single Viroshis had appeared.
🔥 "Where are they?"
Suddenly—
🔥 KRRRRAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!
The ground split open beneath them.
A massive shadow erupted from the depths, a monstrous specter of dark energy with a twisted crown hovering above its formless head. The very walls of the fortress trembled.
🔥 "You're finally here."
A deep voice rumbled through the darkness.
🔥 "Welcome to the abyss."
The real battle had just begun.