Chapter 4 — Cataclysm Unbound
The air tore open with a scream.
Abyrus's body split with cracks of molten crimson as flames bled from his veins like rivers of hellfire. The ground around him twisted, trees withered to ash, and the scent of burning souls filled the forest. His laughter crawled through the air — heavy, layered, echoing as though a hundred voices spoke from one throat.
"Do you still believe… you can kill me again?" Abyrus hissed, his eyes burning like twin suns drenched in blood.
Kael's expression hardened. "He's… shedding his seal."
Liora felt it too — a pressure so heavy it crushed the air itself. "The Cataclysm Form," she whispered. "The one from nine years ago…"
Anay stepped back, his chest tightening. The crimson aura swallowed the horizon, bending the world's colors until even the light seemed to kneel before Abyrus.
The Demon of the Seventh Hell stood reborn — wings of molten metal unfurling, seven glowing sigils burning bright on his chest, each pulsing like a heart of flame.
Kael drew a sharp breath. "Liora."
She nodded. No more holding back.
A gust of silver-black wind erupted around Kael. His aura surged — dark streaks swirling through the wind like the eyes of a storm. Two long blades shimmered into existence in his hands, forged from void and gale alike — Tenebris, the dual swords that sang with the cry of shadows.
At the same moment, a roar echoed through the sky.
From behind Kael, a colossal lion leapt forth — its mane flowing with astral winds, eyes glowing gold like burning dawn. Fenrius, the guardian of storms, descended with thunder in his roar.
Liora stepped beside him, calm but fierce — her hair catching the cold wind as ice fragments danced around her. She lifted her hand, and a glowing emerald whip shimmered into life — Verdora, alive and breathing, veins of light running through its length.
"Let's end this," she said quietly.
From above, a radiant green bird spiraled down — Verdalis, her Spirit Guardian, spreading wings that shimmered like living leaves. And beside her, from a crack in the soil, a white wolf emerged — Lunaris, eyes sharp, its breath a whisper of frost and earth.
Anay's heart pounded as he watched. He had trained under Master Kai, fought monsters, and faced illusions of his own fear — but this… this was something else.
This was war between realms.
Between fury and memory.
Abyrus laughed, the sound splitting the forest apart. "So you have grown, little seeds. The weaklings I spared now carry storms and thorns. Delightful."
His claws ignited. Flames spiraled up his arms, forming blades made of pure infernal energy. Each step he took burned the ground black.
Kael moved first — vanishing in a blur of dark wind. Abyrus turned, but Kael was already behind him, blades cutting through the air.
"Dark Strike: Twin Sever!"
Two arcs of black light sliced across Abyrus's back — but the demon twisted mid-air, catching one blade in his claws. The impact split the air, a shockwave ripping through the forest.
Liora dashed in — vines coiling from her arm, roots cracking through stone. "Verdora's Embrace!"
The whip lashed out, glowing emerald as it wrapped around Abyrus's leg — vines growing instantly, sprouting thorns of ice that pierced through his molten flesh.
Abyrus roared. "Earth and Ice… and Vines?" His flames surged, burning through the roots. "So you wield three affinities, girl?"
"Four," Liora said coldly, snapping Verdora back as frost burst beneath her feet. "You forgot balance."
Abyrus's smirk faltered.
From above, Verdalis shrieked — a cry that made the air shimmer. Shards of emerald light rained from its wings, while Fenrius, Kael's lion, pounced with thunder.
For a heartbeat, heaven and hell collided. The lion's claws tore into fire; the demon's wings crashed against wind.
Anay shielded his eyes as the explosion of light and flame swallowed everything. The ground cracked, trees turned to embers, and the sky itself looked as if it were bleeding.
When the smoke cleared, Kael was on one knee — breathing hard, Tenebris flickering dim. Liora stood beside him, blood running down her arm, Verdora trembling like a wounded beast.
Abyrus was still standing.
His body smoldered, his molten wings cracked, but his grin was wider than ever.
"So you've slain Balgeor Vrax. Vedar. Kharid. I wondered who destroyed my brothers in the lower circles."
His flames rose higher, forming horns of crimson fire. "Now I see."
Kael spat blood. "Then you should know you'll fall like them."
Abyrus tilted his head, eyes glowing with sick joy. "Fall?" His voice deepened, layered with a thousand screams. "No, child. I'll burn this forest into your grave."
He spread his arms, and all seven infernal sigils lit at once.
Anay's breath froze. The world itself dimmed. Even Hakai's aura inside him stirred, restless.
"Kael!" Liora shouted.
But Kael didn't move. His eyes met Abyrus's flame — and for an instant, a flicker of fear crossed even his face.
Abyrus grinned wider.
"Now… let's finish what I started nine years ago."
The sky split open again, this time not crimson — but pure, endless black.
Anay took one step forward, fists clenched. Don't interfere, Kael had said. This is our fight.
He trembled, every instinct screaming to move, to strike, to protect them.
But he didn't. He couldn't.
Not yet.
As the flames of the Seventh Hell roared to life and Kael and Liora charged once more into the storm, Anay whispered under his breath — his eyes glinting faint purple in the infernal light.
"End it... before I have to."
To be continued.