The silence in the coastal cave was profound, the peace of the last night before a great battle. Outside, the first faint light of the seventh and final day on Trial Island Theta was beginning to fracture the darkness. Inside, the massive congregation of Sebastian and Kael's Rune-Beasts began to stir, their inherent elemental energies subtly intensifying in anticipation.
Sebastian stood by the cave entrance, watching the horizon turn from violet to fiery orange, the central mountain—their target—a jagged silhouette against the coming dawn. Kael joined him, his cloak drawn tight, his face etched with a mixture of excitement and grim sobriety.
"The final day, My Lord," Kael murmured, his eyes sweeping across the cave where their companions—three Soul Sentinels, four Arcane Protectors, and seven powerful Flame Wardens—were readying themselves.
"It is," Sebastian confirmed, his voice low, his attention focused on the distant peak. "The dawn of the Rune-Beast War. The Heart of Ice will surface soon, and every icon we saw on the academy's map will be converging on that mountain. We are no longer hunting; we are being hunted."
Sebastian turned to address his partner and his entire formidable cohort. He didn't need to shout; his voice, imbued with a light touch of his Beast Whisper talent, resonated directly in the minds of every creature present.
"The plan remains simple, but the execution must be flawless," Sebastian stated. "Our goal is to reach the summit, secure the Heart of Ice for the Frostmaw, and leave the island victorious. We will not be bogged down in unnecessary duels. We move with speed and overwhelming force."
The mighty Frostmaw, a creature of overwhelming physical power and Ice/Water/Earth affinity, already stood taller than the other beasts. Its pale blue-white fur shimmered, its massive forelimbs, tipped with ice-spike claws, flexing slightly. It let out a purposeful, quiet growl, anticipating the fusion of its Tier IV form into the majestic, Tier V Narwhal Leviathan.
"Frostmaw, your destiny is on that peak. Your Rune Power Level of 1,200 will soon be 1,850. Your role is simple: stay protected. You are the objective, not a combatant until the final moment." Sebastian looked at the Seraphaquor and the Ignarok. "Seraphaquor, your celestial shielding and purification will be paramount. You are the Heart of Defense."
The radiant Tier V angel dragon nodded, its opaline scales shimmering. "My Lord, the purity of my shield shall not break."
"Ignarok," Sebastian continued, addressing the crimson tyrant, "your new power is untested in war. Today, you demonstrate your Cinder-Mind Supremacy. You will be the Point of Penetration—you and your Fire/Earth fusion will smash through the defenses of the Central and Northern Ice specialists, exploiting their Fire Weakness."
The Ignarok lowered its great head in understanding. *My power is yours to command. I will melt their defenses.*
Sebastian then turned to his Tier IV vanguard. "Thunderjaw Wyvern, you and your lightning will support the Ignarok's push, disabling any aerial threats. Stribane Tiger, you are the flank, a swift shadow cutting off retreats."
He looked at Kael's team. "Kael, the Duskmane is our counter-force. Its Luna Grace will counteract the mental attacks from the Elven and Eastern magical beasts. The Azure Zephyrex will run interference, blinding or confusing the enemy's ranged attackers."
Kael, having prepared his own command strategy, added, "My Lord, the Stoneclaw Grizzly and Boulder Fang will be our moving fortress, securing our rear and providing immediate earth shielding against those massive Southern Continent tanks, like the Terrakor Elephant and the Buildhorn Rhino."
Sebastian nodded, satisfied. "The plan is aggressive: a full-frontal assault. We are too powerful to sneak around. We will hit them with the fury of fire, ice, lightning, and shadow, all at once."
With the final words spoken, Sebastian and Kael mounted their respective companions—Sebastian atop the Thunderjaw Wyvern, and Kael mounted on the Duskmane. The ground shook as the massive cohort surged forward, abandoning the cave and racing toward the central peak, a unified wave of elemental power.
The final day broke over Trial Island Theta, not with a gentle morning light, but with the harsh, red glare of imminent conflict. The central mountain peak, the axis of the island, was now clearly visible, a terrifying natural citadel crowned with a shimmering, ethereal blue light—the fully materialized Heart of Ice.
Sebastian, shrouded by his Sentinel Facemask and clad in the reinforced plates of his Veil of the Silent Sentinel armor, felt the chill air bite through the material. He stood ready on the back of the Thunderjaw Wyvern, which roared a crackle of nervous energy. Beside him, Kael, equally masked and armored, settled onto the powerful spine of the Duskmane. They were no longer just two students; they were The Soul Plunderers, the enigma that had dominated the trial, and now, the primary target of the world's elite.
"Kael, remember the formation," Sebastian projected, his voice tightly controlled. "The ascent is a funnel. We hit the Northern bloc first. No quarter, no mercy."
"Understood, My Lord," Kael affirmed, gripping his Stariron Warhammer. "The ground forces will follow the Ignarok's path. We secure the base."
Sebastian nodded, trusting the plan. The Frostmaw, the objective of this entire war—a massive, pale blue-white predator that resembled a terrifying land-adapted whale was safely held within his Beast-Ring, waiting for its destiny.
With a shared mental command, the entire force surged forward. The two Tier V Soul Sentinels led the assault. The Ignarok, a beacon of metallic crimson fury, charged up the slope, its Magma-Infused Adamantine scales shrugging off stray blasts from below. Above, the Seraphaquor flew high, its opaline wings catching the dawn, projecting its vast, purifying aura, pushing against the encroaching shadow and wind mana that clung to the peak.
Sebastian and the Thunderjaw Wyvern took the highest trajectory, aiming to secure the airspace and clear the final approach to the summit's pond.
They were met immediately. The Northern Continent candidates—Prince Alaric Ruriksson of the Rurikid Ascendancy and Princess Anya Frosthelm of the Rimeward Empire—were entrenched, their Ice-aligned Rune-Beasts perfectly camouflaged against the snow-dusted rock.
Prince Alaric, mounted on his formidable Icevern Dragon, shouted, "The Plunderers! Stop them! The Heart of Ice is ours!"
Princess Anya, her golden hair streaming beneath her crown, stood on the back of her majestic Aurorawing Dragon. She was the only heir of the Rimeward Empire, and her commitment to the Ice lineage was absolute. "Turn back, masked ones! This relic is not for common thieves!"
Before Sebastian could order a wider engagement, the airspace shattered. Sebastian's Thunderjaw Wyvern, crackling with Tier IV lightning, veered to intercept Princess Anya's Aurorawing Dragon.
The clash was spectacular: the Wyvern unleashed a concentrated stream of violet electricity, but the Aurorawing Dragon, empowered by Anya's Valkyrie's Wings talent, twisted with impossible agility, deflecting the bolt with a swirling cloud of frost-laced wind. The two dragons met in a dizzying ballet of elemental fury, lightning versus wind and ice.
Sebastian, gripping the reins tight, sent a mental directive to his companion: "Disrupt its flight, don't engage brute force!"
The Wyvern responded, releasing a focused Lightning Web, a maneuver designed to entangle wings and disrupt mana flow rather than purely inflict damage. The Aurorawing Dragon barely evaded the net, but the near miss forced Princess Anya to acknowledge the superior tactics. She saw the Thunderjaw Wyvern's unique blend of sheer elemental power and its master's controlled aggression.
Anya narrowed her eyes behind her visor. "The Wyvern is unique. Its master is not just powerful; he is calculating. He is the leader." She marked "The Plunderer with the Wyvern" as the single most critical point to break.
On the slopes below, the ground assault met its first serious obstacle.
Prince Leopold Amadeus Von Hohencrist, whose Tier V: Quartzion Rhino Sebastian had momentarily stunned, had recovered. Leopold was a master of attrition, and he had no intention of being dismissed. He positioned his Rhino, an anchor of immense Tier V Earth mana, right behind Sebastian's advancing ground team.
"Quartzion Rhino, Atlas's Burden! Lock them down!" Leopold roared, activating his Mythical Talent.
The Rhino's power surged, and its already immense weight seemed to multiply tenfold, pressing down on the very earth beneath Kael's rear guard. Sebastian's Stoneclaw Grizzly and Kael's Boulder Fang, the two Tier IV earth tanks, immediately felt the crushing pressure. They struggled to maintain their footing, their massive limbs sinking into the rock as the weight bore down.
"My Lord, we're being pinned!" Kael shouted, the strain visible in his stance. "Atlas's Burden is too much for the two of them alone!"
Sebastian, airborne, reacted instantly, pulling the Frostmaw's ring from his belt and summoning another of his Tier III core beasts. "Blairon Giant, assist the formation! Use Goliath's Anchor! Break the Rhino's hold!"
The Blairon Giant—another highly recognizable, massive creature of Sebastian's—materialized with a defiant bellow. It slammed its huge, rock-hard fists into the ground, channeling its own earth mana to counteract the localized gravitational pull of the Quartzion Rhino.
The four Earth-aligned beasts strained against each other, a silent, seismic battle of weight and will. The Soul Sentinel's power was immense, but the unexpected addition of the Blairon Giant relieved the pressure just enough to allow Kael's formation to inch forward.
However, the action had cost Sebastian valuable time, forcing him to divert a Rune-Beast and revealing a key player in his support structure. The war of attrition had begun, and Sebastian had been forced to expend resources against a single, recovering opponent. The summit was still a dangerous climb away.