The battle for the slopes of Trial Island Theta intensified into a desperate, chaotic crush of elemental power. Sebastian and Kael's team, the infamous Masked Plunderers, had successfully broken the Northern line's initial blockade, but their victory was short-lived. The momentary relief was immediately replaced by the coordinated, crushing pressure of the empires that had mastered brute force and tactical defense.
Sebastian, flying high on the Thunderjaw Wyvern, watched the holographic map of the summit condense. They were pushing toward the final ridge, but the ground was becoming a meat grinder, perfectly tailored to neutralize their Tier V advantage.
"The Central Blockade has broken," Kael's voice crackled through the comms, referring to the Quartzion Rhino's temporary defeat. "But here come the Southern heavies, My Lord. They've formed a wall."
Sebastian scanned the slopes. The Ignarok's direct charge was meeting the full force of the Ayathaya and Bayinchai Empires.
The two Southern Empires, known for their powerful, earth-aligned beasts, had formed a defensive line across a narrow, rock-strewn traverse. This was a battle of attrition designed to exhaust the Ignarok's newly acquired power and pin the Plunderers' main force.
Prince Thakin Zeyar Thanaviraj of Ayathaya, mounted on his colossal Buildhorn Rhino (a Tier IV Earth Tank), stood firm beside Princess Mala Devi Sovannaratha of Bayinchai, whose Terrakor Elephant offered an equally formidable Tier IV presence.
Prince Thakin roared, channeling his Mythical Talent, Thotsakan Rage, into his beast. "Hold the line! No fire beast gets through this rock!"
The Buildhorn Rhino slammed its horn into the ground, raising a Seismic Wall of compacted stone. The Terrakor Elephant reinforced it with a Verdant Stone Shield, a coordinated shielding maneuver designed for maximum defense.
The Ignarok slammed into the combined defense. It unleashed a ferocious Inferno Breath, but the intense heat was absorbed by the sheer mass of Earth mana. The Fire/Earth fusion of the Ignarok was designed to bypass Earth defenses, but the Southern beasts' combined Rune Power Levels were too high, the shielding too dense. The Ignarok roared in frustration, its momentum halted.
"The Ignarok is stalled!" Sebastian yelled to Kael. "They're forcing brute strength! Kael, use your Earth mastery to destabilize their base! Boulder Fang, focus fire on the Rhino's left flank!"
The skirmish devolved into a brutal pushing match. The Ignarok's chaotic energy was being drained by the steady, unrelenting defenses of the Southern coalition.
Meanwhile, higher up the slope, Sebastian's aerial defense was beginning to suffer. The sheer number of Tier IV Rune-Beasts and candidates focusing their attacks on the visibly superior Seraphaquor's shield was overwhelming.
Prince Vicheka Chan Sovannaratha of the Bayinchai Empire, mounted on his graceful Sunset Phoenix, led the focused attack. Vicheka was not a frontal fighter, but a specialist in precision strikes, leveraging his Mythical Talent, Sacred Fire, to ensure maximum elemental purity and penetration.
"Forget the ground beasts! Decimate the celestial shield! Sunset Phoenix, Purifying Scorch!" Vicheka commanded.
The Sunset Phoenix unleashed a sustained, incredibly hot column of sacred fire. The light element of the Phoenix was perfectly attuned to countering the light/spiritual element of the Seraphaquor's defense, exploiting a subtle weakness in the purifying magic.
The Seraphaquor, which had been tirelessly shielding the entire formation, shuddered violently. Its opaline scales flickered, and for the first time in the trial, its Celestial Aegis cracked. A surge of searing heat passed through the barrier, striking the Seraphaquor directly on its wing joint.
The Seraphaquor let out a high, bell-like cry of pain, its body momentarily staggering in the air. Its Rune Power Level visibly dropped, its shielding capacity severely diminished.
Sebastian felt the pain through their shared bond—a sharp, agonizing stab of mana depletion and physical trauma. His jaw tightened behind the mask. He had underestimated the coordinated precision of the Southern Mages. The Seraphaquor, his greatest spiritual defense, had been wounded.
"Seraphaquor, disengage and defend only the core! Kael, you are exposed!" Sebastian shouted.
The wounding of the Seraphaquor was the signal for the Eastern forces to surge forward, looking to exploit the exposed flanks.
Princess Hasanda Yuwadi Thanaviraj of Ayathaya, using her Mythical Talent, Emerald Buddha Blessing, swiftly erected a series of interlocking, glowing green rune formations intended to entrap the Duskmane and Sebastian's Tier IV support team. The formations were static but incredibly strong, designed to immobilize the attackers.
Kael, seeing the trap solidify, knew this was a moment for direct, aggressive intervention. His face was set in grim determination.
"Duskmane, maintain the shadow perimeter! Boulder Fang, Glimmadillo—protect my dismount!"
Kael drew his colossal Stariron Warhammer. The hammer was a weapon of immense, concentrated force, perfectly suited for shattering defensive formations. He activated his own powerful, internal energy, his body armored by the Veil of the Silent Sentinel.
He leaped from the Duskmane's back—a terrifying, armored silhouette moving with unnatural speed. He met the glowing green rune formations head-on.
"Storm Warhammer Technique: Earth-Shaker Shockwave!" Kael roared.
He brought the Stariron Warhammer down in a devastating, focused blow. The impact wasn't just physical; it was an energy transference. A wave of concussive force, amplified by Kael's technique, hammered into the rune structures.
CRACK!
The green formations, designed to withstand Rune-Beast elemental attacks, buckled and then exploded into crystalline fragments under the sheer, focused kinetic power of Kael's Storm Warhammer.
Princess Hasanda gasped, staring at Kael's retreating form. "He broke the Triple Blessing Formation with a single strike! That's not just strength; that's a mastery of Physical Runecraft Shattering!"
Kael didn't stop. He turned his attention to the Buildhorn Rhino, momentarily distracted by the Ignarok's renewed assault. Kael swung his hammer in a wide, sweeping arc, aiming for the Rhino's leg armor. The impact was deafening, the Stariron Warhammer carving a trench in the beast's reinforced hide.
This was the first time Kael had been forced into direct, hand-to-hand combat against a rival candidate's primary beast, and he had proven devastatingly effective, demonstrating that The Masked Plunderers' strength lay not just in their beasts, but in the raw, exceptional martial skills of their masters.
The chaos created by Kael's solo charge opened a momentary gap in Sebastian's line—a gap that was ruthlessly exploited by the Tashradan Empire.
Prince Ashmed Khazran Khurzaban, a candidate known for his aggression and superior combat instincts, saw the opportunity. He rode his Tier IV Scorialis Tiger—a massive, flame-maned beast—down the ridge, his body radiating the aura of his Mythical Talent, Ali's Zulfiqar, which increased his and his beast's destructive power exponentially.
"Pincer attack! Eliminate the leader's mobility! Scorialis Tiger, Sunfire Claw!" Prince Ashmed screamed.
The Scorialis Tiger leaped with unnatural speed, channeling fire mana into its immense claws. It struck Sebastian's Stribane Tiger first, flanking the smaller beast while it was engaged with a Pyrothoros Bull. The Stribane Tiger let out a pained snarl as the Sunfire Claw raked across its flank, leaving a deep, burning wound.
Sebastian, alerted to the attack, had no time to recover his Stribane Tiger. He saw the Scorialis Tiger leap again, this time aiming directly at the Thunderjaw Wyvern's throat—a devastating attack meant to ground their aerial support permanently.
Sebastian reacted purely on instinct. He unleashed a full volley of Miasma Poison Arrows from his Throneweaver Bow, aimed not at the beast, but at the ground beneath its target, creating a temporary screen of blinding, debilitating toxin.
The Scorialis Tiger recoiled slightly from the poison cloud, but the attack had succeeded in its primary goal: disruption. Prince Ashmed, empowered by Ali's Zulfiqar, directed his beast to redirect its strike.
CRACK!
The Scorialis Tiger's claw slammed into the Wyvern's shoulder joint.
The Thunderjaw Wyvern screamed, its body spasming violently from the combination of the physical blow and the surge of uncontrolled lightning. Its wing beat faltered, and Sebastian lost control of their altitude.
The Wyvern plummeted several hundred feet, crashing hard into a lower ledge of the mountain. Sebastian, thrown clear by the force of the impact, used the final, desperate surge of his War God Body strength to stabilize his landing, drawing his Twin Starfang Blades even as he hit the ground, ready to fight for his life.
The Thunderjaw Wyvern was not dead, but it was incapacitated, its Tier IV power temporarily useless. Sebastian was now grounded, wounded from the mana burn due to previous encounters and battles, and separated from Kael's main line of defense. His shield, the Midnight Core Aegis, was still back at the main defensive line.
The price of the ascent had been steep: the Seraphaquor wounded, the Stribane Tiger burned, and the Thunderjaw Wyvern grounded. Sebastian was now isolated, mask-to-mask with the most dangerous combatants, with the Heart of Ice still floating precariously above the pond at the summit.