The tree roared. The world burned. And yet, Tenklyn remained standing.
His body shook — drenched in blood, embers, and ash. Every muscle ached. The slicing strikes of Kaze, Jouki's lethal and unpredictable attacks, and now the silent, suffocating presence of Hazau… all pushed him beyond his limits. Yet his feet didn't falter. His eyes were fixed, sharp as blades.
A spiraling wind strike tore across the field to his left, splitting trees and opening craters. He twisted his body at the last second, evading death by mere inches.
Then he stopped.
His gaze pierced through the chaos, past the black smoke rising from the ground. There, Dan was on his knees, bound by vibrating black chains, unconscious, vulnerable — like a flame about to be snuffed out.
Tenklyn's chest tightened.
— I have to get him out… now.
He surged forward in a straight line, despite the distorted battlefield around him. But the ground ahead liquefied into shadows, as if reality itself had been pierced. A warped portal opened with a low roar and swallowed him, spitting him meters back as if rejecting his presence.
He rolled, rose quickly, but it was already too late — black tendrils shot from the ground toward him, seeking to entangle him like hungry predators. He responded with a blast of fiery wind, cutting down the first wave, yet more emerged.
— They're sealing the path… refining the movements. Artificial intelligence fused with spiritual energy?
He scanned the battlefield, analyzing the patterns forming the distortion. Then he saw it — carved into stones, roots, and scorched leaves — runes pulsing in an ancient language.
— This isn't just containment. It's a seal… a ritual. — He stepped closer, brushing ash from one of the runes with his fingers. — Dr. Isha. This is the same setup as the "Zohar Cell"… a forced resurrection project. They're using Dan as a conduit for something… or someone.
The thought struck him like lightning:
They're trying to bring someone back. Using Dan.
But before he could ponder further, the sky split with a white flash.
A wave of spiritual energy surged across the field like a war trumpet.
He lifted his eyes and smiled, gasping.
— Aisha…
She descended like a comet, spinning through the air with her luminous spear. She sliced through one of the approaching tendrils and landed beside him, sliding with perfect grace.
— You seem to be in trouble, old friend.
— You're late — he panted.
— Or perhaps… just in time.
They shared a fleeting smile. Their bond felt like a wall against despair.
Together, they turned to face three sinister presences before them. Kaze, with his sarcastic grin and silver hair floating in the wind. Jouki, her scythe embedded in the ground, the distorted mask reflecting fire. And Hazau… merely a shadow, yet his presence made the world seem smaller.
— They're coordinating everything, — Tenklyn said, dodging a blade of air that passed inches away. — Akira is on the perimeter, clearing the edges with reinforcements. I came to protect the tree and stop this…
— And failed — Kaze taunted.
Aisha spun her spear and lunged at Jouki like lightning, creating space. Tenklyn followed, whipping up a whirlwind of cutting winds around him. The battle was fierce, brutal. But amid the chaos, Aisha's question struck like an invisible blow.
— Do you know… what happened to Mei?
He didn't answer. Not for a moment. But his silence weighed like a sentence.
Aisha's gaze faltered. Her golden eyes filled with something denser than pain: restrained vengeance.
— …I see — she murmured. — So that's it.
On the next strike, she shattered the ground with her spear, her scream fused with her very soul.
Jouki laughed. Her scythe spun in her hand, blocking attacks with sickening fluidity.
— Interesting. You remind me of that blonde girl… Her scent… the same as the one who interfered minutes ago. Ah… Stella, isn't it?
Tenklyn froze.
— What?
— Memorable… — Jouki turned to him, her distorted voice mocking the universe itself. — She cried. Screamed. And when my black stake pierced her stomach… ah, the warmth of her blood running over my hand… almost touching.
The world stopped.
Tenklyn's roar shook the forest.
His aura exploded like a collapsing sun. Living embers rose around him. The ground trembled. The air, incandescent, swirled with ancestral fury. He charged without thinking, without strategy — pure brute force, pure rage.
Each strike ignited the air. Jouki's scythe recoiled, her legs slipping on the cracked ground. Aisha beside him tried to keep pace, but Tenklyn was uncontrollable — surpassing his own limits.
— TENKLYN! — Aisha shouted. — They're trying to break us! Don't believe everything! Mei and Stella… they're harder to kill than this!
But he didn't hear her.
Because now… it was no longer a battle of strategy. It was a war of soul.
---
Meanwhile…
Tekio ran.
Near the entrance of the first wall leading to the forest park, just before the Tree of Life.
His heart hammered in his chest. His legs barely obeyed, but he didn't stop.
Every step was a struggle. Every breath, a fire in his lungs.
— How did this happen…? — he whispered to himself through clenched teeth. — An attack so precise… so cruel… They were always ahead… always waiting…
The distant sounds of battle — the sacred tree's thunder trembling — split the sky. Screams. Flames. Destruction. And fear.
But the path ahead closed.
She appeared.
Silent. Solemn.
A woman with hair as white as freshly fallen snow, standing among the forest ruins. Her eyes, blue as ancient ice, and her aura… suffocating.
She seemed not of this world. A ghost from another time. Something lurking among the living.
She smiled. Small. Confident.
— Finally… — she said, her voice sweet, wrong somehow. — I've wanted so badly to find you, Tekio.
He stopped. Sweat streamed down his face.
His entire body screamed to retreat — to run. But he didn't. He took a step back, reflexively. His eyes widened.
— Who are you…? — he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
The woman bowed slightly, like a polite, almost noble gesture.
— Karmore. — she replied. — A pleasure.
Tekio felt blood run cold.
— That… uniform…!
The embroidered symbol. The collar details. Identical to Nick's — the one he called a friend.
And then, as if a nightmare were distorting reality, her hair darkened.
Her eyes turned green.
The expression… was hers.
Nick.
— N… no… — Tekio stammered, stepping back.
She laughed. Light. Mocking. Harmless, if not so cruel.
— It's always been me. — she said, sticking out her tongue childishly, mocking his pain.
Rage surged like trapped fire.
The mark on Tekio's back tingled. A strange, constant heat pulsed there, as if something within him recognized the danger.
— What did you do with the real Nick!?
— I told you, Tekio. — she replied, with a fake sigh. — It's always been me. All along. Every conversation. Every plan. Every secret… mine.
— What do you want!? The city!? The tree!? Us!?
— So many questions… — she twirled, like a ballerina about to strike. — You'll have to rip the answers from me…
She stopped. Studied him like a hunter eyes a curious prey.
— If you can.
Her aura exploded.
It was unnatural. The air around her crumbled. Light seemed to be sucked into her.
She raised her fists. Her stance refined. Every inch of her screamed absolute technique —
graceful as a dancer, lethal as a blade.
— If you don't defeat me… — she said, eyes ravenous — not only you, but all your friends will die.
Tekio roared and charged.
The impact of their collision cracked the ground.
It was like two lightning bolts clashing in a storm.
Fists exchanged at absurd speed. The battlefield shattered around them.
Each strike from Karmore drained something — not just energy. Vitality. Will. Life.
— What kind of power is this!? — Tekio shouted, barely dodging a kick that split a tree in two.
— Anti-life, perhaps? — she said, smiling. — Something that consumes what is. Creation inverted.
Tekio tried to counterattack, a hook with his whole body's weight. She blocked with her forearm.
The impact sent a shockwave across the ground.
She whispered in his ear:
— Any normal being… would have disintegrated already.
She pulled back, dancing across the battlefield.
— But you, Tekio… — she said, eyes hungry. — You're an exception.
And that makes me… extremely curious.
The mark on Tekio's back throbbed harder.
It was as if something inside him tried to emerge.
But he didn't understand. Not yet.
He charged again.
Faster. Angrier.
And Karmore… smiled wider with every strike.
They collided once more.
The battlefield erupted around them.
Auras clashing like massive waves.
Will against destruction.
Hope against void.
The future hanging on the edge of battle.
To be Continue...