Tave looked up just as the massive blazing fire, shaped like a great phoenix descended from the sky, lighting up the Volcanic Orc in a storm of golden-red flame. Even from where he was, he could feel the searing heat licking at his skin.
It happened fast. Too fast.
But Tave forced himself to act, pushing his instincts, his training, and every ounce of raw desperation to move within those fleeting seconds.
Because Orion couldn't hurt the orc, not alone!
Not without help.
He thrusted his right hand upward. In a flash, several small, reddish orbs flew from his storage ring, strange, petal-covered spheres that shot into the sky like sparks.
Crimson Sepiths.
Tave had been collecting them, harvesting the volatile flowers earlier and storing them just in case. Waiting for the right moment.
That moment was…
"NOW!!"
Tave shouted, voice breaking across the clearing. He didn't have time to explain. But he hoped Oriana and Lily would understand what he needed, when he needed it.
Because the Crimson Sepiths, when ignited by fire, didn't just explode. They released a thick mist. And not just ordinary mist.
A reaction of water essence and volatile heat, creating a dense vapor rich in water-elemental particles.
As the phoenix-shaped inferno descended and touched the Sepiths, BOOM!
They erupted in flashes of red and white, and suddenly everything seemed slowed down, just for a moment.
The mist bloomed out like smoke underwater, wrapping around the orc's form, coating the battlefield in a swirling, glowing fog.
And in that instant, the tide began to shift.
In that blink of a moment, Tave saw it all unfold, clear as day in the chaos.
Lily and Oriana moved.
Without hesitation, they launched into complex hand seals. They understood. They didn't need an explanation. They knew exactly what had to be done.
They had to stop the orc. Right now.
Tave's sharp eyes caught it. The tiniest flicker in Lily's expression. A hesitation. Just for a breath. Right at the final hand seal.
She was probably thinking. Should she use her skill to attack the orc… or protect Tave?
But she corrected herself instantly. She chose to attack the orc!
A radiant blue glow surged beneath her left eye. Her Raindrop Sigil bursting to life.
The mist reacted immediately. In a heartbeat, the swirling fog condensed, forming into a massive, rippling cluster of water above the orc, thick and heavy.
It was happening!
Oriana!
Tave's gaze snapped toward her as she completed her final sequence of hand seals. Hands trembling, eyes fierce.
A sudden blast of light erupted around her, radiant and cold, illuminating the clearing like a divine storm.
Her sword returned, glowing, brighter than ever before. The blade shimmered with a blinding, crystalline brilliance.
And then, behind her, something stirred. A figure emerged from the light, graceful, regal, ethereal.
A woman dressed in a gown spun from ice itself, a delicate crown of frost adorning her head. Her presence was silent, yet commanding.
Eirnalis. The frost spirit dwelling within Oriana's Relic.
Oriana was pushing everything. Forcing power through her core in a reckless gamble that could break her. Destroy her.
Her eyes blazed white, glowing with overwhelming energy, her voice cutting through the roar of the fire and chaos.
"You die now!"
In that instant, the water in the air, already thick, already dense. Got frozen!
All of it.
Dozens of massive ice shards formed in a blink, sharp as blades, glinting in the mist.
And then, they launched.
A storm of frozen death streaked toward the orc, crashing down like jagged meteors.
Each one aimed to pierce, to tear, to bring down the beast that had pushed them all to the edge of death.
Lily and Oriana poured everything. Everything, into that final attack.
But Oriana pushed even farther.
She went beyond just exhaustion, digging deep into the very edge of what her body could endure. Past the burn in her core, past the pain in her broken arm. She forced herself forward, reaching into the kind of strength that didn't come from training, but from desperation.
Because summoning the spirit within her sword, that came with a cost.
A high one.
And she paid it. Without hesitation.
That happened for Orion too. His phoenix-shaped blaze tore through the sky, a living inferno that bent mid-air, veering sharply before it slammed into the orc's side, erupting in a shockwave of heat and force. It was just enough, just enough, to force the monster's attention away, buying a narrow window for Tave to escape.
But it was too fast.
Too much.
How could he survive an onslaught like this. Blasts of elemental fury exploding in every direction, crashing down exactly where he was?
He was trapped.
Any second, any one of those strikes could kill him. Instantly.
This was annihilation.
Tave's hands flashed into hand seals, his mind screaming for motion, his instincts in overdrive. He forced his body to respond. Lightness filled his limbs, and he pushed off the ground. The earth felt like dropping away beneath his feet as he tried to run.
Move. Move!
But it wasn't enough.
Not nearly enough.
He was still too slow.
There was no way out.
Suddenly, impact. Something dark and hard slammed into him from the left, fast, brutal, and unstoppable.
It hit like a truck, knocking the breath from his lungs. He felt ribs snap, pain flare through his chest like fire. He was flying, launched across the clearing, his vision a blur of smoke and shattered light.
What the hell just hit me?!
He didn't even know.
All he knew was, he moved.
Just in time.
Because where he had been standing only a breath earlier, the massive body of the orc came crashing down, slamming into the earth with a quake that shook the world. Right on the very spot he'd just been.
Tave crashed into the trees, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs as his body slammed into bark and splintered wood. Pain exploded through his chest, but somehow, somehow, he remained conscious.
And then, his eyes snapped open.
He saw Orion, mid-air, struck by the orc's massive left hand. The blow sent him flying, slamming violently into the forest just as Tave had. There was no flame in his sword now. No strength in his limbs.
Orion had burned everything. All of his energy. All of his stamina. His core… probably unusable for days.
On the other side, Oriana had collapsed as well. She hit the ground hard, her body unmoving. She had given everything, and there was nothing left in her to give.
Only Lily remained standing.
Alone.
Her face pale, her breath shallow, her silhouette barely visible through the dying flames that still clung to the orc's massive body.
And the monster, still standing.
The attack hadn't been for nothing. The thick stone armor that had encased its body was fractured. Chunks of it blasted off, revealing vulnerable, exposed patches of skin beneath.
But It didn't look tired.
Not yet.
Now, it was just Lily and Tave, who could barely lift himself off the ground.
His body screamed. Every muscle felt hollow. His vision swam.
But the fight wasn't over.
Not yet.
The Orc rose again, looming like a mountain of fury, and reached for its massive stone club. Still smoldering, still slick with the heat of battle.
It let out a guttural roar, deep and deafening, shaking the clearing with its rage. And then, it slammed the club into the earth with enough force to send tremors through the ground.
Lily stood frozen. Paralyzed by terror.
"Lily!" Tave cried out. "Move! Go, NOW!"
He forced his battered body to move, pain screaming through every nerve. His muscles trembled, and his lungs burned. But he had to move. He had to get to her.
"Lily! Run!" he shouted again, louder.
She didn't move.
The orc did.
It walked forward with terrifying speed, raising the club once more. Then hurled it straight toward Lily!
The massive weapon spinning with monstrous force.
There was no way she'd survive a hit like that.
"LILY!!" Tave's voice tore through the air.
But there was no time.
The club was coming.
The club was an inch away, moments from crushing Lily where she stood.
Suddenly! A shield appeared between her and the death hurtling toward her, wielded by a figure that emerged in a flash, just in time.
The sound of the collision roared through the clearing. A thunderous boom that seemed to shake the very air. But the club didn't break through. It shoved the figure back, grinding against the shield with overwhelming force. But the defense held.
Just barely.
The figure stood their ground, braced like a wall against the blow.
And then, movement. More figures emerged from the edges of the clearing, stepping out of the mist and flame.
Elias. And behind him, two others, forming a protective ring around Lily and the fallen.