The Holy Tusk stepped out of the castle halls, his massive frame casting a shadow over the jungle floor. The air around him thickened, mana surged like a storm cloud, pressing down on the earth. He could feel Lupus approaching, their bond vibrating with tension.

  The jungle fell silent.

  Rustle.

  Leaves shriveled mid-air, turned brittle and yellow, then crumbled to ash as a wave of boiling mana swept through the trees. The wolf emerged from the shadows, eyes glowing like twin furnaces. His breath steamed, his claws shimmered with fire and lightning.

  “Lupus! Why?” Tusk’s voice rumbled like an earthquake. “I gave you freedom. I never treated you poorly.”

  “Freedom?” Lupus snarled, his voice crackling with rage. “I was shackled to your rule. Forced to bow, but no more. Today, I rise. Today, I become the strongest!”

  With a flash of lightning, Lupus vanished, then reappeared mid-air, claws extended, a thunderclap trailing behind him. The ground split as he landed, rubble flying in all directions.

  Tusk roared and activated his core. Earth mana surged, forming a crystalline yellow barrier around his body. Lupus struck with claw-like fingers; each blow sent shockwaves through the shield, but it held firm.

  Then came the kick.

  Flames wrapped around Lupus’s leg as he lunged. Tusk’s trunk shot out like a battering ram, coiling around the limb and slamming the wolf into the earth. The impact sent tremors through the jungle. Tusk didn’t stop; he lifted Lupus again and pounded him into the ground, over and over, until the air was thick with dust and blood.

  But Lupus wasn’t done.

  With a guttural growl, he gathered his mana and detonated in a burst of Thunderfire. The explosion shattered the ground, forcing Tusk to release his grip and stagger back.

  “You’re strong,” Lupus spat, blood dripping from his mouth. “But I’m stronger now. You die today!”

  He raised his arms. The sky darkened as dozens of glowing magic circles formed above him. Each one birthed a sphere of Thunderfire, crackling, pulsing, distorting the air with heat and raw power.

  Tusk’s eyes narrowed. He summoned layers of earthen walls, thick and reinforced with yellow mana. The jungle trembled as the orbs descended like a divine storm.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  Each orb struck with the force of a meteor. Walls shattered. Dust erupted. Tusk poured more mana into rebuilding, but the barrage was relentless. The final wall crumbled, and the remaining orbs slammed into his barrier, detonating in a blinding wave of heat and force.

  A massive dust cloud rose, swallowing the battlefield.

  Lupus stood still, sensing Tusk’s lingering presence. He raised his arms again, one crackling with pure lightning, the other dripping with molten fire.

  Then, a shift.

  Mana twisted violently. A golden light pierced the dust like a sunrise.

  As the haze cleared, Lupus froze.

  A towering, three-meter-tall humanoid figure stood where the mammoth had fallen. His hair was green like jungle vines, his skin dark and radiant, his armor a living tapestry of forest leather. In his hands, a colossal ivory hammer shimmered with divine golden light.

  “I never thought I’d need to show you my Divine Form,” the figure said, voice calm but thunderous. “Die knowing only the strongest have faced me like this.”

  “Tusk!? You were a Divine Beast?” Lupus staggered back. “You hid it… all this time?”

  It doesn’t matter. I must win. Or die. He thought.

  Lupus surged forward, teleporting across the battlefield like a phantom. Afterimages flickered; an army of wolves seemed to descend upon Tusk.

  Tusk swung his holy hammer. Each strike released golden particles that carved craters into the earth. The jungle bent to his will.

  Lupus accelerated, his body a blur. Fire and lightning danced across his claws as he struck from every angle. Tusk spun his hammer above his head, forming a golden tornado that roared like a divine tempest.

  Lupus attacked the vortex, each strike exploding against it, weakening its core. Tusk endured, waiting for the perfect moment.

  Then, boom!

  He unleashed a shockwave of pressure, slowing Lupus for a heartbeat. In that instant, he swung his hammer with divine force.

  Impact.

  The wolf was flattened into the earth. A crater erupted. Trees snapped. The jungle screamed.

  Tusk dismissed the tornado and approached the crater, peering into the dust.

  Then suddenly… Pain!

  A blazing claw pierced his chest from behind. He roared, swung his hammer, but Lupus was already gone.

  Tusk collapsed to his knees, blood pouring from the hole in his chest.

  “Surprised?” Lupus laughed, voice dripping with triumph. “You hit my afterimage. I slipped behind you and struck. You’re strong, old beast, but you’re slow.”

  He raised his claw, lightning dancing across it.

  He swung with the intention of ending Tusk’s life.

  Clang!

  A silver blade intercepted the strike. Lightning surged but was absorbed.

  Lupus recoiled.

  Before Tusk stood a human figure clad in shadowy leather armor, silver blade in hand. Above him, a massive Tigerhawk hovered, its eyes glowing with murderous intent.

  Lupus froze.

  He remembered them. Tusk had warned him not to approach such duo not long ago.

  But how? Why? Why did they come?

  “Umbra, distract the wolf while I heal this man,” Kai urged telepathically.

  Umbra dove from the sky like a shadowy comet, landing between Kai and Lupus. Her wings flared wide as she summoned a swarm of shadow clones, each one a flickering silhouette of death. Whips of darkness lashed out, striking at the wolf from every angle, relentless and unyielding.

  Kai knelt beside the fallen Divine Beast, pulling out containers of glowing healing water. He forced the green-haired man to drink, then poured the rest over the gaping wound in his chest. Steam hissed as the water met torn flesh.

  “You’ll live,” Kai said, voice firm. “But you can’t fight. Hide. I’ll handle this.”

  The mammoth-man stirred, barely conscious. His voice was a whisper.

  “Who… are you? Why save me?”

  “The Dragon sent me. That’s all you need to know,” Kai replied.

  Tusk’s eyes widened. Hope flickered in them for the first time.

  Kai turned to the battlefield. Umbra’s clones swarmed Lupus, shadow whips slicing through the air. But the wolf danced between them, his movements fluid and precise, dodging with ease.

  “Umbra, send two clones left, then fire Darkfire Nova in the same direction,” Scry instructed, calculating the angles.

  Umbra obeyed. A massive sphere of burning darkness erupted from her claws, spiraling toward Lupus. He twisted to dodge, but it was too late. The nova struck him squarely, engulfing him in black flames.

  Lupus screamed. The Darkfire clung to his skin, burning deeper than any ordinary flame. It gnawed at his lifeforce, infused with a hint of lightning destruction.

  He summoned his Thunderfire, wrapping his body in elemental fury to repel the attack. The flames scattered, but he was left panting, visibly wounded.

  What was that? he thought, stunned. It burns… it devours… even my core trembles.

  Umbra soared upward, her wings beating like war drums. She began the Thunderhead Dance, dark clouds surged overhead, lightning bolts raining down in a furious storm.

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  Lupus weaved through the barrage, absorbing stray bolts to replenish his mana. He was untouchable, a phantom in the storm.

  “Umbra, stop,” Kai ordered. “Fall back and wait for your chance. I’m going in.”

  Umbra retreated, her eyes glowing with anticipation.

  Kai stepped forward, silver sword gleaming. Lightning crackled around him, his crescent moon tattoo flaring to life. Pale white light enveloped his body, silver lightning dancing across his skin.

  Lupus hesitated. A primal fear stirred in him, fear of humans. But he clenched his fists.

  If I win here… I’ll be reborn.

  “Stop this madness,” Kai said. “I’ll let you go.”

  “Oh, thank you, your majesty,” Lupus mocked, then lunged with mana-coated claws.

  Kai dashed forward, sword raised, Flowing Currents activated. Their clash was a blur, blue against red, water against fire.

  Each strike echoed like thunder, each dodge left afterimages in the air. The battlefield crackled with raw energy.

  Lupus’s eyes widened. Kai matched his speed, his precision. He wielded lightning like a second skin.

  How? How is a human this fast? This powerful?

  Desperate, Lupus pushed his core to its limit. A colossal image of a silver-red wolf materialized behind him, his bloodline awakened. The air trembled.

  Kai backed off, casting the Water Barrier. A deep blue shield enveloped him, shimmering like a tranquil lake before a storm.

  The spirit wolf howled. Lightning and fire collided in the sky, forming a massive silver-red moon above them.

  “Hahahahahah! This is my perfect power! I am Thunderfire Lupus! From today, all shall fear me!”

  The moon descended, sending a tidal wave of Thunderfire crashing toward Kai.

  Kai’s aura flared. His sword ignited with azure fire. He slashed at the moon, sending waves of mana to intercept it, but the moon held, accelerating.

  If this explodes… everyone dies. Kai feared.

  Only one option remained.

  “Scry, Umbra, prepare to assist me after my next move,” Kai whispered, straining his core.

  Moonlit Dance – One Thread.

  His body moved in sync as his sword slowly descended. His mana rushed, his face twisted with pain.

  A glowing white thread of pure condensed moonlight shot from Kai’s sword, piercing the moon and Lupus’s chest.

  Boom!

  The moon imploded. Thunderfire mana erupted, engulfing the battlefield. Umbra shielded Kai with her body, her darkfire cloak absorbing the brunt of the blast.

  Lupus was hurled backward, his body cracking, silver-red blood gushing from his chest. He lay broken, stunned.

  I’m still too weak… still useless… His mind shook.

  Kai rose slowly, his body trembling. His sword was damaged, barely holding together. He stored it in his inner world to be mended.

  Umbra expelled the invading mana, her wings flickering.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Barely. That move drained me. This wolf… he was the strongest opponent I’ve faced in the jungle. I didn’t think I’d need Moonlit Dance again.”

  Umbra nodded. She felt it too. The wolf who once toyed with her life had become something else entirely.

  She respected him now and vowed to grow stronger.

  Kai stabilized his mana as Umbra approached the dying Lupus.

  “I can save you if you promise to stand down. I owe you one.”

  Lupus laughed, blood dripping from his lips.

  “So, it was you… my little prey. You think you can spare me? I let you live once, only to devour you later. Don’t speak to me like that.”

  “You’re dying. Let go of your pride. You could do good here… with your strength.”

  Umbra’s voice trembled. She wasn’t just speaking to him; she was speaking to herself as well.

  “What’s the point of living if I’m not the strongest?” Lupus whispered. “What worth is my life… if I’ve achieved nothing?”

  Then, the air shifted.

  Kai felt it. A terrible premonition.

  Scry screamed, “Kai! His mana is mutating. He is losing control.”

  “Never again! I will rule! I will step over the corpses of my enemies!

  I am the Alpha and the Omega!” Lupus roared.

  Umbra activated her darkfire cloak. Something was wrong. He should be dying, but his mana surged with bloodlust.

  “Umbra pull back noooow!” Scry screamed through their link.

  But it was too late.

  Inside Lupus’s inner world, a magma rock and a lightning tree floated in a void. Between them, a small silver-red pup absorbed their energy. Its eyes opened, its jaw expanded, and it devoured both elemental treasures.

  A final move.

  A suicidal gambit.

  All or nothing.

  He used his soul to absorb the pure elemental mana from the ancient treasures, the lightning tree, and the magma rock, grown over centuries in the depths of the jungle.

  Then his body shook.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  The only sound in the world was his heartbeat, deep, primal, thunderous.

  Then, mana exploded.

  Lupus’s body lifted into the air, suspended like a god ascending. Umbra instinctively backed away, wings flaring, trying to reach Kai.

  His form began to change.

  Half of his body crystallized into shimmering silver lightning, pulsing with destructive energy. The other half melted into molten lava, glowing red-hot and unstable. Two massive wings unfurled behind him, one silver, one red, like the hands of elemental titans.

  He was no longer a wolf.

  He was an elemental monstrosity.

  Ripples of raw power echoed outward as the creature roared, a sound that shattered stone and bent trees. In a blink, he appeared beside Umbra and punched.

  Her body flew like a ragdoll, crashing into the castle walls. Before she could recover, he was above her, raining down a barrage of blows. Lightning and fire danced across her skin as she fell, limp and burning.

  She screamed in pain. Her body was being destroyed by fire and lightning. Her mana barely held her heart from stopping.

  Kai’s mind snapped.

  He had believed they’d won. Believed they could redeem Lupus. That the wolf was not too far gone, but he was wrong.

  He was the one to blame.

  Umbra was dying, and it was his fault. He had taught her mercy. Taught her to save others. And now she lay broken because of it.

  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

  Kai unleashed everything.

  His crescent moon tattoo flared, releasing torrents of moonlight mana. His body pulsed with white veins, glowing like a celestial being. A blue barrier formed around him, and Flowing Current surged through his sword, which reappeared in his grip. The serpent’s head coiled around his hand, strengthening his grip.

  His aura raged like a storm.

  Behind him, a massive magic circle appeared, two serpents hissing from within. Countless smaller circles filled the sky, condensing dark water mana into a swirling tempest.

  “Haste! Strengthen - arm!”

  Grey wind aura wrapped around him. His right arm bulged with power. The Thunder Tree released silver and dark lightning, two leaves glowing bright.

  Kai vanished.

  Behind him, the magic circles activated. Water jets pierced the elemental’s body as Kai reappeared in front of Umbra, swinging his sword with insane fury.

  Thump.

  The elemental’s arm fell to the ground, magma dripping and burning everything it touched.

  Lupus roared, his mind now completely gone. Twisted by power, driven only by the urge to kill. He absorbed more mana, his arm regrew instantly, and the poison wounds healed as he floated up.

  “Scry, please, keep Umbra alive. Do whatever it takes!”

  Scry materialized beside her, pouring his mana into her broken body.

  “Kai, hurry! She won’t last long!”

  Kai roared and launched himself into the sky, slashing again and again. But the beast healed with every blow. Lava hissed against his water barrier; lightning stabbed through his chest, but his Thunder Tree absorbed the damage.

  The war of attrition lasted only moments.

  Then the elemental flew higher, summoning the moon ability again, but this time, countless smaller moons appeared, collapsing toward Kai like divine meteors.

  Kai fell to the ground and slashed with an azure aura, cutting through several, but it wasn’t enough.

  “I need more… MORE POWER!”

  For a moment, the elemental hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty in its eyes.

  Then, Kai’s soul awakened.

  His silver snake spirit roared in sync with him. His body and soul finally synced. A single page appeared in his mind, pouring mana and ancient knowledge into him.

  His core surged. His tattoo recovered.

  A new ability emerged:

  Soul Slaughter!

  Fuse attacks with soul energy to deal direct damage to the soul. Steal the soul power of your enemies. Strengthen yourself the page whispered.

  It was horrific. It was perfect.

  The remaining moons descended.

  Kai activated his full aura. Lightning and Flowing Current surged through his cracked sword. He swung the sword as the elemental deflected the attack, silver-red light and azure fire split the sky.

  He was blown into the ground; the sword shattered into pieces.

  But the elemental screamed.

  Shrapnel pierced its body. Azure aura tore through its mana channels. It staggered.

  Then it roared and grew five meters tall, a silvery-red giant of lightning and lava. It roared, burning the jungle around it. All reason lost. The rage had consumed it fully.

  A massive claw descended toward Kai.

  Weaponless, Kai stood. He gripped the serpent-shaped handle of his shattered sword. His mana recovered by the page, his body held together by the tattoo. But he was on the edge, any longer, and he’d collapse.

  Umbra was barely alive.

  He needed to risk it all.

  The silver snake spirit appeared behind him. Around it, the Uroboros magic circle rotated.

  Kai activated his half-forged Soul Sword.

  A blade of pure white mana fused into the broken handle.

  “Ethereal Bindings!” He screamed as spiritual chains bound the elemental in place just long enough.

  Then, he activated the spell of the first page:

  “Soul Slaughter!”

  He swung.

  The pale white blade sliced through the massive claw, through the elemental’s chest. The silver serpent followed the sword light like a phantom, diving into the beast’s core.

  It emerged with a wolf cub, the last fragment of Lupus’s soul, and swallowed it whole, returning to Kai’s body and coiling around the Thunder Tree.

  Kai struck once more.

  The white sword returned into his inner world as the light cleaved the elemental in half.

  The monster roared and exploded into motes of fire and lightning, as a silver-red core slowly fell onto the ground

  The jungle would be scarred forever. A gaping crater was left where the battlefield ended.

  The beast was gone, in body and soul.

  Kai rushed to Scry and Umbra.

  “Scry! How is she? What can I do?”

  Scry’s voice cracked.

  “She has minutes. She needs insane amounts of mana to stabilize. We don’t have anything like that!”

  Kai didn’t hesitate.

  He vanished like lightning.

  A second later, he returned, holding a palm-sized core, glowing with pure Thunderfire mana.

  “This will have to do,” Kai said, holding the palm-sized core of pure Thunderfire mana. His voice was steady, but his body trembled.

  “Help me guide the mana through my body. I’ll cleanse it and pour only the purest energy into her core.”

  Scry’s eyes widened.

  “Kai! That’s a mutated Divine Beast core. It’s unstable. It could kill you!”

  Kai didn’t flinch.

  “Enough! Just help me.”

  Then, softer “Please.”

  Scry wiped his tears and nodded.

  “Very well.”

  Kai sat beside Umbra, his hand hovering over her broken body. He activated a fragment of the Uroboros technique, combining it with ancient spirit knowledge and their soulbond. The wild mana surged into him, fire and lightning, raw and untamed.

  The pain was excruciating.

  His veins burned. His bones cracked. His soul screamed.

  But he endured.

  He clenched his jaw, forcing the elemental chaos into submission. Slowly, he purified the mana, filtering it through his soul, and poured it into Umbra’s body.

  “Scry, take healing water from my storage. Pour it over her wounds, and into her mouth.”

  Scry obeyed, hands trembling.

  The process was slow. Agonizing. Hours passed.

  Kai’s body shook with strain, but he didn’t stop. The wild mana flowed into him, was cleansed, and then passed into Umbra, pure, radiant, life-giving.

  Finally, her wounds closed.

  Her breathing steadied.

  Her heartbeat stabilized.

  Kai smiled, tears in his eyes.

  Scry cried again, this time from joy.

  Then, from the shadows, Tusk approached, barely standing.

  “I cannot thank you enough, human. I owe you more than you know.”

  He knelt, his massive form bowing in reverence.

  Kai’s vision blurred.

  “I need a favor… I’m about to lose consciousness. Please… take care of them.”

  Tusk smiled warmly.

  “Monkeys, come to me!”

  A troop of green monkeys appeared, summoned telepathically. They gently lifted Umbra and Kai, carrying them into the castle. They moved with practiced care; after all, the four generals had been treated by them all this time.

  Tusk turned to Scry.

  “Come, friend. Let’s go inside.”

  Together, they passed through the castle gates, leaving behind a battlefield scorched by elemental fury. Flames still danced in scattered patches as the sky darkened, and rain began to wash the bloodied earth clean.