Pain. All the Guardian knew was pain.

  He no longer had the verdant green his rocky and giant form had.

  Instead magma pulsed beneath his body, some of it already leaking out and growing bright red.

  'Looks like I was right,' he thought. "That accursed thing got me.'

  Today marked ten years that he had dug underground to isolate himself and save his people from him.

  Paro only regretted that decision at 'that time'.

  But now he felt vindicated to stay where he was.

  It was better that way.

  '... Was it ?'

  He missed someone dearly.

  Someone called...

  "Fa... tale ?"

  What is a Fatale ?

  He felt like he forgot something very important but couldn't bother.

  Did he forget how to feel frustrated about it also ?

  "No... No."

  Paro pressed his rocky palms to his face.

  NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo

  "I REFUSE," he yelled loudly.

  He had to remember something outside of his duty.

  "Anything !"

  Paro dug deeper in his memory.

  Deeper than the cave he had created.

  Deeper than the Scar that the Devourer left after getting rid of his god.

  ...

  'I... I can't find anything...'

  The things he could remember could be counted on his fingers.

  Paro felt defeated.

  The devourer... Had won.

  It had won in his eyes.

  His authority was warped by that thing's influence.

  His childrens... the animals that stayed behind started to have magma coursing beneath their veins.

  The warriors' bodies that had come to take their final rest in his beautiful land also started to have the same effect.

  The land itself had become drier by the weeks.

  'Are the others experiencing the same ?'

  He named them others, he couldn't find their names in his memory.

  But he knew there were people like him.

  Paro silently prayed they'd never feel so powerless, even if it's in vain.

  In his memory-digging, he remembered a name.

  That name sounded similar to his own- hence it was easier to remember.

  "... Naro ? Naro...,"he tested the name on his rocky lips.

  Tenth. Ten. There was something about that number... but what ?

  "Ten years. I have stayed here for ten years."

  Ten years... Naro...

  The other's child.

  Age ?

  "Is Naro ten years old now ?"

  The name felt important when he spoke it out loud, so he decided to never forget it.

  Would he meet the child holding that name one day ?

  He didn't know. But he was sure of one thing.

  He would never give up that name to the devourer.

  "Naro."

  The land grew dry.

  "Naro."

  The air became scorching.

  "Naro."

  His children were fully corrupted, their howls, hiss, groans and grunts had become distorted, spitting flame as they breathed.

  "Naro."

  The Warriors' graves were engulfed in flames, their molten-armoured bodies waking up with cold killing intent, their eyes burnt with madness that weren't theirs.

  And inside the cave...

  The giant's shrunk body had magma veins and unknown runes covering its torso, it had grown two more arms, his head growed four twisted horns, two rising from it like a crown and two others on his cheeks- almost as if they reached for his mouth.

  "Na. Ro."

  His mouth had become a fiery maw that had an orange glow, his teeths became fangs, and a permanent smile etched into his face.

  "Naaaaa.... roooo...."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  A knight was twenty meters in front of him, holding a sword that didn't seem to be forged by any blacksmiths of this world.

  His white and disheveled hair was visible, dents and cuts littered his armor.

  "... How the hell can you speak ?" the knight asked.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------

  The giant did not move.

  Magma pulsed beneath cracked stone skin, light crawling slowly through veins like a sluggish heartbeat. The heat was overwhelming but for now there had been no hostility coming from it.

  Paro stood there and watched him.

  Naro tightened his grip on the sword.

  Up close, the scale was worse than he imagined. Even shrunk, Paro was immense, at least five meters tall. The extra arms dragged slightly, scraping stone. The twisted horns framed a face locked into that awful, burning grin.

  'Is this supposed to be the Gentle Giant of Kresha ?'

  "Naaaaa.... roooo...."

  The sound made him shudder.

  "...How the hell can you speak?" Naro asked.

  His voice echoed strangely in the cavern, swallowed quickly by heat.

  Paro's mouth moved and a sound came out

  But it wasn't a speech.

  It was a breath forced through a furnace.

  A low, distorted exhale, thick with heat and ash.

  Naro swallowed.

  "... Paro."

  The name felt wrong in his mouth.

  Still, he said it again.

  "Uncle Paro ?"

  The magma veins brightened.

  Stone cracked beneath Paro's feet as he shifted his weight.

  One massive arm twitched- then stilled.

  Naro took a careful step forward.

  The ground beneath his boot softened instantly, basalt turning tacky. He pulled his foot back before it could sink.

  "...It's me," he said, quieter now. "Naro."

  "..."

  No response.

  Naro's eyes narrowed.

  The cavern walls groaned softly as hairline fractures spread outward like spiderwebs. Somewhere deeper, magma surged, then settled.

  'The heat changed...'

  Paro tilted his head slightly

  Naro's breath hitched.

  "You remember me, right ?"

  'Fool, you never met him.'

  "You have to. You kept the name, didn't you?"

  'What the hell are you expecting ?'

  Paro's mouth opened wider.

  That burning grin stretched, teeth glowing orange.

  Sound came again.

  "Naaaaa... roooo..."

  The name dragged itself out of Paro's throat like molten stone being pulled from a mold.

  Naro froze, the child in him started hoping again.

  "...You do remember."

  He took another step forward.

  The floor cracked under him this time, a fissure opening that vented searing heat straight up his leg. He hissed and stepped back, armor already glowing faintly.

  "Alright. Okay. Got it !"

  "I'm not coming closer !"

  Naro had a small smile on his face as he said those words.

  Paro's arms began to move.

  They pressed into the ground.

  Stone responded.

  The cavern floor shifted, plates of rock grinding against each other as magma surged up through new channels. The terrain itself began to reshape, uneven ridges forming, escape paths closing.

  Naro's eyes widened then settled on the ground.

  'Ahh... I see how it is'

  Paro was too far gone to listen to him.

  This whole time... he was just reacting to Naro's presence.

  The sword hummed faintly in his hand.

  He raised it halfway, unsure whether it was a threat or a plea.

  "Hama wanted you to come to my birthday," he said suddenly. The words spilled out before he could stop them. "He was pissed you didn't, you know ?"

  The magma veins flickered for a moment.

  Naro's gaze lifted back to the Corrupted Demigod, Paro

  "He said if I ever met you, I should beat you up for it," Naro added, voice strained. "I thought he was joking."

  Paro's head jerked in a sharp unnatural way.

  Stone cracked across his face, the grin widening involuntarily.

  Heat spiked violently as the cavern answered to his Authority.

  Magma erupted from several fissures at once, splashing against the walls, cutting off paths Naro hadn't even noticed yet.

  Naro stumbled back as the floor tilted beneath him.

  "...So that's it," he breathed. "That's all that's left of you."

  'I'm such a fool.'

  The hopes of the child in him were shattered again.

  Paro took a step forward.

  This time, the ground collapsed where his foot landed.

  Naro's instincts screamed.

  He raised the sword fully, then sighed.

  "Guess talking's over," he said hoarsely.

  Paro roared as he lifted one massive arm.

  The stone around it melted.

  And the first strike came down.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------

  And the first strike came down.

  The sheer mass behind it turned the air solid, the heat slammed into Naro before the strike itself, a pressure wave that made his bones hum.

  Naro dashed and the world folded.

  He reappeared to Paro's right, boots skidding across stone already softening under the heat. The arm hit where he had been, the impact collapsing the floor inward and spraying molten fragments across the cavern.

  'No openings for you !'

  Naro didn't stop moving.

  He dashed again at a shorter interval.

  Reappearing near Paro's lower torso. His sword was already in motion:

  'Storm Strike.'

  The blade stretched as he thrust, length blooming forward in the same instant his momentum peaked. The sword punched into cracked stone skin, biting deep enough that magma spilled like blood.

  Paro reacted immediately as one of the lower arms swept sideways.

  Naro ripped the sword free and dashed again, barely avoiding being crushed. The heat scorched his back even through armor.

  'Four arms, but not a single tactic... Have you forgot how to think too-'

  The ground shifted violently. Rock plates rose, tilted, collapsed.

  But Paro wasn't aiming at Naro anymore.

  He was aiming at the space around him.

  "Shit!—"

  Naro leapt, dashed midair and reappeared above Paro's shoulder. He twisted, bringing the blade down in a vertical arc.

  Storm Strike again.

  The sword extended downward this time, turning a shallow cut into a deep gouge across Paro's shoulder. Stone split. Magma surged.

  Paro staggered half a step.

  Naro's breath hitched.

  'That worked !'

  The thought barely formed before something slammed into him.

  A horn.

  One of the twisted cheek-horns caught him across the ribs, the impact hurling him into the cavern wall. Stone exploded behind him as he bounced and hit the ground hard.

  Pain flared and then dulled seconds later.

  The Rune of Life pulsed.

  Warmth spread through shattered bone and torn muscle, knitting them together before the scream could fully escape his throat.

  Naro rolled to his feet, coughing.

  'Don't get excited. Don't hope.'

  Hope is a poison that will get you killed.

  Paro turned fully toward him now.

  All four arms lifted as the cavern answered.

  Magma surged through fissures, geysers erupted in staggered bursts. The heat climbed another unbearable notch.

  Naro dashed.

  left, right, up, through, threading between eruptions by instinct alone. His body moved before thought.

  He reappeared behind Paro and slashed horizontally.

  'Storm Strike.'

  The extended blade carved across Paro's back, severing one magma vein entirely.

  The Guardian roared in fury and slammed both upper arms backward.

  Naro vanished a heartbeat before impact.

  He reappeared on a collapsing ledge, chest heaving.

  'Twice,' he thought suddenly. 'Both times...'

  The realization snapped into place.

  'Storm Strike only works cleanly while the dash momentum is still there. About—'

  He counted instinctively.

  '... Two tenths of a second. Any later and I'm dead.'

  Paro charged.

  Not a sprint.

  A collapse.

  Each step pulverized the ground, shockwaves rippled outward. One arm struck downward, another swept low, the other two tore chunks of rock from the walls and hurled them blindly.

  Naro dashed straight into the assault.

  He reappeared inside Paro's guard and drove the blade upward, Runes flaring as the sword lengthened into Paro's chest.

  The hit landed.

  But Paro didn't stop.

  One massive hand closed around Rami's staff.

  Naro's eyes widened.

  "No!"

  Heat surged.

  The staff ignited, consumed by the flames of the demigod.

  Runes flared white-hot, screaming silently as the wood blackened, cracked, and disintegrated. The Rune of Life pulsed once— twice—

  Then shattered in a burst of light and ash.

  Paro twisted.

  Another arm came down.

  Naro tried to dash away, dodge every single of Paro's attacks just like he used to.

  And failed.

  Stone claws closed around his left arm.

  There was no pain at first, just a steady pressure on one of his limbs

  Then Paro pulled.

  Skin and muscle tore as the arm came away in a spray of blood and steam, severed in the most gruesome ways at the shoulder as Storm Strike flickered uselessly mid-motion.

  "AAAAAAARGHHH-"

  The world spun as he crashed into the ground, clutching the stump with his remaining hand. Blood hissed as it hit the heated stone.

  No warmth came.

  No healing.

  The Rune was gone.

  Paro loomed over him, magma veins blazing brighter than ever.

  Naro gasped, vision blurring.

  '...So this is where it starts.'

  One hand tightened around his sword.

  He forced himself to stand with gritted teeth as a dangerous crimson fire danced in his eyes.