Chapter 38: The Hidden Flame Awakens
Kael's black flame sword crashed down, its impact echoing like thunder. Le Wai barely managed to block, his knees slamming into the ground under the crushing force. His arms quivered, his grip faltered—the blade in his hands felt unbearably heavy.
For a heartbeat, it seemed as though everything was over.
The shadow beasts closed in, their snarls hungry, their claws reaching for the kill. The mastermind's voice slithered from the darkness.
"Yes… this is the end of your defiance. Collapse, Le Wai. Become nothing."
Le Wai's vision blurred. His breath came shallow and ragged. His sword tilted dangerously, on the verge of slipping from his grasp.
But then…
A warmth stirred within him. Faint, fragile—yet unmistakable.
It pulsed deep in his chest, like a hidden ember long buried beneath ash. With every beat of his heart, the ember flickered, growing brighter, hotter.
Le Wai gasped, his eyes widening. For a moment, he thought he saw it—threads of light coiling faintly around his sword, seeping through the cracks of his despair.
Kael noticed it too. His sneer twisted into alarm.
"What is this…?!"
The beasts hesitated, their advance faltering as the faint glow shimmered against the darkness.
Le Wai's body was still battered, his strength nearly gone. But the ember within refused to let him collapse. His will, unbroken despite his suffering, ignited that hidden flame.
"I… will not yield."
His voice, though hoarse, resonated with a weight far beyond his exhausted state. The glow intensified, dancing across his blade, defying the suffocating shadows pressing in from all sides.
The mastermind hissed in the unseen depths.
"No… not yet. He cannot awaken now…"
Le Wai staggered back to his feet, every muscle trembling, yet his sword steady once more. The faint light that now wrapped around him wasn't enough to secure victory—but it was enough to terrify those who believed he had already fallen.
Kael snarled, his fury burning hotter.
"You think this light will save you? I'll crush it… and you with it!"
But deep inside, Le Wai finally understood: his journey wasn't just about survival. Something greater was stirring—something that had been waiting, buried within him all along.
And for the first time that night, Kael saw not just a weary warrior on the verge of collapse…
but the shadow of the power that would one day rise to oppose him.