The valley was dying.
Lava split the ground like veins of blood. The earth convulsed under the weight of Vulcarion Basal's awakening, molten rivers cascading down the cliffs and pooling into burning lakes. The heat had become suffocating — air thick enough to choke, vision warped by the shimmer of rising flame.
The monster that towered before them no longer looked like a beast.
It was a god of ruin.
Each breath it took exhaled a storm of ash and molten gas. Its shell, once black as cooled obsidian, was now fractured and glowing white-hot, magma bleeding through the cracks like veins of light. And within those glowing seams — its heart pulsed, steady, relentless. Controlled.
Kael's eyes narrowed as his Observation Haki flared, outlining the beast in threads of energy. "It's no longer blind rage," he said, voice tight. "It's thinking. It's choosing where to strike."
Hunnt stood at the forefront, his stance low, gauntlets gleaming red from the reflected fire. "Then we stop thinking," he said, eyes locked on the beast. "We act."
Vulcarion raised its wings. The wind that followed was a furnace gale, filled with sparks that glowed like dying stars. The shockwave hit them seconds later — a solid wall of heat that knocked Kael and Seren back several meters. Alder held his ground, sword driven into the rock like an anchor, fire licking at the edges of his armor.
"Everyone alive?" Hunnt's voice cut through the roar.
Kael coughed, raising his bowgun. "Barely."
"Good," Hunnt said, tightening his gauntlets. "Let's keep it that way."
Then Vulcarion moved — and the world shattered.
It was no longer sluggish or ponderous. Its claws cut through the ground like molten blades, molten ash exploding with each strike. A single flap of its wings hurled a hurricane of embers across the valley.
Kael vanished, his form flickering through the air. Soru. He darted between boulders, evading debris with inhuman speed. His Observation Haki painted the monster's movements like flashes of light in his mind, every twitch a warning, every flicker a chance to live.
"Left flank's weaker!" he shouted. "Its vent seams are overheating!"
Alder didn't hesitate. He sprinted through the ash, the ground cracking under his armored boots. Soru burst beneath his feet, a shockwave carrying him forward, faster than the eye could follow. He leapt into the air, Geppo propelling him higher — step after step through the boiling atmosphere.
The Great Sword shimmered black — Armament Haki cloaking it in steel-dark aura. "Come on, you bastard!" he roared.
He came down like a meteor, blade first. The hit rang like an anvil strike, splitting one of Vulcarion's shoulder plates in two. Shards of molten rock sprayed outward in a fiery arc.
The wyvern screamed, but its retaliation was instant — a Cinder Maul slam that erupted the earth beneath Alder's landing. The shockwave sent him flying across the basin.
Hunnt was there before he even hit the ground.
Soru — flash movement.
Anchor Step — grounding impact.
He caught Alder midair, redirected his momentum, and tossed him aside from another sweeping claw. The two landed rolling, ash spraying around them.
"Still breathing?" Hunnt grunted.
Alder coughed, chest armor glowing red-hot. "Barely… but that counts."
Before Hunnt could reply, a shriek of whistling flame cut through the air — a warning.
Kael's voice followed, distant but clear. "Incoming! It's charging Scalding Breath!"
Hunnt didn't think. He grabbed Alder and threw him aside, then dove as the world erupted.
A river of white fire tore across the battlefield. Stone turned to glass. Shadows vaporized before touching the ground. For a moment, the entire valley was a sun.
When the light faded, Hunnt was kneeling behind a half-melted boulder, gauntlets smoking. His breathing was heavy, but steady. Observation Haki flickered in his mind, tracing the monster's heartbeat — fast, erratic, pulsing like a war drum.
He whispered, "It's overheating."
Kael appeared beside him in a blur of Soru, panting, hair singed. "You're right. It's losing control of its heat flow. That's our opening."
"Then we make it burn itself out."
Hunnt sprinted forward, fire bursting from the soles of his boots with every step. He weaved between geysers of molten rock, each footfall perfectly timed through Observation Haki's rhythm. Vulcarion swung downward, claws wide — Hunnt met it head-on.
Tekkai. His body hardened like steel.
The claws crashed against him — sparks and molten fragments bursting outward. He slid backward but didn't fall.
Then — Redirect.
He twisted his stance, guiding the claw's force sideways, sending the impact into the ground. The earth shattered, leaving the wyvern's underside momentarily open.
"Now, Alder!" Hunnt shouted.
Alder had already moved. Geppo launched him skyward again; his blade burned with Armament Haki, shimmering with crimson light. He flipped midair, coming down with the force of a collapsing mountain.
The impact blew molten debris across the valley. The fissure along Vulcarion's chest widened — magma spilling like blood.
Kael, crouched on a ledge above, steadied his bowgun. Observation Haki sharpened his aim until time itself seemed to still. He fired — precision rounds piercing straight into the glowing wound.
Vulcarion's roar shook the sky.
The ground split apart, magma jets rising in furious retaliation.
Seren raised her shield, stepping in front of Kael as burning rock exploded around them. She anchored her lance in the stone, planting herself like an unmovable wall.
Her voice cut through the inferno. "Don't stop! If it bleeds, it can die!"
Kael grinned through the smoke, reloading. "You heard her!"
He fired again — and again — each round finding its mark through Haki's foresight.
Hunnt sprinted through the chaos, Geppo lifting him off the ground. He landed against Vulcarion's forearm, climbing upward, each impact of his gauntlets sending ripples through its molten hide.
He channeled Pulse Drive, fists glowing with internal energy. With every punch, light burst through the cracks of the wyvern's armor — brief flashes of pure force. The heat was unbearable, but he didn't stop.
Alder swung from below, each strike syncing with Hunnt's blows.
Kael's rounds punctuated each impact.
Three hunters — one rhythm.
Vulcarion faltered, staggering under the coordinated onslaught. Its claws scraped the ground, struggling to maintain balance.
Then — silence.
The creature exhaled, and for a moment, the entire valley went still. The flames dimmed. The trembling stopped.
Kael frowned. "Did we—"
A thunderclap cut him off.
Vulcarion roared again — deeper this time, resonating through the stone, the mountains, the marrow of their bones. Light surged through every fissure of its body, burning brighter than before.
Its magma veins turned white.
The air bent under the heat.
The ground beneath them liquefied.
Kael's Observation Haki screamed warnings across his mind. "Everyone down! It's ascending into controlled rage!"
Seren dug her heels into the ash, shield raised high, teeth gritted. "Then we hold the line!"
Alder crouched beside her, sword ready. Kael took cover behind a ridge, reloading in frantic bursts.
Hunnt stood before them all, the lava wind whipping against his armor. His gauntlets steamed, glowing red from the heat — the mark of the Eternal Wanderer burning faintly beneath the cracks.
He watched the wyvern rise, flames spiraling around it like a crown. For the first time, it wasn't roaring. It was breathing — calm, measured, aware.
"Controlled rage," Hunnt murmured. "It's learning to fight like us."
Alder's voice was grim. "Then we'll show it what that means."
The wyvern spread its wings — molten light cascading like a waterfall of fire.
Hunnt tightened his stance, air vibrating under his feet. His heart matched the monster's rhythm — heat for heat, fury for fury.
"Wanderers," he said quietly, almost like a prayer, "walk forward."
And as Vulcarion lunged, the four of them moved as one — into the storm, into the light, into the fire.