The forest was no longer a forest — it was a graveyard of fire.
Trees that had once reached for the heavens were now charred spires, their twisted shapes glowing like dying coals in the smoky twilight. Ash fell like snow, hissing faintly as it touched the molten ground. The stench of burnt sap and scorched iron filled every breath.
Kael crouched low behind a splintered trunk, smoke curling around his hood. His left hand braced the light bowgun while his right flicked a shell into the chamber with mechanical precision. "It's circling!" he called out, his voice cracking through the chaos.
From somewhere above, a deafening roar split the sky.
Ignivar Rex — the Crimson Tyrant — descended like a comet of flame, its wings ablaze, trailing molten ash that rained destruction across the clearing.
Alder grit his teeth as he threw himself forward, his boots carving twin furrows in the scorched soil. The heat licked his armor, glowing faintly at the seams. "That thing's not just flying — it's burning the damn air!"
Hunnt's voice was steady, cutting through the roar. "Then we smother it."
He could feel the wyvern's intent before it struck. His Observation Haki expanded outward like ripples on still water, tracing the rhythm of heartbeats and muscle tension through the chaos. He sensed the ignition of heat in its chest — the signal of an imminent blast — and shouted, "Cover your eyes!"
The monster exhaled a torrent of flame, igniting the entire ridge in an inferno.
Kael rolled, vanishing with a burst of Soru, reappearing several meters away behind a slab of stone. His cloak burned at the edges, smoke curling upward. "Hunnt! I thought you said smother!"
"Working on it," Hunnt replied calmly.
He darted forward, his boots cracking the charred ground. The air shimmered around his gauntlets, heat bending away as Armament Haki coated them in a seamless black sheen. Anchor Step fixed his stance as he met the wyvern's downward strike — claws like molten scythes crashing against his guard.
The impact was cataclysmic.
Flames burst outward, sending Seren tumbling backward across the ash. Her shield landed with a clang beside her as she coughed through the smoke.
"Hunnt!" Alder shouted, leaping forward.
"I'm fine," came the reply — quiet, but firm. Hunnt twisted, redirecting the massive claw to the side with Redirect, using the beast's own weight against it. He followed through with Pulse Drive, his fist connecting with the wyvern's chest. The air rippled — an invisible shockwave that cracked scales and made the monster stumble.
"Seren, now!" Kael barked.
Seren charged, shield raised. The wyvern's head snapped toward her, fire licking its jaw. But she didn't slow. She slammed her shield into its forearm, her body reinforced by Tekkai, the ground beneath her feet fracturing from the force. Her lance thrust forward — sparks dancing where metal met molten scale.
The Crimson Tyrant shrieked, staggering back a step.
Kael switched ammunition. "Pierce rounds loaded!" He aimed at the faint gap between its neck scales and fired. The bullet struck, embedding deep into the softer tissue. Blood hissed into vapor before it hit the ground.
Alder's boots thudded heavily as he dashed in, his Heartflare Great Sword burning faintly from internal heat. "Hunnt! Open its guard!"
Hunnt nodded once, vanishing again in a blur — Soru. He reappeared under the monster's left wing, his body glowing faintly from heat and aura. He slammed both fists into its shoulder joint — Pulse Drive detonating point blank.
Alder leapt high, propelled by Geppo. For a second, he was silhouetted against the burning sky. "This is for Emberfall!" he roared, bringing his blade down with all his weight.
The sword cleaved through part of the beast's crest, molten shards spraying outward. The wyvern screamed, whipping its tail in retaliation.
"Tail sweep!" Kael shouted.
Seren reacted instantly — she dropped into Kami-e, her movements fluid as paper in the wind. The tail smashed past where she had been, cracking the ground in two. She recovered, panting, and rejoined formation beside Hunnt.
"Kael, weak points?" Hunnt demanded, ducking beneath another gout of fire.
Kael closed his eyes briefly — Observation Haki flaring. The world slowed. He could see the heat lines through the monster's body — waves of energy pulsing like blood flow. "Underbelly and neck seams!" he called out. "Hit the gaps before it seals!"
Hunnt nodded and launched forward. Alder followed his lead. Seren and Kael kept the wyvern's focus with constant pressure — Kael's gunfire crackling through the haze, Seren's lance gleaming like a spear of silver against a sea of red.
Hunnt struck first — fists slamming into the exposed underside. He felt the vibrations of the blow run through the beast's bones. Alder's great sword followed immediately, driving into the crack Hunnt created.
The wyvern's roar drowned the world.
The ground heaved — a surge of heat so intense it warped the very air. Trees in a hundred-meter radius burst into flame.
Kael braced himself. "It's entering Rage Mode!"
The glow within Ignivar Rex's chest intensified, veins of molten gold running across its hide. It reared, fire spilling uncontrollably from its mouth. The roar that followed wasn't sound — it was force, a wave of fury that flattened everything around it.
Seren's knees buckled as she raised her shield, trying to withstand the sheer pressure. "By the Forge…" she whispered, her armor melting at the edges.
Alder planted his sword into the ground, using it as a brace to stay upright. "It's like fighting the sun itself!"
Kael shouted over the roar. "Hunnt! What now?!"
Hunnt stood still amid the chaos, steam rising from his gauntlets, eyes locked on the raging wyvern. "Now…" he murmured, tightening his stance. "Now we end the storm."
The others barely heard him as the Tyrant lunged forward again — claws blazing, fire swirling around its body. Hunnt's muscles tensed; Armament Haki coursed through him like molten steel. His mind quieted. Every breath, every flicker of movement, slowed into clarity.
Anchor Step. Redirect. Pulse Drive.
He caught the strike, turned it aside, and hammered his fist into the monster's chest. The explosion of impact sent a shockwave rippling across the clearing.
The wyvern screamed again, its molten chest cracking open with a blinding light.
Kael, Alder, and Seren didn't hesitate. Together, they charged through the smoke — a coordinated strike that cut through the beast's final defenses.
The Crimson Tyrant convulsed, flames bursting wildly from its wounds, then finally collapsed in a thunderous crash that shook the earth.
For a long time, no one spoke. The fire still burned around them, the air thick with smoke and silence.
Seren lowered her shield, breathing hard. "It's over…"
Kael gave a faint smirk, holstering his bowgun. "Until the next one."
Alder leaned on his sword, looking at Hunnt. "You knew it would end like this."
Hunnt didn't answer immediately. He simply watched the dying embers rise into the sky and whispered,
"No… but I hoped it would."
The fire died with the last breath of the Crimson Tyrant, and the Eternal Wanderers stood victorious — scarred, burned, and unbroken.