The Mist Forest had never known silence like this.
Not after storms. Not after death. Not even after centuries of dormant curses.
But now— Silence smothered the air. Heavy. Uneasy. Waiting.
The last cadets stood on trembling ground, staring at the colossal abyss that had once been the battlefield.
A pillar of multicolored flame had erupted moments ago, lighting up the entire forest like a dying sun.
Now smoke drifted upward. Ash swirled. And from within the rising embers—
He walked out.
Auren.
Alive. But no longer the same.
Rebirth in Flame
His body glowed with cracks of jade and violet light, veins pulsing like molten rivers beneath his skin. Steam
hissed from his limbs, evaporating the mist around him. His steps melted stone.
A single horn of jade flame curled from his temple.
His eyes held starfire.
Auren existed now as something between life and myth. Between mortal and monster. Between man and
catastrophe.
Alys watched him approach. Not surprised. Not afraid.
Intrigued.
"You really climbed out of the abyss," she murmured. "I knew you wouldn't die that easily."
Her gem glowed in response—recognizing its opposite. Its rival. Its equal.
Auren's breath trembled with pain and fury. "You caused everything."
"Yes," Alys said softly. No denial. No excuse. No guilt.
1
Lura collapsed under his aura. Mark fell to one knee.
Auren didn't look at them.
He looked only at the one who betrayed him without lifting a blade. Alys Virellis.
Return of the Guardian
A thunderous pulse shook the forest.
Every heart stuttered. Every breath halted.
The monster— The guardian— The titan that had swallowed half the battlefield—
was reforming.
Lightning surged through the chasm. Ash swirled upward and solidified.
The creature rose again— bigger; brighter; wilder.
Its runes crackled with electric rage. Its thunder-eye burned like a newly born star.
Its aura flooded the entire Mist Forest with annihilation.
Owen—watching from the control dome—froze.
"This is bad… This is FAR beyond protocol."
But he could not intervene. The system was locked. The forest had entered Ancient Awakening Mode.
Fate trapped all of them inside.
The Battle That Shouldn't Exist
Auren stared at the monster. Alys stared at the monster.
Two disasters. Two storms. Both reborn. Both unstable.
For the first time, their auras clashed not out of rivalry—
—but in response to a common threat.
The guardian roared. The roar split the atmosphere. Lightning twisted into spears.
2
Alys moved first. Crimson bloodlight erupted beneath her.
Auren moved second. Jade storms spiraled from his arms.
They leapt.
Two streaks of divine flame. One crimson. One jade.
Both met the monster's thunder.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH!
A shockwave tore open the clouds. The forest bent sideways. Roots ripped from the earth.
Auren's claw slashed through lightning. Alys's blade carved through thunder.
But the monster did not fall. Its heart pulsed.
A final evolution. A final form.
A human silhouette formed within its thunder core. A face. A consciousness.
A titan's soul.
Alys cursed under her breath. "This thing… It's returning to its true shape."
Auren braced. "Then we end it."
Three Titans Collide
The guardian hurled a sun of thunder downward.
Alys answered with a spear of blood. Auren answered with a jade burst.
All three clashed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion devoured sight. Hearing. Thought.
And when the brilliance faded—
A crater the size of a stadium replaced the battlefield.
3
Alys lay on one knee. Breathing hard. Veins glowing dangerously—at the limit of what her body could
contain.
Auren stood shaking. Cracks deepened across his body. Blood boiled from his wounds. The Bloodburn was
consuming him.
The monster still towered.
Barely wounded.
The Final Stand
Auren staggered. The world blurred. His vision dimmed.
He heard Luna's voice. Faint. Weak. Calling his name.
He remembered her smile. Her small hand gripping his when fear swallowed her strength.
He remembered his promise.
And the Flame Monarch's warning:
Burn the world if it stands in your way.
Auren's horns flared. His entire body ignited in jade fire.
Alys whispered: "You'll die if you keep using that form…"
Auren didn't stop.
He couldn't.
He punched the ground. A jade fissure opened.
Flame pillars erupted.
Auren launched into the sky. His fist dragging a comet-tail of jade destruction.
The monster gathered all its thunder into one final attack. A world-ending lance.
Alys screamed: "AUREN, WAIT—!!"
He didn't hear.
4
He and the guardian collided in the heavens.
A jade star. A violet star. A crimson spark watching below.
Light swallowed everything.
The Fall
Alys stood trembling as the light faded. Her eyes widened.
The guardian was gone. Not defeated. Not destroyed.
Erased.
Only swirling ash remained.
But Auren— Was falling. Limp. Burned. Bleeding.
His flames had gone out.
Alys leapt—faster than thought. Crimson streak behind her.
She caught him mid-air. Her arms shook from the impact.
His body was cold. Too cold.
"Don't you dare die now," she whispered.
Her voice cracked.
"Not after surviving everything… Don't…"
Auren didn't answer. His eyes were closed. His breathing shallow. His jade cracks fading.
Owen's voice echoed across the forest as the lockdown finally released.
"All cadets—retreat immediately! Medical teams inbound!"
The ground lit with teleportation arrays. Magic symbols whirled. The reconstruction protocols activated.
The Mist Forest began to reset.
Alys held Auren tighter.
5
"Wake up," she whispered again.
But the jade flame inside him…
Was gone.
End of Volume One
The world watched the skies crack as emergency crafts descended.
Cadets vanished in pillars of light.
Alys held Auren as the teleportation circle activated beneath them.
She looked down at his motionless form. Her fingers shook. Her lips parted.
She whispered a final truth only the unconscious could hear:
"I won't let you die. Not now. Not ever. You still belong to me, Auren Kael."
Light swallowed them.
And the Mist Forest fell silent— a grave for gods and monsters.