Their bodies froze in a static, cold pose. A sound escaped their bodies—harsh and metallic, like steel scraping stone. The noise echoed through the chamber, a rhythmic grinding that crawled along the walls.
Then, the flames in the small iron cages flickered… and died.
The creatures held weapons. Two of them gripped enormous swords, their blades catching the eerie glow beneath. The other two wielded a massive and cruel axe.
Lefelob snatched up a sword, trembling, but resolved to protect Cesar and the now-unconscious Toloméa.
"Lefelob… What's happening? You should know!" Cesar cried out, eyes still locked on the figures.
"Lefelob?" he asked again, more desperate this time.
"I don't know!" Lefelob shouted. "I've never seen sorcery like this—never!"
Before another word could be spoken, a deafening roar drowned their voices. The ground trembled beneath their feet. From the corridor behind them, a slab of stone burst from the floor, rising fast. It sealed the passage shut—trapping them inside.
And then, the eyes of the creatures began to glow more. Twin points of blue light ignited within each face, cold and lifeless as frost.
The trembling stopped. But the air had changed—thickened. A strange wind swept through the room, though no source could be seen. It carried with it a weight, not just of pressure… but of dread.
A new sound crept along the stone walls—darker this time, more sinister. It wasn't just noise, but a kind of call, metallic and unnatural, rising from some unseen point in the room. Perhaps from one of the four figures.As the sound echoed through the chamber, two of the creatures lifted their weapons high above their heads.
The other two, standing behind, stepped forward slowly and deliberately, mirroring the movement. Their glowing eyes flared brighter, blazing like twin stars of cold fire.
"Cesar…" Lefelob whispered.
Cesar turned toward him. Lefelob's gaze was locked on the figures—wide, terrified, and beginning to fray at the edges.
"Stay behind me… I... I'll try to hold them off. Maybe it's suicide… but it's all I can do."
Cesar hesitated, then took a few steps back. He turned toward Toloméa, sprawled motionless on the floor.In that moment, all he wanted was for her to awaken—to stand, ready to fight at their side.
Lefelob stared at the glowing eyes of the beings before him. His mind, already strained, began to crack under the pressure.
Then—suddenly—the blue lights beneath their feet blinked out, plunging the room into deeper shadow.Only one light returned, a single glowing circle beneath one of the figures. Without warning, that creature began to sink into the floor, as if pulled into the circle of light that had appeared beneath it.
Lefelob stood frozen, watching its body vanish inch by inch into the stone.A chill ran down his left arm.
Another blue circle was forming—this one to his left, dangerously close.
A shape began to rise from it: the same head, the same glowing eyes.
Lefelob gasped, but had no time to react.
The creature emerged in full and struck—a sudden, lethal blow aimed straight for Lefelob's skull.
The sword missed by mere millimeters, slicing the air where his head had been. He threw himself forward, just in time to avoid being cleaved in two.
Can they move through the stone? He thought in horror.
He hadn't meant to, but his leap had brought him deeper into the chamber—inside the circle of danger.
The other three figures still hadn't moved. They stood motionless, like statues carved from nightmare, as if waiting for something.
He glanced around—heart pounding.The creature that had nearly split his skull was already behind him again, silent and relentless.
The other three began to shift.One stepped backward, just a few meters. The two others moved out wide, flanking to either side.
They were spreading out—surrounding him.
Lefelob stood frozen, breath shallow, blade shaking in his grip. He was helpless—and he knew it.
Then, without warning, four new blue circles ignited around the creatures.And just like before, they began to sink—one by one—into the floor.
"Shit…" Lefelob hissed under his breath.
He dropped his gaze, trying to study the stone beneath his feet, hoping for a flicker of movement, a sign, anything to anticipate where they'd rise next.
It was useless.
Two glowing circles erupted—one directly in front of him, the other behind. He launched himself upward, jumping as high as he could.
Too slow.
The heads burst from the floor beneath him, rising at a terrifying speed—too fast, too sudden.Lefelob's leap hadn't carried him far enough.
Mid-air, he managed to plant one foot on the crown of a rising creature, using its momentum to vault higher—but then another shape lunged upward. The second had drawn its axe.
Lefelob twisted midair, arching his back just in time.The blade sliced close, brushing his spine. A searing line of pain traced across his back.
He didn't falter. He caught the shaft of the axe in his hand, using the creature's own swing to spin himself away, flinging his body clear of the deadly strike.
He landed hard—too hard. His left foot bent beneath him at an unnatural angle.A scream tore from his throat, echoing through the stone chamber.
Before he could recover, two more circles flared into life—this time both in front of him.
He tried to retreat—only to realize the wall was at his back.Cornered.
Panic surged.
He scrambled up the wall, grasping for the jagged protrusions that jutted out at random. His hands clawed for purchase, fingers slipping, legs trembling.
He forced himself to breathe.To think.
He hung there, chest heaving, eyes flicking down to the floor again—searching for any clue, any hint of their next movement.
And then—
"LEFELOB!!"
Cesar's voice rang out through the chamber, frantic and raw.
"Don't lose your focus!! I saw it—when they cross the floor, they leave a blue streak!!"
He shouted again, louder. "A stripe, like a trail!! It's how they move!!"
Lefelob's eyes widened.
Below, two of the creatures froze mid-step.Their heads turned. Slowly.
Then, without warning, they changed course.
Their heavy, deliberate footsteps began to echo once more—this time not toward Lefelob. But toward Cesar.
Lefelob looked around, his breath short and ragged.But below him—silent, swift—the other two figures were already emerging once more, piercing up through the stone like blades.
His heartbeat thundered in his skull, the only sound he could hear.A drumbeat of dread.
Then—a flicker. A whisper in his mind. He sensed something worse.
He looked down.
The two creatures were scaling the wall.
Their inhuman hands clawed into the stone, pulling themselves up with terrifying speed.They were close—too close.
Their fingers reached for his legs.
He had no choice.
Lefelob leapt.
Mid-air, his eyes snapped to Cesar.Panic gripped him.
The other two creatures had reached him.
Cesar stood frozen, paralyzed by terror, unable to move.The light in his eyes was fading.
Lefelob's landing faltered. His body twisted—off-balance—and his hand struck the ground hard.
Crack.
The pain was instant and blinding. His wrist broke on impact, and a ragged cry tore from his throat.
And then came the sound.That sound.
Cesar—ripped from his feet—was thrown like a ragdoll across the chamber.
Lefelob heard the thud—the crunch.Cesar's body slammed against the stone floor with sickening force.
Lefelob's eyes rolled upward. A ceiling of black stone loomed above him, endless and cold.
His vision blurred.
Behind him, the climbing creatures landed with thunderous weight.They turned toward him.
Lefelob tried to rise—he lifted his arm, pushed—but agony surged through his foot, up his leg, sharp enough to steal his breath.He collapsed, gasping, and dragged himself forward using his one good hand, his broken body scraping against the cold floor.
But they were faster.
They reached him.
One grabbed him by the torso and slammed him down, pinning him like a carcass beneath its weight.The other raised its sword high, straight above his throat.
The room fell still.
Time stopped.
Pain drained from his body. Sound disappeared. Everything slowed.
He couldn't feel his wounds anymore.Only the cold.Only the silence.
And in that silence… something opened.
Lefelob smiled—just slightly.
His life unraveled before him, moment by moment. His father's voice, long gone but never forgotten. The Kormanys gathered under winter skies—that day.
"Is this it...?"
"Is this... the end?"
"Father... am I finally catching up to you...?"
Across the room, Cesar lay broken, unmoving.The other two figures now stood over him, their weapons drawn.
Lefelob coughed up blood. He could barely breathe.
Cesar's hands trembled. His eyes were wide, glassy. He was barely conscious—watching, fading.
Lefelob's eyes began to close. The sword above him descended.
Darkness rose to meet him.
Then, a light.
A sudden, blinding light burst to life.It was overwhelming—an eruption of sheer power.
The entire chamber was engulfed in it, saturated by a radiant storm of yellow fire, streaked with molten orange and flickering shades of crimson.It wasn't just illumination. It was force. Presence. Something divine.
Lefelob squeezed his eyes shut.But it wasn't enough.The brilliance pierced even his closed lids, scorching across his vision like lightning behind skin.
Then—The crushing grip around his torso loosened.
The creature holding him faltered.
All four figures froze, caught mid-motion like statues—dazzled, stunned by the unbearable blaze.
The light, once suffocating, began to soften. Slowly. Gradually.Its heat faded, the color receding like a tide pulling back from shore.
Lefelob's eyes fluttered open.
He could breathe. Move.
The loosened hold gave him just enough space to turn. He twisted, looked toward the source.
And saw him.
Cesar.
His body was wrapped in light—glowing like the heart of a star.
"Cesar…?" Lefelob whispered, barely able to form the word.
Behind him, Toloméa stirred. Her eyes opened with a sudden breath, as though the light had reached deep inside her and pulled her awake.
Still weak, she looked around—confused. But then she saw them.
The four figures—still, silent. Frozen in place. Their bodies locked in a stunned paralysis, bathed in fading light.
The radiance slowly dimmed.Cesar's glow flickered… then died.
His body returned to normal, lifeless. Dark. Unconscious.
Lefelob stared. Paralyzed by exhaustion. By awe. By fear.
"Cesar? Lefelob?" Toloméa called out, pushing herself upright, her voice still laced with fatigue.
"Toloméa!" Lefelob cried, his voice cracked and desperate.
She was awake. Alive.
He weakly raised his hand toward her. His fingers trembled.
Toloméa rushed forward, dropping beside him. She lifted him gently, then turned to gather Cesar into her arms.She pulled them both back—away from the stunned figures—dragging their broken bodies across the stone with fierce resolve.
"Toloméa…" Lefelob gasped, still dazed.
"You're safe now," she said softly, though her voice shook with effort.
Her gaze turned to the figures.They hadn't moved.
She rose, fury simmering in her veins. She raised her hand—And with a violent thrust, she struck one of them square across the face. The creature crumpled with a hollow thud.
Toloméa raised her other hand. Her grip closed around the other three like a vice.With one motion, she held the three in place—tight, unyielding.
The sight steadied Lefelob's breath.
They were safe.
But his thoughts refused to settle.
That light.That power.
It had come from Cesar.
That brightness—wild, raw, unrestrained. Something ancient.Something alive.
So Oldgure had been right. Cesar's power was awakening.