CHAPTER 18 — THE COLLAPSE OF FATES
The ground was still trembling.
Dust floated through the air like drifting ash, settling over the shattered earth where a massive crater lay. At the center of that crater, half-buried beneath broken stone and smoke, was Zero.
Barely moving.
Barely breathing.
Only the faint silhouette of his body could be seen through the thick settling dust.
Voltraz approached slowly, each step echoing with controlled killing intent.
His expression was firm—not excited, not furious—just focused. The look of a predator who finally cornered its prey.
"Finally," Voltraz muttered, "you've stopped struggling."
He raised his hand, elemental sparks dancing across his fingers.
He was about to finish it.
But...the ground pulsed.
A deep, heavy vibration thudded through the crater.
Then it happened.
A Dark Elemental Eruption
A violent blast of dark elemental energy exploded from Zero's body—raw, unstable, primal.
Voltraz took a full step back.
Ignarion blinked sharply.
Zephyros froze, eyes wide with disbelief.
Zero wasn't conscious.
He wasn't resisting.
He wasn't even aware.
Yet the aura from his body surged like a beast awakening after centuries of slumber.
"What—" Voltraz growled, shielding his face.
Zephyros stepped forward, stunned.
His voice trembled with something rare: fear.
"This… this is the ancient aura from the Great War. A power from hundreds of years."
He stared at Zero, who was now surrounded by swirling dark currents.
"Who… is this boy?"
Zero's eyes half-opened, unfocused, glowing faintly.
He wasn't conscious.
He was acting purely on instinct an ancient, buried reaction deep within the dark elemental core inside him.
Then...
Zero vanished.
A shockwave burst at his feet as he accelerated.
Voltraz barely had time to raise his guard.
"Wha—?!"
Zero's fist smashed into his chestplate.
Then another.
And another.
A barrage of blows infused with dark elemental force—each impact heavier than the last.
CRACK.
A long fracture split across Voltraz's armor.
Ignarion inhaled sharply.
Zephyros' heartbeat skipped.
Zero hammered Voltraz again, the second crack forming, then a third.
The armor of a Bloodstorm Commander(Voltraz War Title)… was about to break.
Voltraz gritted his teeth.
"That's enough."
A roar of power erupted from his body—Fire, Lightning, and Water all activating simultaneously.
A deafening boom shook the land.
Mist exploded outward, swallowing everything for kilometers.
The entire battlefield vanished beneath a towering ocean of steam, swirling like a living creature.
Inside the mist, visibility dropped to blind.
Voltraz's voice echoed through the fog:
"You forced me to this level, brat."
Zero Regains Consciousness
Zero stumbled back, blinking rapidly as the trance began to fade.
His breath grew steadier.
"…What happened…?"
He touched his chest and felt it...
His aura had risen drastically.
The dark elemental core… had opened slightly on its own.
But before he could think further...
A faint whistle sliced through the mist.
Lightning Needles in the Fog
Sparks began forming inside the steam.
Tiny flickers.
Small arcs of lightning, like fine needles of lightning...
Then...
SHRRRRT!
Hundreds of lightning needles burst from the mist toward him.
Zero's eyes widened.
"This is… elemental fusion."
Steam from Water + Fire.
Lightning bound inside the vapor.
A fusion so advanced it blurred the line between magic and assassination.
He raised both hands, activating inner energy.
A spherical shield formed around his body.
The lightning needles struck violently...
CRACK–CRACK–CRACK!
Zero gritted his teeth, barely holding the shield together as the storm raged.
Voltraz Attacks From Behind
A whisper of movement behind him.
Zero turned...
Too late.
BOOM!
Voltraz slammed his fist into Zero's back.
Zero flew hundreds of meters through the mist, tearing through trees and stone before stabilizing midair.
He spat blood.
Voltraz stepped through the fog with glowing eyes.
"You're awake now? Good. Don't disappoint me."
Zero Understands the Surge
Zero placed a hand on his chest.
That eruption earlier…
The instinctive transformation…
His dark elemental core had reacted...for the first time in years.
"So that's it…" he muttered.
His aura rose again—stable, intentional this time.
Dark Elemental + Inner Energy Fusion
Zero's body ignited in swirling black flames intertwined with invisible inner energy threads.
The ground cracked beneath him.
Air distorted around his limbs.
The forest trembled.
Voltraz smirked.
"Finally serious."
They clashed...
And the world shattered.
Mountains split.
Forests burned.
The land warped under the shockwaves.
Zero landed, sliding backward.
His hand reached for the sword on his back.
The blade hummed as dark aura filled it.
Zero whispered:
"Void Requiem."
His ultimate strike.
He dashed forward...light bending behind him.
But then...
Voltraz Reveals Special Ability of Drakonar clan...
Voltraz activated his true heritage.
His skin hardened, turning into ancient dragon-scale armor.
Dark crimson.
Immovable.
Indestructible.
Zero swung Void Requiem—
KRRRRRRRRK.
The blade shattered on impact.
Fragments scattered like dying stars.
Zero's eyes went wide with shock.
Voltraz didn't give him time to react.
Fusion Flame + Lightning — Final Blow
The commander clenched his fist.
Fire and lightning fused into a blazing meteor strike.
He punched.
The explosion swallowed Zero whole.
The land cracked open.
The sky flashed white.
Zero's body thrown through the air like a broken doll—
Toward the massive valley behind him.
His consciousness flickered.
His vision blurred.
Zero eye see the world spin.
Just as Zero neared the edge...
SWOOSH!
A blur shot from the side.
A figure moved faster than wind, slicing Zero across the chest mid air.
Blood sprayed.
Ignarion stepped back.
Voltraz's eyes narrowed.
Zephyros muttered:
"So… you finally reveal yourself."
The man landed calmly on a boulder, his aura burning like volcanic ash.
A loyal warrior of Xyron Inferno.
One of the Demon General's personal enforcers.
He looked down at Zero with cold disdain.
"I've sensed your aura for a long time," he said calmly.
"And this is all you can do?"
He scoffed.
"Pathetic."
He kicked Zero with monstrous force.
Zero lost consciousness completely...his limp body thrown into the valley.
Voltraz's Rage
Voltraz's aura erupted.
"YOU Bastard Why you interfere my battle!"
The temperature spiked.
Lightning crackled.
The intruder flinched, sweat rolling down his neck.
He raised both hands.
"Calm down. I serve the same side as you."
The symbol burned on his wrist—
The Mark of Demon General Xyron Inferno.
Voltraz clicked his tongue.
"Tch. A General's dog."
Zero's body disappeared into the swirling darkness of the abyss.
Unmoving.
Lifeless.
Falling deeper, deeper...
Until even the sound of wind vanished.
In the depths of the Valley…
A pair of ancient eyes opened.
A voice echoed in the darkness—
"So… another one has arrived."