The Ember Sage blazed like a miniature sun in the sky, his body engulfed in radiant flas that shimred gold and crimson. The sheer intensity of the power erupting from him was sothing far beyond the Grand Magus realm—it was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
While Ery couldn’t help but feel a mix of admiration and worry, the dark elf Talaro’s expression twisted with growing concern. His voice was sharp with unease.
"This is bad... it has to stop..."
Ery quickly understands the reason for Talaro’s reaction.
The blazing light, so powerful and unnatural, was acting like a beacon. From every corner of the cursed land, monstrous creatures stirred.
Roars echoed from the horizon.
Several god-level beasts could be seen breaking through the treeline, stampeding toward the source of the energy. Overhead, multiple flying serpents that had been aimlessly circling now screeched and veered in, pulled by the burning beacon in the sky.
"Yo... I really think we should go!!" Dark Ery said, glancing at the approaching beasts.
But his lighter counterpart shook his head firmly. "We can’t leave him here!"
His gaze locked onto Galalel, the Ember Sage, who stood suspended in the air, wreathed in blazing flas. The power flaring from his body cracked the air like thunder. Yet despite the grandeur, Ery could see the pain etched across the sage’s face. He was screaming—not from fury, but agony. Ery couldn’t tell if the burst of power was awakening his true strength or tearing him apart from within.
Without hesitation, Ery launched himself into the sky, cutting through the shimring heat.
"Senior!" he called out. "Calm down! We need to leave! Co with us!"
But instead of a response, a tidal wave of fire erupted from Galalel’s body, crashing toward Ery like a living inferno. The heat was imnse, forcing Ery to shield himself and retreat with a heavy grunt.
"He’s losing it! He’s going mad! Just leave him!" the dark Ery shouted from below, frustration growing in his voice.
But soone else had a different reaction.
Talaro’s eyes widened with wonder as realization struck. "That’s... that’s primordial fla!" he exclaid. "It is!"
The dark elf’s previous anxiety vanished instantly. With a mad grin, he shot upward toward the flaming sage. The sa fiery defense flared toward him as it had against Ery, but Talaro twisted midair, gracefully dodging the blast. Then, he began chanting in an ancient elvish tongue—smooth, resonant, and strangely calming, despite the chaos.
From below, the dark Ery growled."What the hell is he doing?!"
Both Erys imdiately sensed danger. Whatever Talaro was doing, whatever influence he had—it wasn’t good. The light and dark halves of Ery exchanged a wordless glance, then launched themselves toward the dark elf to stop whatever he was attempting.
But just as they moved, six skeletal beasts lunged forward, intercepting them mid-flight.
"Tch! These ugly things again?!" Dark Ery spat, narrowly evading the snapping jaws of a bone lizard.
While they struggled, Talaro continued his approach, chanting louder. Galalel scread again, but this ti, it was different. His body—already wreathed in fire—began to crack. Flesh gave way to molten light. Skin crumbled into ash.
"He’s... breaking apart. What happened to him?!"
In that instance, Chuutulu’s voice echoed in their minds.
"It?... the fla?"
They could only watch helplessly as Galale’s form unraveled. The molten fla surged through his veins until his body finally ruptured entirely, bursting into a cyclone of ember and light.
His soul shimred—briefly, pitifully—before even that was pulled into the vortex of destruction. The last thing they saw was a face twisted in sorrow and regret before it vanished into ash.
The Ember Sage was no more.
Burned alive and erased by the very cosmic fla he once sought to master.
In the silence that followed, the lingering firestorm twisted above, coalescing in the air into a new shape—a great avian silhouette of pure fla. Wings of glowing embers unfurled. A head rose, its eyes twin motes of starlight. The cosmic fla had taken form: a majestic, ethereal firebird, suspended in the heavens like a miniature sun.
Chututlu’s voice returned, urgent.
Ery’s breath caught. Even as part of him hesitated, still haunted by the image of Galale’s demise, the thought of Talaro gaining control of such power was far worse.
The dark Ery responded without hesitation. He twisted his hands, folding the space around them to clear a path through the skeletal beasts that still prowled. Simultaneously, the light Ery conjured his radiant wings and blasted into the sky, golden light trailing behind him.
He was only ters away when—
WHAM! —a spatial prison collapsed around him.
Talaro had anticipated his move.
But Ery was close enough; he stretched out with his divine sense, projecting his voice to the fla.
The cosmic bird paused midair, its glowing eyes flickering with interest.
Then it drifted—not toward Ery—but toward the dark elf.
"Yes..." Talaro whispered, arms outstretched. "Yes... I am your rightful master."
The firebird fluttered, stalled between the two.
Then Talaro whispered sothing in Elvish—a forbidden phrase, heavy with arcane resonance.
The cosmic fla obeyed.
It folded its wings and descended.
Talaro’s smile widened as he caught the flaming entity in his arms. Fire enveloped his entire form in an instant. His robes burned away, replaced by flickering plates of molten armor. His left arm blazed brilliantly, veins glowing like lava rivers.
For a mont, it looked like it would burn him alive
But then—
A wave of frost.
From within Talaro’s chest, cold energy pulsed outward, encasing the fla just enough to restrain it. Ice and fire clashed in his form, balancing each other in a barely stable equilibrium.
Chuutulu growled in Ery’s mind.
Talaro was panting heavily. Taking control of the cosmic fla had clearly drained him. anwhile, both versions of Ery paused, uncertain whether to continue the fight.
It was at that mont that the ground began to quake, and the sky above trembled violently. Black lightning streaked through the clouds—sothing was happening.
Talaro’s expression shifted to fear as he muttered, "Damn... That cosmic fla must’ve triggered the storm to arrive early."
He turned toward Ery. "Follow if you don’t want to die!"
On the distant horizon, Ery saw the approaching wave of destruction—a swirling, dark storm tearing across the land. At the sa ti, dozens of crazed beasts rampaged across the battlefield. Between facing that storm or following Talaro, the decision was obvious.
Neither.
The dark version of Ery blinked next to him, imdiately opening a spatial portal linked to the formation they had previously prepared. In perfect synchronization, they completed the final casting in less than a second. Without hesitation, both of them vanished into the rift.
"Hmph! A foolish attempt!" Talaro sneered and swiftly traced the residual spatial signature, following Ery through the portal.
However, as soon as he erged on the other side, he was t with a surprise.
Surrounded.
Soltz, Kaelyin, and the Fey warriors. All with weapons drawn and eyes locked onto the dark elf.
User Comments
0 comments from readers