Kyle stood at the edge of the crater, his chest rising and falling with controlled breaths. Beside him, Sylvie bent forward, one hand pressed against her knee, the other clutching her staff for balance. Her face was pale, her breaths ragged from pouring nearly all her mana into that last spell. Kyle said quietly, though his eyes never left the beast thrashing below. The mammoth raged at the bottom of the pit, its enormous frame heaving as its wounds tried to close. Blood glistened wet across its black and white fur, yet already, the torn flesh began to knit together. The cyclone of wind swirling around it was weaker now, unstable, but still there. If they gave it time, it would recover. And they would never never get a chance . Kyle’s jaw tightened. ’We have to finish this now.’ A sharp gust stirred as Lyra appeared at his side, emerald light already glowing in her hands. She’d been preparing her spell in silence, every calculation already done, every word of the incantation at the tip of her tongue. Her eyes flicked to Kyle, asking without words for the signal. The wind barrier had to falter before she unleashed her magic. Kyle gave a sharp nod. High above, Cedric and Cassian stood on opposite ridges of the canyon, palms pressed to the ground. Their mana surged, resonating through the earth. The ground shook as explosions ripped through the cliffsides. Rock shattered and boulders the size of small houses tumbled into the crater. The mammoth bellowed, a deep, thunderous sound that rattled the walls of the canyon. It raised its trunk, the cyclone surging upward, gathering above its head like a desperate shield. Some of the falling rocks disintegrated in the wind, but not all. Jagged stone crashed onto its massive frame, forcing the beast to stagger. "Another round!" Kyle shouted. Another pair of explosions tore through the cliffs. More boulders rained down. The mammoth roared again, diverting every ounce of wind to protect its back. The air shrieked, its shield vibrating violently under the constant barrage. But the legs they were exposed. That was the opening Lyra had waited for. Her eyes glowed bright red as she slammed her hands together. The ground trembled, not from explosions this time, but from life itself awakening. Thick roots burst upward, tearing through stone and earth as if the canyon floor were nothing but sand. They surged toward the mammoth, as wide as tree trunks and just as unyielding. The first root wrapped around one of its hind legs. Another coiled around its front. More followed, twining around tusks, torso and finally its trunk. The mammoth thrashed, but the roots held. Slowly, impossibly, the cyclone around it began to sputter and thin. Kyle’s eyes narrowed. ’Just as I thought. It needs its trunk free to control the wind.’ Lyra cried, sweat pouring down her face as she forced more mana into the spell. The roots tightened, straining against the beast’s enormous strength. Then the cyclone collapsed. Boulders crashed onto its exposed back with nothing left to protect it. Flesh split open beneath the crushing stone. The ground shook with every impact. The mammoth’s roar echoed through the canyon, fury and pain merging into one terrible sound. From the ridge, Eleanora stepped forward, a bow gripped tightly in her hands. It wasn’t her weapon of choice, she preferred her blade. But as a princess, she’d been taught to wield every weapon with competence. And right now, this was what they needed. The bow hummed as she drew the string, crimson eyes glowing. Darkness gathered, coalescing into a single arrow of pure black energy. Her pale hair whipped in the howling wind, the air vibrating as she pulled the string tighter and tighter. Below, Cedric and Cassian unleashed another volley of explosions, forcing even more stone onto the mammoth’s back. Blood poured from its back, some wounds already regenerating, yet the beast refused to fall. Its massive body strained against the roots, muscles swelling as it tried to break free. Still, Eleanora held her shot. Her hands trembled, but not from fear. She was waiting for the right moment, the moment everything aligned. The arrow pulsed, growing darker, heavier. Then, with a sharp exhale, she released. The black arrow streaked across the canyon like lightning, and halfway down, it shifted. The darkness expanded, twisting into the shape of a dragon’s head. Wind vibrated violently around it, pulled into the spell’s wake as if reality itself were being devoured. Kyle’s heart lurched. He grabbed Sylvie by the arm and pulled her with him as he leapt away from the crater. Lyra, too, retreated, releasing her hold on the roots at the last second. Cedric and Cassian scrambled from the edges, fleeing the impact zone. The dragon of darkness opened its maw wide and slammed into the mammoth’s nape. For a moment, the two forces collided, locked in a terrible stillness. Then the world turned black. A blinding explosion erupted, swallowing sound, light, and air. The shockwave tore across the canyon, hurling dust and debris skyward. Kyle raised an arm to shield his eyes, his hair whipping wildly in the violent wind. Beside him, Sylvie fell to her knees, spent. Lyra braced herself against a boulder, her teeth clenched. Cassian cursed loudly, though even his voice was drowned in the roar. Latest content published on novel-fire.ɴet For several long seconds, there was nothing but chaos, black light swallowing the canyon whole, consuming even the beast’s roar. The air was thick with smoke and dust. The once-solid ground was split and shattered, rocks still crumbling from the force of the explosion. Kyle lowered his arm slowly, squinting through the haze, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel it... the battle wasn’t over. Mana still crackled in the air like static clinging to his skin. As the smoke began to thin, the mammoth’s massive form came into view. It was on its knees, its colossal frame trembling. A gaping wound marred its nape, black blood spilling freely. Its crimson eyes had dulled, the glow fading. "Did we... did we defeat it?" Cassian’s voice carried from the ridge, heavy with disbelief. Eleanora’s crimson eyes narrowed, Cedric’s as well, both unwilling to trust what they saw. The answer came in the form of movement. The beast’s eyes flared again, glowing with renewed, stubborn fury. The wound on its neck, though massive, began to knit together. Slowly. Painfully slowly. But it was healing. Every pair of eyes widened. The air around it stirred, faint winds beginning to gather again. "No..." Cedric breathed. Kyle’s grip tightened on Zalrielle’s hilt. White lightning sparked around him, flickering across his arms and legs. His jaw clenched. They couldn’t let it recover. Not again. He launched forward, his body a blur, his legs leaving a faint trail of frost across the shattered ground. At the same instant, Cedric reacted. His long sword ignited with golden fire as his space affinity pulled him from the ridge in a flash of light. He reappeared midair, just above the beast’s nape, golden hair whipping back, blue eyes glowing bright with determination. His sword flared wider, glowing like the sun itself as he brought it down with all his strength onto the already torn wound. The blade sank into flesh, but not enough. The wound resisted, closing as quickly as it opened. Cedric’s roar tore through the canyon as he forced more mana into his strike, the golden fire blazing brighter, the wind shrieking around him as if refusing to yield. The cut deepened, barely. But not enough. Then Kyle appeared beside Cedric in a flash, his whole body wrapped in lightning. Zalrielle hummed with power, the black blade burning with a storm of white ice and lightning combined. He slashed in unison with Cedric, their attacks converging on the mammoth’s nape. The air itself split, sparks showering in every direction. For a heartbeat, it seemed nothing would change, the wound held, stubborn and unyielding. Kyle’s eyes narrowed, glowing a fierce, unnatural blue. ’It’s not enough... not .’ He reached deeper. Past his mana core. Past the limit of his body. Into the quiet depths of his spirit core. And something answered. A dark mana, older and colder than anything else inside him, stirred. He seized it, forcing it into his mana core spinning until it roared like a storm inside him. His chest burned, his veins felt aflame, but he didn’t hesitate. From the outside, only seconds had passed. The blade in his hands transformed. The blue-white glow of lightning was swallowed whole, replaced by a deep, black-white radiance that pulsed with raw power. The mix of black and white light expanded along Zalrielle’s edge, consuming everything it touched. Kyle roared as he brought the blade down, Cedric’s golden strike merging with his own. The mammoth’s nape split open under the force, the black-white blade slicing cleanly through flesh and bone without resistance. The beast’s roar was cut short, drowned in a blinding arc of light. But the strike didn’t end there. The black-white energy carved downward, slicing through the walls of the crater itself. Stone, soil, and air split apart as if the world had been cleaved in two, leaving a deep scar etched into the canyon floor. When the light faded, silence fell once more. Kyle stood with his blade lowered, chest heaving, the black-white glow slowly flickering out. Cedric hovered nearby, his golden fire dimming, his face pale from the mana he had poured into the attack. Below them, the mammoth’s titanic body sagged forward. Its head separated from its body, black blood pouring freely into the ruined canyon. This time, there was no wind.