The battlefield still trembled beneath the aftermath of Ray's attack.
Heat waves rolled through the shattered forest in violent ripples, distorting the air itself as snow hissed into steam across the ruined ground. Trees nearby burned with scattered orange flames, their trunks blackened and cracked from the sheer intensity released moments ago. Even the sky above had yet to recover, clouds split apart by the pillar of fire that had erupted into the heavens.
And at the center of it all…
The Noctyraxis remained trapped within Glaciron's crushing coils.
The gigantic serpent tightened his body around the monster with terrifying force, scales grinding against crystal-covered flesh while his jaws remained locked around the creature's neck. Frost and blood mixed together beneath the pressure as the massive beast struggled desperately, its colossal limbs tearing trenches through the earth in panic.
Ray stood atop Glaciron's head, barely able to remain upright.
Every nerve in his body screamed in exhaustion.
Astrons burned violently through his veins as he poured everything he had left into Haruna's cursed blade. Crimson fire wrapped around the sword in spiraling currents while the metal itself began to glow brighter and brighter, reaching a near molten state under the overwhelming heat.
The weapon shrieked.
Not metaphorically.
The blade itself released a high-pitched metallic cry as if protesting the monstrous amount of energy forced into it.
Ray inhaled deeply.
Then slowly pulled his arm back.
Like a hunter preparing to throw a spear.
Like a warrior preparing to gamble everything on a single strike.
The surrounding air warped around the blade from sheer heat alone.
Even Haruna, standing nearby atop Glaciron's body, narrowed her eyes slightly as she felt the unstable pressure gathering around him.
Below them, the Noctyraxis finally understood.
Death.
The creature realized it too late.
Its massive eyes widened violently as instinct overwhelmed rage. The gigantic beast started thrashing with genuine desperation now, claws ripping through the earth while its enormous tail smashed apart nearby trees in blind panic.
But it was useless.
Glaciron's coils only tightened further.
A python's restraint was absolute once properly secured.
Bones cracked.
Crystal spikes shattered.
The serpent hissed savagely through clenched fangs while ignoring the crystal shards piercing his own body. Blood flowed across his pale scales, yet he refused to loosen even slightly.
The Noctyraxis could only watch.
Watch helplessly as the blazing sword pointed directly toward the weak point beneath its restrained neck.
Ray exhaled.
And threw.
The explosion beneath his feet shattered the ground.
Fire erupted backwards as the sword launched from his grasp like a plasma-coated javelin, instantly breaking the sound barrier with a deafening sonic boom. The projectile became nothing more than a streak of incandescent destruction tearing through the frozen night.
For a split second…
The battlefield went silent.
Then the sword pierced straight through the Noctyraxis.
It entered through the exposed opening Glaciron had created beneath the neck.
And exited from the opposite side in an eruption of flesh, blood, and molten crystal.
The creature's heart was annihilated instantly.
Its lungs ruptured apart the very next moment.
The compressed flames coating the blade detonated immediately afterward.
A blooming inferno swallowed the upper half of the beast whole.
The explosion roared outward in a circular blast wave, melting snow into vapor before the heat could even touch the ground. Trees nearest to the impact ignited instantly while chunks of burning crystal scattered across the battlefield like fragments of fallen stars.
Glaciron reacted at the last possible second.
The serpent released the creature and forcefully threw himself backward, dragging his wounded body away from the detonation zone. Even then, part of the expanding flames caught along the middle section of his tail, burning across his scales with an ugly hiss.
The giant snake let out a deep, pained roar.
But he survived.
Ray didn't even manage to land.
The moment the sword left his hand, the last of his Astrons vanished completely.
His vision blackened.
His body tilted forward.
Then gravity took him.
But before he could crash headfirst into the scorched earth—
Haruna intercepted him instantly.
Wind burst beneath her feet.
The next moment, she appeared below him and caught him against her shoulder with practiced ease.
Behind them, the burning remains of the Noctyraxis staggered weakly.
Its destroyed throat could no longer form a proper roar.
Instead, a horrifying wet vibration escaped the gaping hole in its neck. A broken, suffocating sound mixed with bubbling blood and collapsing lungs. The monstrous creature swayed once… twice…
Then finally collapsed.
The impact sounded like a mountain falling.
The ground shook violently beneath them.
Shockwaves blasted outward through the forest, bending entire rows of trees while snow erupted high into the air around the corpse. Even from far away, everyone hiding behind the treeline could feel the tremor beneath their feet.
Then silence followed.
Heavy.
Overwhelming.
The kind of silence that only came after something truly gigantic had died.
Haruna and Ray slowly turned around together.
The flames began fading little by little, revealing the aftermath of their combined attack.
The snow within the blast radius had vanished entirely.
Not melted.
Vanished.
The ground itself had been scorched black in a massive circular pattern resembling the aftermath of a meteor strike. Steam rose endlessly from the exposed earth while bits of glowing crystal continued cracking apart inside the corpse.
Even the surrounding temperature had changed.
Winter itself seemed temporarily driven away from the battlefield.
Ray breathed heavily against Haruna's shoulder, struggling to remain conscious.
Haruna, meanwhile, stared at the dead Noctyraxis with bright, almost childlike excitement shining behind her mask.
"Great job, Ray…" she said between breaths, genuine admiration in her voice. "You really did great."
Ray laughed weakly.
Or at least tried to.
It came out more like exhausted wheezing.
"Sorry about your sword, Haruna…" he muttered while trying to steady his breathing. "I… don't know if it survived that."
"Don't worry about it."
Her answer came instantly.
Casually.
Like the destruction of a cursed weapon meant absolutely nothing to her.
Instead, her gaze remained locked onto the corpse before them.
"If we bring a Noctyraxis head to Lord Haruto…" she said, unable to hide the happiness in her tone, "…we'll definitely earn a higher place by his side. This is way more worth it."
Ray looked at her quietly.
And saw it immediately.
That expression.
That joy.
It wasn't pride in victory.
It wasn't excitement over becoming stronger.
It wasn't satisfaction from surviving a battle against one of the forest's apex monsters.
No.
Haruna's happiness came from a far simpler place.
Recognition.
The mere thought that Haruto might praise her…
That he might look proud of her…
That alone made her happier than slaying a legendary beast.
Ray's tired eyes softened.
Because ever since he met her…
Ever since he started treating the lonely goblin girl like family…
He had never once seen her smile this genuinely.
Not until now.
And as someone who thought of himself as her older brother…
Ray truly felt grateful.
Grateful toward the strange otherworldly man who had changed her fate completely.
Who had given Haruna not just strength…
But a reason to smile like this.
---
Relief finally swept through the group hidden among the treeline as the colossal Noctyraxis collapsed onto the scorched earth. The sheer weight of its body sent another tremor through the ground, though this time, instead of fear, the sound carried the unmistakable feeling of survival.
For several long seconds, nobody spoke.
Some of the goblins dropped to their knees outright, their bodies finally giving in now that the danger had passed. Others simply stood there in stunned silence, eyes fixed on the distant corpse of the monster that had nearly turned the entire region into a frozen graveyard.
Even the air itself felt strange now.
The battlefield that had moments ago been overflowing with murderous pressure and blazing Astrons had suddenly gone quiet, leaving behind only drifting smoke, scattered snow, and the lingering scent of burnt earth.
Gohn leaned heavily against a nearby tree and let out a long, exhausted breath.
"Thank goodness..." he muttered quietly, the tension finally leaving his shoulders.
Elira and Kael remained standing, though both women still looked shaken by everything they had witnessed. Their expressions carried the same mixture of disbelief and reluctant acceptance. At this point, they no longer knew what exactly counted as impossible around this group anymore.
A goblin overpowering monsters beyond common sense.
A serpent large enough to restrain a Noctyraxis.
A flaming attack bright enough to light up the night sky itself.
Nothing about this should have been normal.
And yet... it had happened right in front of them.
But before either of them could properly process their thoughts, another presence quietly revealed itself.
Clap.
Clap.
A pair of casual applauds echoed through the forest, cutting through the lingering silence so cleanly that everyone immediately froze.
"That's some cool stuff..."
The voice was calm. Relaxed, even.
Yet the moment the hobgoblins heard it, their reactions were instantaneous.
Every single one of them dropped to their knees without hesitation.
Kael and Elira were caught completely off guard by the sudden shift. Their eyes widened as they looked around, only now realizing there was another person standing among them.
And somehow...
None of them had noticed him.
Not his footsteps.
Not his breathing.
Not even the slightest trace of magical presence.
The darkness beneath the forest canopy shifted slightly as a figure stepped forward, moonlight gradually revealing a young man with calm blue eyes faintly glimmering through the shadows.
"You don't have to do that," he said casually.
Haruto walked past them and out from beneath the cover of the trees, his hands resting inside his pockets as though he had merely come to watch a performance rather than a battle between monsters.
The hobgoblins immediately rose and followed after him almost instinctively. There wasn't even hesitation in their movements. The moment he appeared, the atmosphere around them visibly changed. The exhaustion, the fear, the lingering tension from the battle... all of it seemed to settle down simply because he was here now.
Gohn stood up as well before turning toward Elira and extending his hand toward her.
She blinked in surprise for a moment, then quietly accepted it.
"Thanks..." she muttered as he helped her up.
Kael rose on her own, though her gaze never left Haruto's back as the young man casually walked toward the battlefield ahead.
Then she leaned slightly closer toward Gohn and whispered,
"Hey... who exactly is that?"
Gohn paused briefly before realizing something obvious.
They had never actually met him.
An awkward smile appeared on his face as he answered quietly,
"That's Lord Haruto... our master."
"Oh... I see."
Kael nodded absentmindedly at first before her expression abruptly froze.
"Wait... what?"
"He..." Elira murmured softly, her eyes narrowing as she stared toward Haruto from between the trees. "He's your leader?"
Her voice carried genuine disbelief.
"I couldn't sense his presence at all..."
That alone terrified her more than the battle they had just witnessed.
Anyone strong enough could release pressure. Powerful magic always left traces. Even monsters carried instinctive killing intent that could be detected if one paid enough attention.
But Haruto...
He felt empty.
Like there was simply nothing there to detect in the first place.
Gohn glanced toward the open battlefield before gesturing for them to follow.
"Come on," he said. "We should stay with the group."
Kael and Elira exchanged uncertain glances.
Everything about this situation felt dangerous.
Strange.
Abnormal.
And yet, despite all of that, neither of them felt hostility from these people. If anything, the goblins had protected them repeatedly ever since they met.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the two women silently agreed and stepped out from the safety of the forest, following the others toward the scorched battlefield waiting beneath the moonlight.
...