The Dominion Generator changed.
It was no longer the hum of a machine.
Now it sounded like something tearing apart the very locks that held the world together.
WHOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!
Dark blue energy spread through the forest floor.
CRAAAAAACK!
Cracks raced across the earth in every direction.
Towering trees shook violently.
Massive roots writhed like living creatures in unbearable pain.
Leaves drifted down without a single breath of wind.
The forest...
was dying.
Farhan stared at his laptop, his face turning deathly pale.
"...No."
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
"The machine isn't just opening the Core..."
He swallowed hard.
"It's forcing it out."
Lila whipped around.
"What's the difference?!"
Farhan's eyes remained fixed on the chaotic readings.
"If it's forced out..."
"...the Core can die."
Silence.
Even Bimo had no joke to make.
At the center of the battlefield—
the ground before the generator split wide open.
BOOOOOOM!!
A colossal golden light burst from deep beneath the earth.
Greater than the First Core.
Deeper than the Second.
And infinitely more alive.
It pulsed...
like the heartbeat of a giant sleeping beneath the world.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each pulse sent tremors through the entire forest.
Rani whispered,
"...It's beautiful."
Kai stiffened.
"...And it's suffering."
The Dominion Commander stared at the golden radiance, his eyes shining.
For the first time—
real emotion crossed his face.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Greed.
"Finally."
He raised the device in his hand.
Panels on the generator slid open.
Blue energy conduits shot directly into the golden Core.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!!
The golden light was pulled away.
The entire forest screamed.
Tree trunks split apart.
Leaves turned black.
Birds dropped lifelessly from the sky.
Ursa Vitalis released a roar so powerful the earth itself leaped beneath it.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
The colossal guardian lunged.
BOOOOOOM!!
Its massive body slammed into the Dominion vehicle.
Metal crumpled.
Turrets shattered.
But the generator...
kept running.
"Everyone! Attack now!" Sinta shouted.
Bimo charged forward, clutching his left side.
Blood seeped through his uniform.
Dika noticed immediately.
"You're hurt!"
Bimo forced a grin.
"If I stop now..."
He coughed blood onto the ground.
"...I'll be too scared to keep going."
Then he ran even faster.
Tono dropped from the treetops.
CRASH!
The final turret exploded.
Rani and Nisa opened a path.
Andra hurled a steel beam into the vehicle's side panel.
BANG!!
Farhan shouted from behind.
"The Core control panel is behind the generator!"
Lila pointed.
"Under the main conduit!"
Bimo leaped toward it—
but someone was already waiting.
The Dominion Commander.
Calm.
Unruffled.
Without a single drop of sweat.
"You people are exhausting."
Bimo sighed.
"And you talk way too much."
He swung the steel bar.
The Commander caught it with one hand.
Then—
WHAM!!
Bimo was hurled across the battlefield.
His body slammed into a massive boulder.
A sickening crack echoed from his ribs.
"BIMO!" Dika shouted.
On the other side of the battlefield—
Arga no longer saw the fight.
His eyes were fixed on the golden Core being drained away.
Every pull from those blue conduits dimmed its light.
As if someone were slowly strangling it.
His hands trembled.
"Stop..."
No one heard him.
He took another step.
"STOP!"
The lunchbox in his hands shook violently.
The fifteen glowing rice grains spun faster and faster.
But Arga's own body trembled with them.
Kai noticed immediately.
"Arga! Don't force it!"
Arga never looked back.
His eyes glistened with tears.
"...I was too late again."
The ground beneath his feet cracked apart.
"This forest called for me..."
His voice broke.
"...and all I could do was watch it suffer."
He opened the lunchbox completely.
Golden light exploded outward.
The fifteen glowing rice grains spun so fast they merged into a radiant circle.
A pillar of energy shot into the heavens.
The wind stopped.
Time itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
within the circle—
another tiny light appeared.
Half-conscious, Bimo stared from the distance.
"...Don't tell me..."
Farhan looked at the monitor and nearly dropped his laptop.
"The Guardian's energy..."
"...it's exceeded the limit!"
Lila whispered,
"...the sixteenth grain."
The tiny light slowly condensed.
Taking shape.
Becoming another grain of glowing rice.
Perfect.
Brilliant.
Alive.
And the moment it was born—
Arga screamed.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
Blood streamed from his nose.
Cracks of golden light spread across the skin of his hands.
His knees slammed into the ground.
THUD!
A crack appeared along one side of the lunchbox.
Kai caught him before he collapsed.
"ARGA!"
But the light refused to stop.
A massive wave of golden energy swept across the entire forest.
WHOOOOOOMMMMM!!
Green grass sprang back to life.
Withered leaves bloomed once more.
The cracked earth slowly healed itself.
Dominion's energy conduits exploded one after another.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The generator shook violently.
For the first time—
the Dominion Commander took a step backward.
His face remained cold.
But his eyes had become cautious.
"...So this..."
"...is its true form."
Then—
Pak Rahmat calmly walked past everyone.
Unhurried.
Dust and golden light swirled around him without touching his body.
He stopped before the exposed Core.
The symbol engraved upon his palm began to glow.
Ursa Vitalis lowered its head.
Every root in the forest fell still.
Even the wind refused to move.
Sinta whispered,
"...Who... are you really?"
The Dominion Commander stared at Pak Rahmat.
For the first time—
fear appeared in his eyes.
Pak Rahmat reached out and placed his hand upon the glowing Core.
His voice was low.
Ancient.
Powerful enough to shake every soul present.
"I warned you."
He slowly closed his eyes.
"You should never have awakened the one sleeping beneath the roots."
The entire forest floor suddenly pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Farhan looked at his monitor—
and all the color drained from his face.
"...That's not the Core."
Lila turned toward him in panic.
"What do you mean?!"
Farhan slowly stepped backward.
The readings on his screen revealed something far larger...
far beneath the Core itself.
Something...
that was moving.
Pak Rahmat opened his eyes.
Then spoke a single sentence that froze everyone's blood.
"...You have just awakened..."
"...the First Guardian."