The sky above the Fire Continent shattered into a sea of light.
A massive portal spun within the red clouds like the eye of the world opening.
Golden and blue lightning collided inside it.
Every thunderous pulse from the portal shook the volcanoes.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The entire island trembled.
Lava erupted from the slopes.
Black rocks collapsed into the fiery chasms below.
The ocean surrounding the island churned violently, as if even the sea was afraid.
At the center of the crater—
Gaia Primordia stood.
The ancient dragon towered like a living continent.
Its wings stretched across the sky.
Its scales were made of primordial golden light and the stone of the world itself.
Its eyes shone like the first two suns.
Beneath it—
Ignivar Draco lowered its head.
The Guardian of Fire bowed before the First Guardian of the world.
But on the other side of the crater—
Dominion was still moving.
Reactor towers surrounded the edge of the crater like enormous metal spears.
Blue beams shot into the sky, wrapping around Gaia Primordia in chains of energy.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!
Farhan stared at his laptop, his face pale.
"Gaia's energy is being drained!"
The graphs on his screen spiked wildly before breaking through the system's limits.
Lila took a step back.
"If Dominion succeeds…"
She swallowed hard.
"…all the Cores will belong to them."
Sinta immediately shouted.
"TEAM!"
Her voice cut through the roar of the volcano.
"DESTROY THOSE REACTORS!"
Bimo moved first.
"My favorite part."
He leaped from the burning rock and crashed into the middle of the Dominion forces like a meteor.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground cracked.
Three Dominion soldiers were thrown through the air.
Dika followed from behind.
His kick smashed through an energy turret.
CRASH!
Rani and Nisa charged from the right.
Tono leaped down from a high rock and slammed into an airborne drone, sending it exploding across the sky.
The entire crater slope erupted into total war.
Energy beams.
Lava explosions.
Screeching metal.
The roars of ancient Guardians.
But in the middle of it all—
Arga was on his knees.
His hands gripped the glowing MBG Lunchbox, which was shining far too brightly.
Twenty-three glowing rice grains spun violently inside.
Golden light seeped between his fingers.
Arga's entire body trembled.
Blood dripped from his nose.
Then from the corner of his eyes.
Sinta turned and froze.
"Arga!"
Kai immediately dropped to his knees beside him.
"Your body can't withstand the resonance of seven Cores…"
Arga forced himself to breathe.
"I… can still…"
But the words were cut short when his chest felt as though it were being torn apart from within.
He coughed blood onto the black stone.
Bimo saw him from across the battlefield and shouted—
"ARGA!"
On the other side of the crater—
the Dominion leader gave a quiet laugh.
"Good."
He looked at Arga the way a scientist might look at a successful experiment.
"That human is becoming the perfect bridge."
The man in the hat beside him panicked.
"Sir, the tower energy is becoming unstable!"
The Dominion leader remained calm.
"Let it."
He pressed the final control panel.
Every reactor activated at full power.
WHOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!
The blue energy chains drove deeper into Gaia Primordia's body.
The ancient dragon raised its head.
Then it roared.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
The roar shattered the clouds.
A wave of golden energy swept across the island.
Half of the Dominion forces were thrown straight into the lava chasms.
But the reactors remained standing.
Then—
another sound came from the sky.
A roar.
A growl.
A thunderous impact.
The portal above the crater trembled.
From the northern light—
Ursus Glacialis descended like a falling mountain of ice.
It crashed into the crater slope.
BOOOOOOM!
Massive shards of ice exploded in every direction.
The lava froze instantly.
Bimo stared wide-eyed.
"A polar bear… came to a volcano?"
From the next wave of snow—
Himal Yaksha appeared.
The colossal yak landed and slammed its horns into the ground.
DOOOOM!
Cracks spread across the entire crater.
From an explosion of golden light—
Solaris Lion stepped through.
Its mane burned like a living sun.
From enormous green roots breaking through the scorched stone—
the Forest Guardian rose.
Giant trees burst from the volcanic earth.
All the Guardians had arrived.
They stood surrounding Gaia Primordia.
Farhan whispered, his voice trembling.
"All the Cores… called for reinforcements."
Kai stared at the sky.
"No."
He spoke softly.
"They came… for the final war."
The Dominion leader finally lost his smile.
But only for a moment.
He raised one hand.
"Then we begin the final phase."
From the Dominion ships hovering above—
thousands of combat drones poured out like a swarm of iron locusts.
The sky turned black.
Blue lasers rained down upon the Guardians.
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
Solaris Lion charged forward and destroyed dozens of drones with a single roar.
ROOOOAR!
Ursus Glacialis struck the air, freezing hundreds of machines in an instant.
Himal Yaksha slammed its feet into the ground—
the mountain erupted.
Ignivar Draco unleashed a torrent of magma into the sky.
It was as if the entire world had shattered in one place.
But Arga was falling apart.
He dropped to his knees again.
Then a second time.
Golden cracks spread across the skin of his arm.
Blood ran from beneath his fingernails.
Kai grabbed his shoulder.
"Stop!"
Arga shook his head.
"If I stop…"
He looked at all the Guardians fighting around him.
"…everyone will die."
Pak Rahmat stepped forward.
For the first time in a very long while—
the old man's face was filled with anger.
He removed his outer coat.
Long scars ran across his back.
Old wounds.
Wounds from war.
Bimo stared.
"Pak Rahmat…"
The old man picked up an iron staff from the aircraft.
His eyes were sharp as steel.
"I used to guard the Cores…"
He looked toward Dominion.
"Long before any of you were born."
Then he ran.
Fast.
Far too fast for a man his age.
He charged straight into three Dominion soldiers.
CRACK! CRASH! BOOM!
Bimo actually forgot to breathe.
"Pak Rahmat…"
He swallowed.
"…is insane."
Above them—
the portal changed color.
It was no longer gold.
It was black.
Every trace of light around it seemed to be swallowed.
The wind stopped.
The flames stopped moving.
The golden aurora went dark.
Farhan stared at his screen.
Then all the color drained from his face.
"No…"
Lila panicked.
"What?!"
Farhan whispered.
"There's a new energy…"
His hands trembled violently.
"…and it's bigger than Gaia."
Every Guardian froze for a moment.
Even Gaia Primordia raised its head toward the sky.
The black portal slowly began to open.
And from within it—
a gigantic hand emerged.
It was not human.
It was not a dragon's hand.
It was a dark hand made of solid shadow, threaded with cracks that looked like distant stars.
It reached for the edge of the sky.
And gripped the world.
Volcanoes collapsed.
The ocean churned violently.
The Guardians took a step back.
Kai whispered, barely audible—
"The World Eater…"
Arga forced himself to stand, even though his body was nearly breaking apart.
The MBG Lunchbox in his hand blazed wildly.
Twenty-three glowing rice grains spun like mad stars.
Then—
a colossal black eye opened behind the portal.
It stared directly at Arga.
And the creature's first voice descended upon the world—
"AT LAST… THE LAST GUARDIAN."
The portal exploded.
The sky shattered.
And the real war—
had only just begun.