Green fire streaked up from the far shore.
One after another, eerie emerald bolts rose into the night and crossed above the black lake like woven threads of witchlight. They tangled into glowing nets overhead—then came screaming down toward Lakeheart Isle trailing long tails of flame.
The impacts shook the island.
Ghostly green fire blossomed across stone paths, rooftops, and defensive walls.
Kael collapsed backward onto the pavilion floor, every muscle trembling. Sweat drenched him from head to toe. He felt as if his bones had melted and his soul had been poured out through his skin.
Beside him, Lyra Farrow jerked upright like a woman waking from a fall off a cliff.
For several stunned seconds she only sat there breathing hard.
Then she grabbed a cloth and angrily wiped sweat from her face and tangled hair.
"Shreve... I... I..." Kael stammered.
Lyra shot him a furious glare.
"You—" she snapped, voice shaking with frustration for reasons far beyond the attack. "You are never doing that to me again without warning."
Kael's face went white.
His thoughts spiraled into pure panic.
Too fast.
That had definitely been too fast.
Catastrophically too fast.
Then Lyra looked at his miserable expression and burst into laughter.
It escaped her before she could stop it.
She quickly tried to regain her dignity and failed halfway.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped. "Get dressed, you disaster."
The pavilion trembled again.
Both of them turned.
To the north—
the towering skeletal titan had begun moving toward the central tower.
Kael jolted upright as though struck by lightning.
He yanked his trousers up.
"Wait," Lyra said.
She moved close.
Then, to Kael's complete confusion, she folded the cloth and carefully cleaned him with almost absurd tenderness.
Kael froze.
His heartbeat turned painfully soft.
He stared at her in disbelief.
For a brief, irrational moment, he thought:
I would walk into hell for this woman.
Lyra glanced downward and rolled her eyes.
"You were planning to put your clothes back on like that?" she muttered. "Do you want rot to set in?"
Her gaze flicked toward him.
Kael nearly died of embarrassment.
"I just... earlier I—"
He never finished.
Lyra suddenly launched herself across the pavilion.
She slammed her palm onto the carved beast-head mounted atop a stone railing.
A beam of white light erupted from its jaws.
Four yards away—
something shrieked.
A winged skeleton in silver armor appeared from the darkness, its bony wings beating wildly before the beam struck it and sent it spiraling into the lake.
Kael's eyes widened.
"The flying ones!" he shouted. "I saw them underground!"
Then more appeared.
Silver flashes tore through the sky.
Screaming projectiles shot toward the pavilion.
Kael and Lyra dove apart.
Bolts slammed into stone pillars and tables hard enough to bury themselves deep into the rock.
Their metal tails vibrated violently.
Kael looked upward—
and finally saw them clearly.
A dozen winged skeletons circled overhead.
Each carried a gleaming mechanical crossbow.
Each was aiming directly at them.
"Oh hell," Kael yelled. "There's a lot more of them!"
Lyra darted from one railing post to another, slamming her hands against carved beast-heads and firing beam after beam into the night.
She had no time to fix her clothing.
Her chest wrap had already fallen somewhere during their earlier chaos.
Now her outer robe and inner garments hung loose around her waist.
Her pale upper body flashed in and out of view beneath bursts of white light.
Kael stared like an idiot.
His blood immediately heated again.
Then he noticed something purple on the ground.
Her missing chest wrap.
His heart slammed into his ribs.
Before thinking better of it—
he snatched it up and secretly stuffed it into his robes.
The lingering scent nearly made him black out.
"Kael!" Lyra shouted. "Are you planning to stand there drooling until we die?"
He snapped back to reality.
"Right!"
He rushed to another railing.
Using the control method Lyra had taught him earlier, he activated another beast-head turret.
White beams ripped into the night.
The sky became a chaotic web of light.
After several misses—
Kael finally struck one.
The winged skeleton screamed and plummeted into the lake.
"Yes!"
He nearly danced.
Lyra finally found a second to breathe.
But she still had no time to fix her clothes.
Closing her eyes, she began chanting.
White mist poured from her body.
It gathered before her into a massive shape.
The winged skeletons pressed closer.
More bolts screamed into the pavilion.
Kael's aim became erratic.
Then Lyra opened her eyes.
"Rise."
The mist exploded outward.
A giant stood before her.
Over ten feet tall.
Massive.
Blue.
Its body looked carved from crystal.
Its muscles bulged like sculpted stone.
The Stone Colossus.
Kael nearly cried with relief.
"Right! You have that monster!"
Then his relief died instantly.
A winged skeleton rose silently from below the platform.
Its crossbow locked directly onto Kael's chest.
Lyra shouted a command.
The Stone Colossus moved like lightning.
It lunged halfway off the pavilion.
Its giant hand seized the skeleton by the throat and dragged it upward.
More bolts slammed into the construct.
They buried themselves deep into its body.
It didn't even flinch.
Then it tore the skeleton apart with both hands.
Bone fragments rained into the lake.
Kael laughed hysterically.
He fired again.
Another winged skeleton fell.
The Stone Colossus hurled shredded skeletal remains like stones.
Several enemies scattered to avoid the barrage.
Kael's pressure dropped.
He calmed down.
His aim improved.
One shot.
Two shots.
Three.
Winged skeletons began falling from the sky in rapid succession.
"You bastards!" Kael screamed. "Come back!"
Lyra finally had a moment to recover her clothing.
She searched for her missing wrap.
And found nothing.
Because Kael had stolen it like an absolute criminal.
Grinding her teeth, she pulled her inner robe tighter.
Then her eyes widened.
To the south—
another swarm approached.
This one was much larger.
Thirty.
Maybe forty.
Lyra sprinted toward the southern railing.
"Stop screaming and get over here!"
Kael turned—
and nearly had a stroke.
As Lyra ran, part of her robe slipped.
For one devastating second—
he saw far too much.
His nose nearly exploded.
Then he remembered they were under attack.
He sprinted over.
His distraction cost them dearly.
Several winged skeletons got within striking distance.
Their crossbows fired.
Silver bolts ripped into the pavilion.
Thankfully—
they targeted the Stone Colossus.
Lyra noticed exactly where Kael's eyes had gone.
Her face darkened.
"Have you not seen enough?"
She shoved her robe back into place.
It lasted all of three seconds before slipping again.
Kael nearly wept from suffering.
He forced himself to stare only at the undead.
It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.
Eventually—
they stabilized the fight.
The anti-undead beams were devastating.
The Stone Colossus held the line.
Kael's aim improved further.
One by one—
the winged skeletons fell from the sky.
The storm of bolts finally slowed.
Then stopped.
Lyra finally adjusted her clothes properly.
Even now—
with death surrounding them—
she moved with effortless grace.
Every motion was elegant.
Every motion was maddening.
Kael destroyed the final winged skeleton.
Then immediately started sneaking glances again.
He noticed the outline beneath Lyra's robe.
Instantly, his mind returned to what they had done minutes earlier.
He nearly groaned aloud.
"My wrap," Lyra said suddenly.
Kael froze.
"Where is it?"
Without it, her robe refused to fully contain her.
Kael forced a blank expression.
"No idea."
He pretended to search.
Then spotted a ceramic vase sitting on a stone table.
Inside it—
the Lone-Bud Branch.
Kael quietly grabbed it and stuffed it back into his Wardian Satchel.
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
She clearly suspected him.
But she had bigger problems.
She stuffed part of her robe into her belt instead.
It solved nothing.
Kael looked away before she noticed his guilt.
Then his gaze drifted beyond the pavilion.
His blood turned cold.
The skeletal titan had nearly reached the central tower.
Smaller undead swarmed around it.
"How do we kill something that big?"
He stared toward the tower where Auryn and Sylva were defending.
"I need to help them."
Lyra looked almost offended by his panic.
"Relax."
Then she smiled.
It was a dangerous smile.
"You're about to see something interesting."
The battlefield changed instantly.
The charging skeleton soldiers suddenly slowed.
Some collapsed face-first.
Others fell to their knees.
Kael's eyes widened.
"The Earth's Binding!"
He shouted in excitement.
"They triggered the ancient restriction!"
Then the skeletal titan stepped into the formation.
Its immense weight multiplied instantly.
The monster crashed to the ground.
The impact sounded like mountains breaking.
Thousands of bones cracked.
Then—
a thin green line flashed through the darkness.
One of the trapped two-headed skeletons froze.
Its chest turned bright emerald.
The corruption spread rapidly across its black armor.
Then the creature crumbled.
Kael laughed.
"Sylva!"
"The Verdant Bow!"
More green arrows flashed.
Each one erased another undead soldier.
The trapped skeletons were too heavy and too slow to dodge.
Under the restriction, they became easy targets.
The Verdant Bow reaped them like grain.
But the skeletal titan kept moving.
It clawed forward.
Its colossal body dragged across the earth.
Green arrows slammed into it repeatedly.
Each strike blasted chunks from its frame.
Still—
it crawled onward.
Even lying flat—
the monster stood taller than the second floor of the tower.
"Sweet gods..." Kael whispered.
Then he remembered his destroyed construct.
His face twitched.
"This thing is bigger than my old Marshal by several times."
Lyra suddenly asked—
"How many arrows does Sylva have left?"
Kael blinked.
"That's not the problem."
He kept staring at the battlefield.
"The Verdant Bow creates endless arrows as long as she has enough Aether."
His expression darkened.
"The problem is that thing is absurdly huge."
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
"The Verdant Bow can destroy any corrupted creature."
She watched the titan drag itself closer.
"If given enough time."
Her expression grew grim.
"I'm not sure The Earth's Binding can hold it that long."
Kael stared harder.
And finally understood what he was seeing.
The titan wasn't made of ordinary bones.
It was made from thousands upon thousands of human remains.
And packed between those bones—
he saw wet organs.
Fresh flesh.
Things that should not still exist.
His stomach twisted.
It was the same giant skeletal idols he had seen underground.
Only now—
they were alive.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
"There were more than a dozen of those things underground…"
His voice shook.
"If they can all wake up…"
He couldn't finish the sentence.
The skeletal titan reached the edge of the restriction zone.
Its enormous frame carved a trench through the earth.
Ancient engraved stone pillars shattered beneath its weight.
The power of The Earth's Binding was weakening.
And the monster was still crawling forward.
Emerald streaks tore through the night faster and faster.
At first they had come in measured volleys from the upper level of the pavilion.
Now they came like a storm.
Every shot from The Verdant Bow slammed into the skeletal titan's face. Green explosions punched craters into its skull. Rotten meat and old bone sprayed into the air.
One of the skeletal sorcerers hidden inside its eye socket jerked backward as an arrow punched through its ribcage.
It shrieked.
Then toppled from the titan's hollow eye.
Its brittle body smashed against the ground and burst apart like dropped pottery.
For one brief moment, Kael felt hope.
Then that hope died.
The titan's upper body finally dragged itself beyond the range of The Earth's Binding.
Its two massive arms dug into the earth.
It heaved.
The ground exploded beneath it.
Ancient engraved pillars shattered like twigs as the colossal undead monster tore itself free of the restriction zone and rose to its full height.
It stood.
Towering.
Swaying.
A mountain made of bones.
Then it opened its jaw and unleashed a roar.
The sound hit Kael like a hammer.
It wasn't just noise.
It carried Intimidating Aura.
His vision blurred.
His soul seemed to tremble inside his body.
For a split second, his thoughts scattered.
"Oh hell!" Kael shouted. "They need help!"
Before Lyra could stop him, he launched himself out of the pavilion.
"Are you insane?!" Lyra Farrow shouted.
She grabbed for him—
And caught empty air.
Kael had already leapt from the stone platform and sprinted toward the charging titan.
Lyra stomped her foot hard enough to crack stone.
"You suicidal idiot!"
—
High above, Sylva Dreyn lowered The Verdant Bow with shaking arms.
Her breathing had become ragged.
Each arrow drained enormous amounts of Aether.
Her shoulders burned.
Her fingers trembled.
And the titan kept coming.
It thundered toward the pavilion like an avalanche of death.
For the first time, hesitation entered her eyes.
Should she call Auryn Gale up from below?
If Auryn abandoned the lower hall while protecting their master—
No.
That could be fatal too.
Then she saw movement below.
A lone figure sprinting straight at the titan.
Sylva stared.
Then nearly dropped her bow.
"Kael?!"
Her face turned white.
She forced exhausted arms upward and resumed firing.
Emerald arrows screamed through the sky.
—
Kael didn't realize how stupid he'd been until he got close enough to truly see the titan.
Seven yards.
Maybe eight.
Then his brain finally caught up with his legs.
The monster loomed over him like a collapsing fortress.
Its footsteps shook his bones.
Its smell hit him next.
Rotting flesh.
Wet organs.
Grave dirt.
"Dear gods…" Kael whispered.
Cold sweat poured down his neck.
"What the hell am I doing?!"
He spun around and ran.
Fast.
Very fast.
Thankfully—
The titan ignored him.
It remained focused on the main pavilion.
Kael nearly cried from relief.
Then panic returned immediately.
Sylva's bow wasn't stopping it.
Auryn couldn't be disturbed.
Their master was cleansing corruption inside the hall and couldn't be interrupted.
Then Kael's eyes widened.
The stone pavilion.
The one behind him.
The one Lyra controlled.
The strange white beams it fired were devastating against undead.
"Oh…"
His face lit up.
"Why fight fair when I can be clever?"
He ripped The Eight-Claw Flamescourge from his sleeve.
Fire Vitae surged through it.
The whip exploded into blazing life.
He sprinted after the titan and lashed its heel with everything he had.
CRACK!
Fire erupted across bone.
The titan stopped.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
It turned.
Five skeletal sorcerers stared down from its eye sockets.
All of them focused on Kael.
Kael swallowed.
Then puffed out his chest.
"Yeah!" he shouted. "That's right, ugly! Fight Lord Ashvane if you've got the guts!"
He whipped its foot again.
And again.
And again.
The skeletal sorcerers raised strange bone staffs.
The titan lifted one enormous foot.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Kael's expression collapsed.
"Oh no."
He ran.
The giant foot came down.
Kael pushed The Ground-Sprint Art to its absolute limit.
Too slow.
The descending foot blocked out the moon.
Wind pressure crushed his lungs.
He threw himself forward.
BOOM!
The impact launched him into the air.
Rock fragments blasted across his back like knives.
He screamed.
Rolled.
Coughed blood.
Then staggered upright and kept running.
The titan followed.
Each casual step covered dozens of feet.
Kael ran like a madman.
Nearly got flattened three separate times.
His face alternated between green and white.
"If I survive this," he babbled hysterically, "I'm absolutely hugging Sel again."
Selene Voss flashed through his mind.
Her face.
Her body.
Her temper.
He ran even faster.
The stone pavilion came closer.
So did death.
Then the titan roared again.
The Intimidating Aura smashed into Kael.
His Vitae circulation faltered.
His speed dropped.
"Oh no."
The titan leaned forward.
Its fist descended like a falling star.
Kael froze.
This was it.
His final thought was painfully simple.
Damn it… I really wanted to touch Selene again…
Then—
White light split the heavens.
A beam shot straight into the titan's right eye.
One skeletal sorcerer screamed and fell.
The titan's punch veered off course.
Its fist smashed into a nearby stone platform instead.
The explosion of debris blasted Kael across the ground.
Then something clamped around his waist.
He was yanked upward.
The world spun.
White beams filled the night sky.
They struck the titan over and over, carving holes into its skull and torso.
The monster roared in rage.
Then Kael's ascent stopped.
And he was thrown onto stone.
Hard.
He bounced.
Rolled.
And screamed, "Couldn't you be gent—"
He froze.
His eyes widened.
Standing over him was The Stone Colossus.
The blue crystal construct stared silently.
Kael blinked.
Then immediately bowed.
"Thank you, mighty elder brother statue!"
A familiar voice answered.
"You should thank me instead."
Kael turned.
Lyra Farrow stood at the railing.
Her body moved like flowing silk as both hands manipulated rows of carved beast-head mechanisms embedded into the stone.
Each mechanism fired another devastating beam of white light.
"If I hadn't ordered it," she said coolly, "that thing wouldn't save anyone."
Kael jumped up.
Emotion overwhelmed him.
He grabbed Lyra—
And kissed her hard.
She let out a soft gasp.
But she didn't resist.
Her lips parted for a brief moment before she shoved his chest.
"If that monster reaches us," she said through uneven breathing, "we're both dead."
Kael snapped back to reality.
Right.
Murder titan.
Important.
He rushed beside her and started firing beams.
"Don't waste shots," Lyra barked. "The sorcerers inside its eye sockets are controlling it. Aim for the eyes."
Kael obeyed instantly.
At this point, he would have obeyed anything she said.
White beams flooded the sky.
Another skeletal sorcerer died.
Then another.
The titan staggered wildly.
It was close now.
Very close.
Then the remaining sorcerers began chanting frantically.
The titan lowered its shoulder.
And charged.
Trees bent from the wind pressure alone.
Kael's face drained of blood.
He and Lyra fired desperately.
Another sorcerer died.
Then another.
Only one remained.
That final sorcerer hid deep in the eye socket.
Smart bastard.
The titan kept charging.
"Run!" Kael screamed.
Lyra didn't move.
She stared coldly at the approaching skull.
"Lyra!"
Still nothing.
Kael reached for her—
Then she moved.
Gracefully.
Calmly.
She pulled a glowing violet pin from her hair.
The Violet Aurochs Pin.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Oh no…"
Purple lightning streaked upward.
Then curved in midair.
It shot straight into the titan's eye.
The final sorcerer froze.
Then shattered.
The titan instantly lost control.
Its attack veered wildly.
One massive arm smashed through part of the pavilion.
Stone exploded.
Kael screamed and resumed firing.
The titan crashed into another platform.
Half of it collapsed.
Bone fragments rained from the sky.
Finally—
The monster stopped moving.
Kael kept firing anyway.
"Stop!" Lyra snapped. "It's dead. Quit wasting Vitae."
Kael finally lowered the weapon systems.
His entire body shook.
He could barely stand.
He gasped for air.
"We'd be dead without this pavilion."
Lyra slid The Violet Aurochs Pin back into her hair.
She glanced sideways at him.
"You know," she said lazily, "you did contribute."
Kael blinked.
"Huh?"
"You lured it here."
She smirked faintly.
"That was either bravery…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Or catastrophic stupidity."
Kael straightened proudly.
"I prefer bravery."
She snorted.
"Your master really accepted someone with this little self-control?"
Kael coughed awkwardly.
"Won't happen again."
Then he froze.
His face went pale.
He stared toward the lake.
Another shape rose from the black water.
Huge.
Towering.
Covered in crawling undead shapes.
Another titan.
Kael's lips trembled.
"Oh no…"
Lyra turned.
Even she inhaled sharply.
The second titan moved toward shore.
Fast.
Kael whispered in horror, "There were more than a dozen underground…"
The titan reached land.
Then Kael suddenly screamed.
"Oh hell!"
Lyra glared at him.
"What now?"
Kael pointed with shaking hands.
"It's landing near the stone causeway!"
"So?"
Kael looked like a man witnessing the end of the world.
"Selene's over there."
He turned white.
"She's alone."
Lyra's eyes widened.
"Kael—don't you dare—"
Too late.
He had already leapt from the pavilion.
And sprinted into the darkness once more.