The sun hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the devastated forest as Reyon finally reached the eastern edge of the central zone. A soft wind rustled the leaves. Silence weighed heavy.
"They should have have reached by now…"
His hand hovered just above his chest, fingers brushing against the small obsidian crystal—a signal stone Evelyn had given him before they split paths.
Then—it pulsed.
(Once. Twice. A faint blue gleam.)
"They made it," Reyon muttered. "Good."
He turned toward the blackened field in front of him—the Central Zone. No birds. No wind. Just a long breathless silence, thick with the smell of ash.
"It's time to say hello."
(He raised his arm, gathering mana. The symbols began to swirl in the air around him.)
"σ... ten times. Stack."
(One by one, the glowing σ symbols circled his palm. As they aligned, the sky dimmed.)
" Blaze."
(The moment he cast, the ground beneath his feet cracked.Massive fireballs roared into existence, consuming the air in front of him.)
Then—
BOOM!!!
(The blaze surged forward, a tide of crimson flame that screamed across the forest and soared high into the central zone. Trees incinerated. Rocks melted. The sky turned orange.)
The explosion hit like a meteor strike.
A wall of fire engulfed the distant horizon.
Even from thousand of miles away, soldiers in Evelyn's squads stumbled backward as the ground rumbled beneath their boots. Eyes turned eastward.
Evelyn turned her head.
"…He's started."
(She stood near the western edge of the central zone, blades hovering around her hips. Without another word, she stepped forward and crossed the barrier.)
[Inside the Central Zone – Western Edge]
(Evelyn's boots touched down on scorched stone. The air here stung with mana pressure—twisted and heavy. The monsters had already sensed them.)
A roar shook the mountains.
And then—they appeared.
Before her, standing on the jagged plateau, were two abominations.
One was a massive drake—its obsidian scales slick with dark oil,shredded from battle, but power still surged from its throat. A lesser dragon species, but still a catastrophe incarnate.
Beside it—
A black tortoise. Massive. Three heads. Each head flickered with arcs of lightning. Its shell was like a mountain, and ancient scars lined its sides like rivers of death.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
"That tortoise… I've read about you."
(One hand raised.)
"You killed thousands of mages… with a single thunderstorm."
She took a breath.
"Let's see if history repeats."
(She snapped her fingers.)
"Song of Wind."
(The air around her began to hum.)
The wind trembled, then condensed. Invisible pressure filled the zone like a rising flood.
Then—
TSSSSHHHHH!!!
Multiple tornadoes howled into existence, spiraling toward the beasts. Air blades churned within the storms, creating screaming cyclones.
The drake roared and opened its jaws, belching fire. A column of red-gold flame clashed with the incoming storm.
The tortoise hissed.
From each of its heads, blinding lightning surged outward like rivers of light.
Crackling spears of thunder met the tornadoes—
CRACK!
But it wasn't enough.
The cyclones pierced through. The fire was torn apart. The lightning dispersed into the air.
The wind storm collided into them.
The drake shrieked. Flesh ripped, scales shattered. The beast was thrown back across the cliff, bleeding from dozens of cuts.
The tortoise retracted into its shell at the last moment. The tornado hit it directly.
Dust exploded outward. Rocks lifted from the ground and were flung into the air. When the dust cleared—
The drake lay in a pool of black blood, half its body torn to ribbons.
The tortoise remained—scorched, its shell cracked—but alive. It had tanked the spell with sheer defense.
"They're moving."
(The tortoise's three heads emerged with thunderous roars. The drake, bloodied but still breathing, dragged itself forward with a guttural growl.)
Both charged toward her.
Evelyn raised her arm, wind swirling again.
"No rest for monsters."
"—Sword Storm!"
(The air around her screamed. Blades formed. Dozens. Hundreds. Razor-sharp edges made from condensed wind mana twisted into a halo above her.)
Then—
She pointed toward the drake.
"Fall."
The blades dropped like divine judgment.
Each slashed with precision. The drake roared, trying to dodge—but its limbs were already shredded.
The first wave pierced its chest.
The second wave sliced its neck.
The third cut it in half.
The beast crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, entrails spilling.
Evelyn landed, sweat forming across her brow.
"One down…"
(She turned to the tortoise. It didn't hesitate. Thunder surged around its three heads.)
She planted both feet, mana welling around her in waves.
"…Let's end this."
(Both hands rose.)
She began to chant. Her strongest spell
"…Clamo Vento Deus."
(Silence. Then, the wind began to wail.)
Not whistle—scream.
The ground beneath her cracked.
The winds didn't surge in one direction—they spun everywhere.
Mountains shook.
Boulders shattered from mere tremors of moving air.
The tortoise hissed, sensing danger. It quickly withdrew into its shell.
But the wind kept growing.
Evelyn's voice rose, the chant complete.
"Fall."
WHOOSH!!!
The full might of the wind spell detonated.
A wave of air, stronger than any storm, exploded outward like a pressure bomb. The tortoise was launched backward—air carving through the battlefield.
BOOM!!!
The ground buckled.
A crater formed.
The shell cracked. Then—it shattered.
Three heads were crushed from the impact. A roar of agony echoed for miles before silence fell.
Dust swallowed the zone.
The wind, still screeching, pushed trees flat miles away. Evelyn's own squads—dozens of miles back—were blown off their feet.
One soldier yelled.
"What the hell was that?!"
The mage beside him spoke " this spell is known as scream of wind god"
Another pointed east.
"Meteors! Meteors are falling!"
[Eastern Edge – Center of Central Zone]
(As the dust cleared, Reyon stood with arms raised.)
Above him, meteors fell—chunks of stone burning with crimson heat.
At the start of fight
He wasn't running.
He wasn't attacking.
He was—defending.
(One beast—a feline titan cloaked in shadow—snarled and lunged toward him.)
Another—a centipede monster with blazing eyes and metallic armor—whipped its spiked tail forward like a cannon.
Reyon snarled.
"Vector Shield. Triple layer."
CRASH!
One impact. Two. Three.
He slid backward, boots digging trenches in the cracked earth.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
"Tch.… Don't die yet."
(But his eyes weren't on them.)
They were on the shadow sitting behind them.
Cerberus.
The beast didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
It sat like a statue—enormous, pitch-black fur, burning red eyes, chains still clinging to one broken limb.
Watching.
Enjoying.
Reyon gritted his teeth.
"You think this is a show, I am annoyed now?"
His hands rose again.
He was done holding back.
"Rock Fall."
"Stack—ten σ."
(The air turned grey.)
Symbols glowed like dying suns around his arms.
Above him—massive boulders began to form. Floating slabs of stone as large as buildings.
Then—they fell.
One. Two. Three. Dozens.
BOOOOM!
(The beasts roared. They scattered, barely dodging. The explosions covered the entire eastern ridge in smoke.)
From the west, Evelyn's eyes locked on the storm of falling stone.
She smiled.
"So… Reyon's getting serious."
(But before she could take a step—)
CRACKKKK!!!
A streak of light—lightning, golden and jagged—rushed forward from the distance.
It collided with the falling boulders—
And shattered them.
One. After another. Until all of them were dust.
"…No."
Evelyn stopped cold.
The light hadn't come from the feline beast. Nor from the centipede.
It had come from the one who had yet to move.
Cerberus.
She stared.
"That was… him?"
(The beast stood now. Slowly. Eyes burning brighter.)
Even miles away, she could feel the power in that strike.
"If I fight that thing…"
(She clenched her fists.)
"…Even at full mana, I won't come out unscathed."
Then she thought of reyon still fighting
Alone.
"…I have to get to him."
She sprinted forward.
Behind her, the wind stirred again.