The atmosphere had thickened with intensity, a heaviness that clung to the air like the first moment before a storm breaks. Dame's hands trembled—not from fear, but from the transformation overtaking him. Thick cords of muscle bulged beneath his skin as patches of crimson fur sprouted along his arms. His fingers twisted, cracking and stretching, as claws formed like weapons carved from raw flame.
Underneath Zara, the earth itself convulsed, bending to her will. Stones surged upward, wrapping around her limbs, chest, and shoulders to form a hardened armor etched with glowing runes. Her whip, now alive with essence, sprouted serrated thorns that hummed with deadly anticipation. Her fury radiated so fiercely it caused the dungeon's already unstable structure to groan.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the sky canopy, and the massive trees lining the dungeon trembled and began to decay.
A single hand settled gently on her armored shoulder.
"Zara, contain it," Dame said, his voice low but commanding. "If we go all out, this dungeon collapses. What happens to the kids then?" he began sending his aura around the dungeon to stabilize the space.
Zara gritted her teeth, the corners of her lips twitching with rage. She nodded, but her whip still flicked in agitation, releasing soft pulses of energy that sent tremors through the ground.
"Hahahahaha…" Agrona laughed, the sound soft yet bone-chilling, curling in the ears like a whispered curse. Her face twisted into a grin, one part amusement, one part venom. Her aura settled calmly—too calmly—at Peak Rank 4.
"Be careful what you wish for," she said, her voice almost tender. "You asked for an Ashborne… and now, an Ashborne awaits you."
She lifted her hand, and the power surged.
From the ground around her, entire trees tore free from their roots and rose into the sky. Her telekinesis was now no longer restrained. It was alive, monstrous. The entire dungeon trembled as she manipulated the very terrain. In the distance, the once-stable dome created by Logan had collapsed. The students beneath it cowered, shielding themselves from falling debris and warped essence.
Unstable portals cracked open like shattered glass, sucking trees, essence fragments, and the lifeless bodies of martial bunnies into swirling voids.
Not far away, Denwen and Angus stood at the edge of the calamity. Their eyes locked on the epicenter—on Agrona, now stripped of all humanity, commanding nature and spatial reality like a puppet master.
Denwen's gaze found Roy, bound and bleeding, his eyes glassy with pain and shame. They met for a single heartbeat. Roy looked away.
He didn't need to speak.
The weight in that glance was enough. A silent message passed between the two.
Denwen's breath caught. His eyes darted across the clearing, searching… hoping… for Nicole.
But she was gone.
The girl who had stood beside him since they were children.
The girl who had laughed when no one else did.
The one who kept his heart human.
His gaze trembled as it scanned the battlefield—no flash of her white and red robes, no strands of her stubborn brown hair. No voice calling out. Only silence.
And then came Zara's scream:
"AGGRRROONAAAAAA—YOU BITCH!"
Her whip snapped outward like a divine judgment, unleashing a flurry of razor-sharp thorns. Each thorn carved through the air like a comet, aimed to rend flesh and soul.
Agrona didn't blink.
She flicked her fingers, and the thorns froze mid-air, caught in a field of invisible force. With another twist of her wrist, massive tree trunks—twisted and sharpened like spears—rocketed toward Zara.
One struck.
The blow sent Zara hurtling backward. Thorned roots lashed around her legs and arms, pinning her to the ground, forcing shards of splintered wood through the gaps in her armor into flesh. Several more hovered inches above her, vibrating with potential energy, threatening to end her should she resist.
Dame, who had been struggling to keep the dungeon's spatial structure intact, roared. The world seemed to catch fire around him.
His claws blazed with molten energy as he leapt forward, intercepting the next tree trunk before it could impale Zara.
"You turned your back on us," he shouted, slashing through wood and root like paper. "After everything—you betray humanity?!"
His form towered over the battlefield now, a seven-foot inferno-clad beast, his presence warping the very air.
Agrona hovered above them all, regal and terrifying. Her hair billowed like smoke, her eyes glowing with unnatural calm.
"Do you think I didn't enjoy it?" she asked, almost wistful. "I loved teaching. I cherished those students like they were my own. I wanted to finish this mission… without all this mess."
She gestured toward the carnage, toward Roy who was still bound, suspended mid-air by telekinetic strands and sharpened tree branches.
"But that option is gone now."
Roy struggled against his bonds, but every move only triggered a tighter squeeze.
"If you regret it, then STOP!" Dame bellowed. "Talk to us—this isn't you!"
Agrona's eyes hardened. "There is no turning back. Emberfall is the only way forward. The only hope for evolution."
She held up a new portal crystal, ready to crush it.
Then—
Boom.
A massive golden explosion echoed from the dungeon gate.
A shockwave of pure essence tore across the battlefield, shattering the rising trees and deflecting Agrona's barriers. The ground trembled. The sky wept golden light.
In that moment it was as if the world went still as from the dungeon gate a loud explosion echoed through the air, a strong golden aura quickly spreading through the gate stabilizing it.
Agrona's face twisted in horror as several gigantic trees surrounded her like a fortress but just before it finished forming, they all got blasted to smithereens a loud voice booming with rage from the sky:
A singular voice, infused with fury and power, roared through the air:
"AGRONA, YOU SHALL PAY!"
Dvalin had arrived.
Hovering high, his golden aura flooded the dungeon, restoring structure even as it trembled under the pressure. His blade pointed downward, its edge still smoking from the divine blast he had just unleashed.
When the smoke cleared, Agrona was gone.
No body. No blood.
Only a closing portal, pulsing faintly as it sealed shut.
Dvalin floated there, fuming, the sheer pressure of his presence crushing the air. The dungeon shook in response to his wrath. The floating dwarf huffed in pure rage and looking around Roy and Denwen were nowhere to be found, the dungeon began shaking in response to Dvalin's rage causing the students to pass out, Dame and Zara could barely remain on their knees as they bore the heavy pressure.
________________________________________
Moments before Dvalin's arrival…
Denwen stood paralyzed, his mind fracturing under the weight of what he had just witnessed.
Nicole… gone.
Roy… incapacitated.
Dame and Zara… defeated.
Agrona, the woman who once encouraged him to be more, to believe in growth—an Ashborne.
The betrayal carved through his heart like a rusted blade.
Angus placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Pull yourself together," he said, tone firm but not without empathy. "This isn't a battlefield for us anymore."
Denwen's mind reeled.
Nothing made sense.
His vision blurred. His knees buckled.
And then… Angus leaned in.
"Hey," he whispered, "you doubted me once, right? Thought I'd never change?"
Denwen blinked, eyes clearing slowly.
"I had it all once, Denwen," Angus said, his voice calm, too calm. "I was at the top. Until you showed up. Then Roy awakened that A-grade talent. Still, I had hope. I thought I could take my throne back. But you… a mere grade D just kept shining."
Denwen's lips parted in confusion.
"I tried to change. I really did. But maybe… maybe this is just who I am."
Behind Denwen, a spatial tear rippled open—no portal, just raw, unstable space.
Angus looked past him toward it.
"You couldn't protect your sister. Or your best friend. So what right do you have to be up there?"
His grip on Denwen's shoulder tightened.
"Maybe this is a blessing in disguise."
And with that, Angus shoved him into the spatial rift.
Time slowed.
Denwen didn't even scream.
His body spiraled through the ether, consciousness fraying as the memory of being cast into space once before—the memory he buried—rushed back.
He felt small again.
Fragile.
Helpless.
Faces flashed in his mind.
Nicole. Roy. Vahn. Varek. Kara, the girl whom he loved but never confessed.
Melissa. Rachael.
The memories stabbed like arrows, each one screaming for survival.
He hit water.
The splash was deafening.
Darkness threatened to swallow him, but just before it did… a monotone voice echoed in his ears.
"SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE."
A screen lit up before his dazed vision and he passedout.