Chapter 143 ‒ The Broken Storm
Chapter 143 ‒ The Broken Storm
A harsh wind howled over the plateau, swirling ash and dust into ghostly spirals. The moonlight, thin and distant, flickered like a dying lantern behind drifting clouds. Amidst the ruin, Yandeon loomed at the centre of his ritual circle, wings tattered but spread wide, tentacles twitching eagerly, claws flexing as if tasting the air for blood.
Kragg staggered forward, each step crunching against broken stones. His armour was shattered in several places, jagged edges biting into his flesh, crimson seeping down his arms. Yet his eyes burned with a wild, unwavering flame.
Nellisa sprinted after him, hair streaming behind her like a torn golden banner. “Kragg! Stop! You’ll only make it worse! [Player] asked us to fall back — he didn’t want us to interfere!” Her voice cracked, echoing with desperation and guilt.
Kragg didn’t turn. His massive shoulders trembled under each ragged breath. “My whole life… I did nothing but kill, break, and destroy. I was a monster who took everything and gave nothing.” He paused, blood dripping from his fingertips to the ashen ground below. “But he… he gave me something new. He gave me a second chance. A purpose. Hope. Even a name worth saying again.”
His head bowed low. “If I stand by now, when he is bound and alone, what kind of warrior am I? What kind of man? I don’t care if I die — my life has always been worth nothing. But this… this is the only way I can repay him. Even if it helps just a little.”
Nellisa’s throat closed, her hands trembling as she reached toward him, then fell limp at her sides. Memories surged, slicing through her like icy knives. The loyal storm wizards who had formed a circle around her that day — their faces solemn, their bodies shielding her even as they fell one by one. Their last breaths had not been curses, but words of protection. Of love. Even though she had led them to ruin, they had still chosen her.
Tears spilled down her cheeks, turning to steam as they met the scorched ground. She swallowed hard, her voice thin but firm. “Then… you won’t go alone.” She lifted her staff, eyes flaring like twin suns. “I… owe him everything, too. No matter how far I run… no matter how many apologies I speak… I can never wash the blood from my hands. But I can still fight. I can still stand beside him.”
A booming laugh echoed from the side. Vitamin Ape emerged from a pile of rubble, his celestial hammer resting across one massive shoulder. “Heh! Look at you two getting all emotional and serious! Sounds like you’re about to have some real fun!” He smirked, though his eyes gleamed with a rare, dangerous clarity. “Count me in! Someone’s gotta bring the party, right?”
Zephryn descended from the sky, her feathers shimmering like moonlit silk. Her gaze swept over them, soft and sorrowful — yet beneath that kindness burned a sharp edge of righteous fury. “If you all are stepping back into the storm… would it not be a shame for me, a Primordial Beast, to watch idly from the sidelines? I shall lend you my full strength.” Her eyes flicked sideways, fixing on Shindeon with a pointed grace. “Would the Infernal Warden truly abandon comrades now?”
Shindeon stomped forward, molten cracks flaring along his armoured hide. His massive claws flexed, scraping sparks from the stone. “I am not your ‘comrade,’ winged vermin. I am beholden only to my own will.” His burning gaze swept over the warriors with disdain. “I aided because the [Player] requested it. That does not bind me to the whims of insects like you.”
Zephryn tilted her head, a cold breeze rustling her downy crest. “Oh? So the great Infernal Warden now obeys mortal requests? How disappointing.” Her tone was gentle, almost motherly, yet carried the weight of a thunderclap.
Shindeon’s massive frame trembled with rage. “It was a request — not a command!” His fangs clacked, spraying sparks. “Besides, do you fools not understand? Yandeon’s ritual devours souls! If you enter, you become sacrifices! You would only hinder the [Player], feeding the very power that seeks to destroy him!”
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Zephryn stepped closer, her wings folding softly against her back. “Then… watch over the wounded in our stead. Shield those who can no longer stand.”
Shindeon recoiled, scales rattling. “Hmph! I am no caregiver to these pathetic creatures. Watching them crawl about is beneath me!” He stomped his tail against the ground, molten cracks snaking outward.
Zephryn’s feathers glimmered as she gave a faint, knowing smile. “Ah… so the mighty Warden prefers to hide behind excuses when the real storm calls.” Her words cut deeper than any blade, the soft, scolding cadence of a disappointed mother.
Shindeon roared, the sound like an erupting volcano. “You dare! Fine! If it is battle you crave — so be it! But remember, this is your doom you march to, not mine!”
Nellisa nodded sharply, eyes blazing. “Then let us end this together.”
Kragg slammed his claymore against the ground, the echo booming like a war drum. “FOR HIM!”
Vitamin Ape lifted his hammer skyward, lightning dancing across its head. “Let’s rock and roll!”
Zephryn rose on a spiralling gust, her wings carving graceful arcs. “Then… forward! Let no chain bind our hearts!”
Together, they charged into the darkness.
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Yandeon’s head snapped toward them, eyes glinting with otherworldly hunger. With a flick of his claw, a swarm of tentacles erupted forward, each strike sharp as a guillotine.
Zephryn dove first, slicing the incoming mass with a sweeping [Wind Cutter]. Air split with a sonic boom, the severed limbs crashing into smouldering heaps.
Kragg and Vitamin Ape launched themselves forward, their roars echoing as they soared toward Yandeon. Just as their weapons swung down, Yandeon twisted, vanishing into a streak of moonlit blur.
“AVOID THE GROUND!” Nellisa screamed, her voice ragged. “Those runes are traps! Stay clear!”
Kragg and Vitamin Ape landed hard, rubble exploding beneath them. A faint glow pulsed at their feet, but they rolled aside at the last instant. Thin, claw-shaped runes flared and hissed, clawing at empty air where they had been.
Shindeon roared, lunging forward. “You dare weave such filthy tricks before me?!” He unleashed [Firestorm], molten flames flooding the plateau in a rolling inferno. Runic circles crackled and burst under the searing heat, splintering into blackened craters.
Nellisa darted toward Tyler’s chains, hurling fireballs in rapid volleys. Each explosion sent showers of sparks across the gleaming links, but they held firm, barely scorched.
Above, Yandeon howled in delight, his wings snapping open as he launched toward Shindeon at blinding speed.
Shindeon braced, his massive arms crossed before his molten chest. The impact slammed him backward, gouging deep trenches as he slid. Yandeon slashed downward with his monstrous tiger claws, but Shindeon bent low, planting his tail against the ground and launching upward with a thunderous double-kick.
Yandeon spiralled away, tumbling across the sky in a streak of black and violet.
Shindeon roared with triumphant fury. “Hah! Crawl beneath my feet, insect! You dare seal me in some rusted relic? Taste your failure!”
But before he could finish, pale ethereal chains erupted beneath him, wrapping around his legs like spectral vipers. Shindeon’s eyes flared wide. “NO! THIS CANNOT BE!”
More chains surged upward, binding his arms and tail, crawling across his molten chest like ghostly parasites. Shindeon thrashed, lava cracking from his scales, but each movement only tightened the vice.
He tried to summon [Firestorm], flames igniting at his maw — but the magic sputtered and died, smothered by the tightening bonds.
“FOOL!” Yandeon screamed, his laughter ragged and triumphant. “You should have fled while you could! Now you become my greatest trophy!”
Shindeon roared one last time, molten eyes blazing, before the chains strangled the sound to a low, echoing growl. His massive form fell still, energy draining in translucent streams.
Before Yandeon could gloat further, a blade of air howled past, slashing his shoulder. Zephryn hovered before him, wings spread wide, moonlight dancing across her feathers like a shifting aurora.
“You think you are fast?” she thundered, her voice a trembling storm. “Then match me, Warden of the Whispering Winds!”
She lunged, a twisting blur of silver and blue, her talons and wing strikes battering Yandeon midair. Sparks and black ichor sprayed across the battlefield, the sky itself seeming to tear at their clash.
Below, Kragg hacked at the chains binding Tyler, each swing driving deep tremors up his arms. Blood burst from reopened wounds, splattering across the cold links.
Flames coiled around Nellisa’s arms as she hurled another blast, eyes wild, teeth bared in a silent snarl.
Vitamin Ape stood beside them, lightning exploding across his hammer with each swing. His usual manic grin had vanished, replaced by a feral, focused snarl.
“COME ON!” he roared. “BREAK, DAMN YOU!”
Chains quivered but refused to yield. Kragg’s ragged roars, Nellisa’s fiery blasts, and Vitamin Ape’s thunderous swings all merged into a single, desperate rhythm. Above them, the shattered sky wept sparks and ash — a battlefield trembling under the weight of their final stand.