Ashes and Starlight
Lua stood calmly atop the village wall, her cold, calculating eyes observing how the players organized themselves into squads across the outer plain. Beside her, Liora sat on the edge of the wall, legs dangling casually yet with her hands ready to summon magic at a moment"s notice. Although they were far from the front lines, Liora could fly there if necessary; however, what the squads wanted most was her Speed and Damage buffs—key effects for sustaining the offensive.
On the ground, just outside the wall, Sally stood with her father and mother, excitement shining in her eyes as she prepared to join the battle. While Sally and Linda would act mostly in support, her father would play a central role. He had achieved an impressive evolution: Sky Hunter, a humanoid man-eagle hybrid. With aerial speed, notable strength, and perfect long-distance vision, he would serve as the primary scout from the skies.
Farther away, near the village gate, Silvia listened intently as Lua explained the plan. When the conversation ended, she commented that she needed time to process all the information. Then, after glancing at the players for a few seconds, she silently turned and walked into the forest.
[Band Chat – Strategy Channel]
"Alright, team, ready? They"re about to come out of the forest. Stay sharp. Dean won"t be able to keep the boss distracted for long," Joe announced to the others.
The players replied with a brief "Understood" before sprinting to their positions.
Joe looked up and spotted Peter flying high above, scanning the forest. The scout descended slightly, met Joe"s eyes, and gave a hand signal.
"They"re here."
"Confirmed," Joe said with a nod as he turned away.
He activated his communication pearl, and Bert immediately began issuing rapid-fire commands. Sig"s spiders spread out across the battlefield—not to attack, as their damage was minimal, but to act as mobile observation units. Even though Sig had leveled up as a Puppeteer, his improvements only optimized existing puppets; acquiring new ones was difficult, and capturing mobs was even harder.
The squads closed ranks into a large defensive circle. The first group of Fire Drakes emerged from the forest, and the players opened fire without hesitation—arrows, magical projectiles, elemental bursts. The enemies retaliated by hurling fireballs, forcing the players to scatter and reposition.
From the shadows, the boss appeared briefly, but Dean peppered it with a rain of arrows, driving it back. Meanwhile, the wave of drakes kept coming, and the players focused on taking down the frontliners one by one.
"Stay focused! If we spread out, We ll weaken them all but get slaughtered by sheer numbers. Take them down one at a time. doesn t matter if we fall more often—just Don t let them reach the village," Joe ordered through the communication pearl.
It was sound reasoning: every drake still standing meant more projectiles raining toward the wall, and Lua wouldn t hesitate to step in if the core of the village came under threat.
One by one, the drakes fell. Their bodies were trampled by the ones behind, who kept pressing forward.
"Rotation, now!"
The squads began moving in wide circles, dragging the enemies away from the village while continuing to attack. Some players went down, only to revive quickly, regroup into fresh teams, and rejoin the offensive.
It was a massive kiting strategy—keeping the drakes close enough to maintain aggro but far enough to protect the defenses. From the wall, Lua raised an approving eyebrow.
After several minutes—or perhaps a couple of hours—the last creature fell.
"Dean, return. Bring it to the center."
Dean acknowledged from a distance. The fighters, exhausted but exhilarated, prepared for the final phase.
The forest lit up with a crimson glow, and the ground shook under heavy footsteps. A massive Flame Giant Lizard emerged, wreathed in fire like a walking volcano. Its eyes burned with rage, and its first action was to unleash a massive stream of flames. The players dodged instantly; thanks to earlier debuffs, the attack was slower and less lethal.
From the wall, Lua drew a pair of runes in the air and raised an Ice Wall to shield the village. She sighed but did not intervene further—this was the players" fight.
(Seeing that Lua didn t move) "Perfect… then We ll finish it," Ver said with a sigh.
"All in—attack!"
He charged into battle, throwing Ceramic Grenades: explosives inscribed with talismans and packed with claw fragments, teeth, and venom, bursting into clouds of toxic shrapnel.
The players unleashed their most powerful abilities:
Explosive talismans.
Bert"s fragmentation grenades.
Long-cooldown spells.
Loli summoned a small meteor that slammed directly into the boss.
A vine trap immobilized one of its legs just as it began charging another attack. The ground burned beneath the players" feet, and a wide-area explosion wiped out everyone nearby—but the ranged attackers kept up the pressure until the fallen revived.
The final battle reached its peak.
Joe activated his Berserker Mode. His body expanded, doubling in size until he nearly reached three meters in height. With a roar that echoed across the field, he charged straight into the boss. The impact was brutal… yet the creature didn t budge. Without hesitation, Joe unleashed a flurry of blows with his Flaming Fists, though each strike only managed to chip away about ten hit points at most.
High on the wall, Lua kept her gaze on the boss until she felt Liora tug gently at her clothes. She looked down, meeting the silent plea in the girl"s eyes.
Lua gave a faint smile, raised one finger, and gathered mana. A small black fireball appeared above her hand and, in the blink of an eye, shot forward at an impossible speed. It pierced the boss"s body, and a sound like shattering glass echoed through the air—its passive defense was gone.
In that instant, the players" damage output spiked dramatically.
"GOOOOO!"
The monster reared up on its front legs and slammed the ground, sending fiery geysers erupting all around, annihilating everything in their path. Only Joe managed to survive, dodging deadly attacks while striking relentlessly.
The fallen began respawning and rushing back to the fight. When Joe finally fell, Dean stepped in to take his place, keeping the boss occupied. One after another, the players rotated in, trading casualties for progress, slowly but surely chipping away at the boss"s life.
When the monster had only a few hit points left, its body began to glow. In seconds, its size shrank to just two meters and, with a crimson flash, it became a living projectile, moving at lethal speed and killing everything it touched. Even so, the mages and archers kept launching area attacks at every spot where it appeared.
A vine shot up from the ground, snaring one of its legs—Linda stood with both hands raised, channeling her magic. From above, Peter dove from the sky, latching onto the boss"s back to hold it down for a few more precious seconds. That was when Joe reappeared, charging in with a flaming fist that he drove into the monster"s stomach.
A rain of massive attacks poured down on both of them, regardless of the fact that their own teammates were caught in the blast. That was the plan, though Lua frowned at their recklessness.
With a final roar, the boss was defeated. The players still sprinting from the respawn point arrived just in time to witness the victory.
[System]
Boss defeated! All participants have reached the maximum level of their current evolution.
Choose your next evolution.
Cheers erupted across the battlefield. The players" bodies glowed with the distinctive light of evolution, and some—like Polly, who had leveled up during the battle against the drakes—gained two evolutions in a single fight.
"Lua! I can evolve again now!" Liora said, bouncing excitedly around her.
"That"s good," Lua replied with a small smile, watching as some players chose to evolve immediately while others preferred to take their time.
At last, Lua turned toward her home, her expression tightening slightly.
[Outer Forest]
"Hello, Silvia."
The voice was soft, but Silvia reacted instantly, turning with a frown. Standing in the middle of a clearing before her was a deer with shimmering blue fur, ethereal in form, antlers like crystal, and a body radiating pure mana. Its eyes, flecked with starlight, watched her calmly.
"Lila… so it was you who sent Lua to find the flower… and those humans."
"you ve been asleep for quite a while, Silvia. And I think the little star needed help with the new spirits," Lila said evenly.
The deer vanished from where it stood and reappeared suddenly behind Silvia, then at her side, moving as if space itself offered no barriers.
"She could have been in danger. She s at the edge of the forest, with nowhere to hide… caught between a sword and a wall."
"You should have more faith in your daughter. I"ve seen her grow. I"ve seen the trouble she caused back when she was just a girl, alone. She s worked hard. If she enters the forest, She s bound to spark a major battle… but I m not sure she can lose. She s stronger than you think. Maybe only those two fools could match her… and only because she still lacks experience against traitors and deceivers," Lila said, her final words brimming with confidence.
"You awakened her divine blood?" Silvia asked, a trace of anger in her voice.
"She was twelve," Lila replied seriously. "She entered the forest, as always, and I was watching from a distance. She found a flower… not the one she was looking for, but attractive enough to draw many beasts. Surrounded and wounded, I had to act or she would have died. I still couldn t leave… I wasn"t supposed to. But I think they already know about me."
Silvia"s expression softened, her gaze tinged with sorrow.
"Thank you for taking care of her. I Don t know what I would have done if she had also…"
"It"s fine. Seeing the former demigoddess of destruction so fragile would give the nine spirit gods endless reasons to mock you," Lila said with a soft laugh.
"How did Lua find the other eight fragments?" Silvia asked.
"I have no idea. They simply came to her… as if they chose her, or as if someone helped her. Are you upset that it took her less time than it took you to gather them? Or because you had to discard all your fragments?" Lila"s words sounded sharp, though her tone suggested she was more teasing than accusatory.
"You know that"s not it. I m happy She s gone farther than I ever did. Even if I lost all my powers so she could live… I have no regrets. The only thing I regret is not being able to help you until the end," Silvia said, stroking the deer gently.
"Well, in any partnership, someone always has to be the passive one… though I"ve always preferred being on the bottom," Lila teased before vanishing, leaving Silvia with flushed cheeks.
" you re still as foolish as ever," she murmured, before smiling and turning away. "I hope you recover soon and come home."