Chapter 5: The Warbeast's Wrath
The air still stank of blood. Kael's arms shook as he staggered forward, every step grinding glass through his ribs.
The System whispered, cold as steel:
[Warning: Vitality reduced to 24%.]
[Void Fragment Instability: 12%.]
Absorb or perish.
"Shut up," Kael rasped.
That was when the roar came.
It wasn't sound. It was an earthquake given voice, rolling across the Plains, shaking marrow from his bones. The cracked ground split wider under his boots as a shadow blotted out the dim horizon.
The warbeast emerged.
Stone fused with flesh. Runes blazing gold through its chest. A wolfish skull split open in a grinding snarl, teeth like obsidian swords. Its gaze pinned him, hungry and divine.
The System chimed again:
[Divine Warbeast Detected]
[Survival Probability: 18%]
[Recommendation: Evade.]
Kael spat blood and laughed, bitter. "Better odds than usual."
It moved.
One heartbeat it crouched, the next it crossed the distance, claws shattering stone where Kael had stood. Shards ripped his arm as he rolled, body screaming with every motion.
He lashed out—Ember Void Strike crackled, black fire slamming against its chest. The flames hissed uselessly on rune-etched hide.
The beast roared.
The shockwave blasted him off his feet. Kael hit the ground so hard his spine lit with fire. His lungs seized. Blood sprayed across the ash. His Voidscale Armor cracked, flickered, died.
[Warning: Defense Matrix collapsed.]
He staggered up anyway, swaying. Retreat wasn't an option. If he ran, it would track him until his body failed.
"Fine," Kael muttered. "I'll break you another way."
The warbeast advanced, every Earthbreaker Stride shaking the ground. Its runes pulsed brighter, veins of molten gold under stone.
Kael raised his cracked blade. Galevoid Slash tore across its shoulder, cutting shallow. At least it bled.
The answer was a paw the size of a boulder slamming into his ribs. Bones snapped. The world spun.
On his knees, coughing blood, Kael made his choice.
"System… Fuse it. All of it."
[Warning: Instability exceeds 40%. Risk: permanent damage.]
[Confirm?]
"Yes!"
Dark fire exploded across his arm, void and wind twisting together until his veins glowed black-red. His flesh smoked. His hand threatened to tear itself apart.
[Ability Created: Voidstone Ember — unstable]
The warbeast lunged. Kael met it head-on.
The fused strike detonated against its chest rune. Fire and void carved through stone. Golden light spilled, molten and furious.
The warbeast howled, staggering.
Kael fell to one knee, arm shredded open to the bone. But he laughed through the blood. "Got you."
The beast's runes blazed brighter, rage incarnate. It blurred, claws tearing craters as it charged.
Kael didn't back away. He staggered forward, feigning collapse, blade low.
The warbeast lunged for the kill.
At the last instant, Kael twisted. His blade rammed into the cracked rune. He poured everything into it—void, fire, wind, life itself. His arm split open. His vision went black at the edges.
The rune shattered.
Black fire erupted inside the warbeast. Light tore free in fountains. Its roar became a scream as it collapsed, divine body splitting, runes bursting into skyfire.
The Plains shook as it fell, dust and ash engulfing Kael.
The System's voice cut through the silence:
[Essence Absorbed: Divine Warbeast]
[Ability Acquired: Stoneheart Resilience]
[Evolving… Voidstone Resilience unlocked.]
Kael collapsed across the corpse, laughing raggedly. "Almost dead… but stronger."
Above, the warbeast's runes pulsed one last time—sending a golden flare spiraling into the heavens.
Far away, atop a jagged cliff, a figure lifted a glaive. Storm-gray eyes narrowed as light split the sky.
General Varath Onyxveil.
"So. The Void-touched slays my hound." His lips curled. "Not a rat, then. A wolf."
He turned to the warriors at his back. "Tell the High Clans. The hunt begins."
Storms howled as the flare burned like a beacon.
And Kael, broken and bleeding, lay beneath it.