Volume 5, Chapter 6: Foxfire Ascendant
The plains were bathed in pale moonlight. The fox girl stood at the center, golden foxfire spiraling around her, tails of flame whipping through the air.
> "I… I can feel it… all of it!" she cried.
"The power… it's mine!"
The Ex's Last Gambit
Her ex roared in rage, summoning a massive army of cursed beasts, including shadowed wolves, serpents, and demonic constructs.
> "Kneel! This world… and you… will burn before me!"
Even as his power swelled, the battlefield subtly shifted:
Trees bent to block lines of sight.
Rocks moved to shield the fox girl.
Shadows coiled in ways no one could track.
Cael's Subtle Guidance
From the edge of the battlefield, hooded and calm, "Riven Kael" watched.
He did not reveal himself.
Selene and the Seven Shadows flitted invisibly, blocking and redirecting attacks, ensuring the fox girl remained unharmed while letting her grow stronger.
Tiny glimpses of Absolute Atomic power touched the battlefield a tail of light, a flicker of displacement, just enough for the fox girl to sense protection without seeing him.
> "Focus," Cael whispered softly.
"Every strike you make… every enemy you defeat… shapes your memory and your power."
The Awakening Strike
The fox girl unleashed her full foxfire:
Golden flames lanced forward, cutting through cursed beasts like a storm.
Her tails moved with incredible speed, forming a swirling pattern of attack that even her ex could not predict.
For a brief moment, she felt the echo of the one who saved her long ago, a presence guiding her movements.
> "I… remember… someone protecting me!" she gasped.
Her ex faltered, his confidence cracking.
> "Impossible… she should be weak!" he screamed.
Absolute Shadows at Work
The Seven Shadows and Selene silently eliminated the deadliest threats.
Every cursed beast that survived was marked, waiting for Cael's next invisible strike.
The fox girl grew stronger with each encounter, unaware of the true force behind her protection.
> "Perfect," Cael murmured.
"She awakens fully… and he walks right into the trap I've laid.
Shadows rule this battlefield… and Absolute Atomic remains unseen, untouchable, eternal."
The moonlight shimmered on the foxfire, and the plains fell under the silent dominance of the Absolute Shadows, the fox girl standing stronger than ever, her ex powerless to touch the unseen hand controlling the fate of all.