I. The Horizon of Lightning
The Sea of Beasts had been left behind. Now, the world seemed to fracture in two: the pulsating jungle and, beyond it, an open abyss that distilled the murmur of death. The Thunder Rift Valley was a black wound in the earth. The air grew thin, heavy with electricity and burnt ozone. Every breath felt like swallowing sparks. The sky was blanketed by twisted purple clouds that howled every time a lightning bolt struck, engorging the rock as if the storm itself were hungry.
Kael, Violeta, Eris, and Elara stopped at the ledge. Before them, the canyon stretched out mercilessly.
—"The Lightning Qi here is a hundred times denser than at the citadel," whispered Eris, her hair standing on end from the static. Her voice was sharp. —"If Maren were here, he would die of ecstasy. Or from a discharge."
Kael laughed, the sound vibrating amidst the thunder. —"That, or he would betray us all for a single thunder crystal."
Elara pulled out the spirit telescope. The pulse of the storm made her hands tremble, but her sight was steady. —"There's the camp," she announced, focusing. —"They aren't wild beasts. Silk pavilions. Defensive magic... and a lot of it."
Violeta took the telescope, adjusting the lens with expert fingers. —"Two banners. A silver sword on blue: Heavenly Sword Sect. A golden cauldron: Alchemy Pavilion. I see detection formations. Fifty elites. Four Origin Realm Stage 7 experts. One at Stage 8. Likely Jian, the First Disciple of the Sword."
Kael leaned in, observing the only safe path—a natural bridge amidst perpetual lightning strikes. —"Why guard the entrance so heavily?" whispered Elara. Eris smiled sideways. —"Because what's inside is worth more than the lives of all of them combined."
Suddenly, the valley trembled. It wasn't thunder: it was a subterranean roar. From the rift, a green flash erupted, and the ground vibrated as if the heart of the world were shaking. —"The Guardian Beast," Kael deduced. —"They are trying to kill it, or at the very least, wear it down." Violeta closed the telescope. —"Do we go through the front door?" Kael shook his head. —"They'll kill us before we make it halfway. There is another way."
II. Infiltration: The Path of Fools
Kael unfolded the old map, tracing imaginary lines across the canyon wall. —"We descend through the impact zone." His voice was calm, but the glint in his eyes was one of calculated madness.
Elara swallowed hard. —"Through the lightning zone?" —"No one watches the fire because no one believes someone is stupid enough to walk in it," Kael joked. —"Violeta, stabilize space. Eris, absorb heat. I'll break the rock. Elara, mist and silence. If one falls, we all fall."
Eris extended her hand, and for a moment, sparks danced between her fingernails. —"Better to die roasted than bored."
With a gesture from Violeta, the air around them rippled, the density of space altered. A lightning bolt struck meters away from them, bouncing off an invisible shield. Eris absorbed part of the residual heat, her skin pearled with sweat and static; Kael, with his sword, struck the rock, carving out ledges and handholds.
The descent was a silent, deadly dance: every step a millimetric calculation, every meter a challenge to death. Elara covered the group with dense mist, camouflaging them with the low clouds and dissipating the sound of their rapid breathing. A bolt tore through Violeta's spatial barrier, wrenching a muffled cry from Kael, but the eldest sister restored the shield instantly.
Violeta's eyes glowed, fixed on the energy flow. —"Don't stop. If we break the rhythm, the matrix collapses." Eris looked down. —"Only three hundred meters more, right?" —"Almost there..." Elara gasped. Sweat ran down her temple, but she kept going, clinging to Celeste's promise and the memory of Samael.
Upon reaching the bottom, the four dropped behind a promontory of black crystal. The barrier closed around them like a deathly embrace, but they were alive. At their feet, the enemy camp lay above; beyond it, the Guardian Beast's cavern glowed with its own light. Lightning danced across the ground, and the air smelled of ionized blood and broken hope.
III. The Beast's Nest and the Alliance
From their hiding spot, they watched the battle. Ten elite cultivators, led by a swordsman in blue robes and a woman in gold, were besieging a creature that seemed plucked from a nightmare: an Armored Thunder Lizard, with sapphire scales and a horn that launched voltaic arcs. Every time it roared, the entire valley shook and the lightning bent toward its body.
—"Crescent formation!" Jian shouted, his clear voice cutting through the din. —"Hold! Alchemist, now!"
Lysa, the heiress of the Pavilion, threw flasks that exploded into a green, acidic cloud, blinding the beast. The lizard howled, launching blind bolts that vaporized junior disciples without mercy.
Jian did not hesitate; his sword, wrapped in tongues of thunder, cut through the air and embedded itself in the beast's flank. —"Hold on!" he ordered. —"It's tired! The root is ours!"
In the darkness, Violeta focused on the back of the cave, where a glow unrelated to the lightning pulsated like a stellar heart. —"The Star Dragon Root is there," she whispered. —"I feel the spatial distortion. The prize."
Kael gripped his hilt, the plan vibrating in his voice. —"We wait. When they fall, we move in. No one sees us coming."
IV. Echoes of the Enemies
Jian Sweat pours down his forehead. His master warned him that the Valley was a trap for the proud, but he will not yield. The promise of the root, the glory of the Sect, and the honor of his lineage are at stake. He sees another disciple fall, charred. Guilt hurts, but ambition hurts more. He looks at Lysa; in her eyes, he sees fear and determination. "We will not fail," he promises himself.
Lysa The poison is running out. Each flask represents a century of alchemy. She feels her Qi draining, but she knows the root is worth any sacrifice. Jian is her shield, and she is his dagger. "Just a little more," she repeats to herself. "Just a little more..."
V. The Arrival of the Second Winter
Suddenly, the earth trembles again, but not from the beast. A guttural howl shakes the valley. From the rear, the Alliance camp explodes into flames. A stampede of war rhinoceroses bursts in, crushing formations, trampling tents and disciples.
At the lead, General Fang—a giant in bone armor, with teeth like swords and eyes bloodshot with fury—advances with murderous strides. Beside him, Draken screams: —"They are here! The Morningstars are in the valley! Find them!"
Jian and Lysa turn, terror written on their faces. —"Morningstar?" Jian mutters. "The southern clan? How did they pass the blockade?"
Fang swings his giant axe, cutting the air with a brutal spin. —"He who claims the root, claims the world! Destroy them all!" The chaos is absolute: the Alliance breaks ranks, the beast attacks blindly, the lightning multiplies, and the earth opens beneath the hooves of the rhinos.
VI. Bonds at the Edge of the Abyss
Kael crouches, Plan B forming on his lips. He looks at his sisters and Elara.
—"Subtlety is dead," he says with a grimace. —"We go in, kill whoever stands in our way, take the root, and escape through the rear rift. If we fall, we fall together."
Eris smiles, fists in flames. —"I never liked stealth anyway."
Violeta adjusts the spatial matrix, her eyes cold. —"Destiny is a knife. Today, we cut."
Elara nods, her fear and determination balanced. —"For Samael. For everyone."
Kael raises his hand, and for a second, all their hearts beat at the same rhythm. They are not just warriors or heirs; they are a family facing the end of the world.
—"On my signal," Kael says. —"Unleash hell!"
VII. The Final Roar
They leap from their hiding spot, wrapped in mist, fire, and deflected lightning. Kael clears the path through the remains of the Alliance and the beasts, cutting with his sword and dragon aura. Eris burns, launching heat waves that dissipate poisons and shatter formations. Violeta fragments space, disarming attacks and stealing distance. Elara merges with the shadow, her dagger ready to protect the rear.
Around them, chaos roars: Fang splits the earth, Jian and Lysa fight to survive, and the wounded Guardian Beast roars, launching lightning that splits the sky in two.
For an instant, time freezes: the Star Dragon Root shines in the cave, the true heart of the disaster. Kael screams—a roar of war, of hope, of defiance. —"For the Root!"
The battle, the night, and the storm converge. And as the aurora pales before the thunder, only one certainty remains: in the Rift Valley, today, the legend is written with blood, lightning, and will.
[End of Chapter 92]