The Verdant Expanse had awakened.
Not an elemental—not a creature with form or limits—but an entire, living force of nature hellbent on their destruction.
The ground heaved violently, roots bursting forth like spears, ancient trees twisting grotesquely, their canopies thrashing like enraged titans. The air grew thick and suffocating, choked by creeping vines and the acrid scent of burning foliage as wildfires erupted without warning.
The very land itself rejected them.
Lucio barely had time to react before a gnarled root speared through his shoulder, pinning him against a massive tree trunk. He let out a strangled cry, body writhing as warm blood trickled down his arm. His vision blurred, breath coming in shallow gasps.
"LUCIO!" Rhea screamed.
Vines lashed around her waist, yanking her backward toward a churning pit of razor-sharp thorns. Ember flared wildly in defiance, burning away the ensnaring tendrils before they could crush her completely.
Lucio gritted his teeth, his own blood slicking his fingers as he fought to pry himself free. The land groaned ominously, as if relishing his struggle, the roots tightening their grip.
"Leave me! Get to Kaelin!" he barked, voice strained, already losing strength.
Rhea ignored him, frantically clawing at the twisted roots. "Shut up and hold still!" she snapped, panic laced in her voice.
Meanwhile, Jalen and Nathan fought just to survive.
Jalen sprinted across shifting terrain, dodging spires of jagged stone that jutted out like fangs beneath his feet. His glyphs flickered erratically—black, then red, then blue—his emotions tangled in chaos.
The very earth beneath him rejected every step, breaking apart as though trying to swallow him whole.
His only target: Kaelin.
She stood untouched in the heart of the chaos, hands raised, chanting in a tongue older than time itself. The core pulsed overhead, feeding the devastation, its light casting unnatural shadows across the battlefield.
Jalen lunged—
But the Expanse roared in response.
An entire tree trunk swung at him like a war hammer, its monstrous roots tearing through the soil like grasping hands. He barely dodged, skidding low beneath the crushing weight, but a branch lashed out, whipping across his chest with the force of a steel cable.
He hit the ground hard, blood splattering the churned dirt beneath him.
Nathan blinked forward, stepping through frozen time to get a clean strike on Kaelin. His fist blurred as he reentered normal speed—
Only to be impaled midair.
A thick vine shot through his thigh, suspending him above the chaos like a marionette.
Nathan gasped, his body jerking violently as he stared at the bloodied branch spearing through his leg.
The Expanse did not care for his abilities.It did not care for the rules of time.It did not care whether they lived or died.
Jalen saw Nathan's body go limp for just a second.
Too long.
"NATHAN!"
With sheer desperation, Jalen manifested a jagged axe, black flames licking its blade, and swung wildly at the vines restraining his friend.
The bindings severed, and Nathan dropped, crashing hard onto the ground, groaning. Blood soaked his leg, staining the shredded fabric.
Jalen pulled him up, shouldering his weight, but Kaelin's chanting only grew louder.
The sky churned, the canopy of trees twisting as though writhing in pain, leaves swirling chaotically as lightning flickered through the void above. The air was heavy, alive, and suffocating.
"Jalen! We have to stop her now!" Nathan growled, gritting his teeth, one hand clutching his bleeding leg.
Jalen didn't move.
His breath came in ragged gasps. His glyphs flickered, unstable. His fingers trembled, his grip unsteady.
He could do it.He could kill her.
But Stix's face burned into his mind.The blood on his hands.The life he couldn't save.
He knew it. If he didn't act—They weren't leaving this place alive.
But he hesitated.And Nathan saw it.
And without another word—Nathan made the choice Jalen couldn't.
Time froze.
A single second stretched into eternity.
Nathan's body blurred forward, slipping past the writhing vines, through the flickering flames, untouched by the forest's wrath.
Kaelin's wide eyes reflected the silver flash of his blade.
Time resumed.
The blade sank deep into Kaelin's chest.
Her voice cut off mid-chant.
She gasped, the Expanse screaming in agony, its dying wrath unraveling all at once.
The roots constricting Lucio and Rhea shuddered violently, then shrunk away into nothing. The flames smothered, the ground stilling.
Kaelin staggered, hands trembling, her gaze drifting down to the knife buried in her ribs.
"No…" she whispered, blood trickling from her lips.
Nathan didn't let go of the hilt. His expression blank, but his eyes burned.
Jalen watched in silence, his chest tight. His glyphs burned blue.
Kaelin's knees buckled, her weight falling against Nathan.
She looked up at him—Not with hatred, nor anger.
Only sorrow.
"You… were just like us."
Nathan exhaled, gripping the knife tighter.
Then, with a final breath, Kaelin fell.
The Verdant Expanse went still.
Jalen couldn't look away.Rhea shut her eyes.Lucio clutched his wound, silent.
Nathan released the blade, staring at Kaelin's lifeless body for a long moment.
Then, he turned to Jalen.
"It was always going to be one of us." His voice was quiet, but firm.
Jalen clenched his fists, his breath shaking.
"Yeah."
For a moment, everything felt still.
But silence never lasts.
Kaelin's body slumped to the ground, her breath escaping in one final, trembling whisper.
And then—
The Verdant Expanse screamed.
A shockwave detonated outward, a rippling pulse of agony from the wounded land itself. The trees shrieked, their ancient voices wailing through the air as the very jungle recoiled in rage.
Nathan was the first to be caught in its wrath.
A wall of jagged thorns erupted behind him, slamming him backward like a ragdoll. His body twisted violently as he crashed into the brambles, razor-sharp spikes tearing into his flesh, embedding deep. He gasped, struggling to phase through them—But the jungle denied him.
Lucio, barely standing, tried to shield Rhea, but the land showed no mercy.
A monstrous root speared up from the dirt, piercing straight through his abdomen. His body arched in agony, his blood soaking the ground beneath him as he was lifted into the air like a prize.
"LU—LUCIO!!" Rhea shrieked, horror twisting her features.
She lunged, but the jungle was not done with her either.
Vines coiled around her neck, snapping tight like a noose.
Her feet left the ground, her hands scrambling desperately as her airway was crushed inch by inch.
Ember flared in fury, the little flame creature desperately trying to burn away the tendrils, but it was too small to fight the overwhelming force of nature itself.
Jalen watched all of them suffering.
And the jungle kept going.
The trees groaned, their roots twisting together, forming something new—A colossal entity, born from the land's final wrath.
It was no mere elemental.
This was the dying will of nature itself.
A towering beast of earth, fire, and vines, its hollow eyes glowing with the last remnants of Kaelin's will.
It let out a final, enraged roar, and the ground caved in beneath them.
The air collapsed in on itself, a vortex of raw energy surging outward.
Jalen's regulator cracked.
It expanded violently, surging across his entire torso, down his legs, spiraling up his neck and arms like chains that were never meant to be broken.
His glyphs burned so brightly they cast shadows.
The Expanse roared—And Jalen roared back.
A pulse of destruction erupted outward, ripping through the land.
The jungle entity lunged at him—Jalen caught it with one hand.
The ground shattered beneath his feet, the sheer force of his grip splintering the living forest.
His voice was like thunder, layered with something inhuman.
"ENOUGH!"
With one final motion, Jalen tore the jungle apart.
A shockwave detonated, a tidal wave of obliteration, stretching across the entire rainforest, ripping trees from the earth, reducing ancient roots to ash, and shattering the foundation of nature itself.
The Verdant Expanse—an eternal, ancient force—died.
Jalen stood alone in a wasteland, his body heaving, his vision blurring, his glyphs still pulsing wildly.
Nathan was the first to stir, groaning in pain, barely prying himself from the shattered brambles. His arms were torn to shreds, deep gashes lining his ribs, his entire body drenched in blood.
Rhea lay sprawled on the ground, Ember flickering weakly beside her. She coughed raggedly, eyes wide with horror as she stared at where the Expanse used to be.
Lucio was barely breathing.
His wound gushed, his skin pale, his limbs slack.He needed immediate medical attention.
Nathan forced himself up, stumbling. His body barely functioning. His voice hoarse, weak.
"Jalen… what the hell did you just do?"
"I-I have no idea... But its best we keep moving."
With nothing left but pure adrenaline Jalen used the last bit of his energy to create three spectral cots each one levataing carrying his friends as he dragged himself to the kingdom of Everlock.