"What?" Icariel said to the voice in his mind, his heart pounding in his chest.
Meanwhile, the woman approached Galien, who was still on his knees, holding onto his two swords, planted in the ground.Her two-edged sword was now pointed at his throat. "It was a pleasure, Galien. Now I will make sure my bears finish off all your people—the ones you sacrificed your life for and refused us."
Galien let out a slow breath, his body battered and failing him. He could barely hold onto his swords. His limbs were heavy, his vision blurred. The weight of his life's battles bore down on him, pressing him into the earth. "So this is how it ends…" he thought. "I could not avenge you, my son. I could not protect them. Everything I fought for, everything I endured, and still..."A bitter smile ghosted his lips. "Perhaps this is justice. Perhaps this is fate. But if only—if only I had just a little more time…"
His fingers twitched around his swords, but there was no strength left. He had given everything. He had nothing more to offer. "I failed you, my son." His head lowered. "And now, I will join you."
As she prepared to swing her sword and cut off his head, an axe came flying toward her. With a swift motion, she deflected it with her raised blade.Metal clanged, sparks flying."Who dares?" she snarled, turning her gaze toward the direction the axe had come from. But all she saw was thick smoke rising from the burning trees, obscuring her view.
Icariel, now hidden behind a different tree, held his breath. "I knew it... there was no way Galien was going down just like that. I could see it without a doubt— that gathering mana around him was no joke..."
The woman's gaze snapped back to Galien, who was now rising to his feet. His orange aura surrounded him, denser and far larger than before. Her eyes widened. "You bastard... you still have this much left?!"
Before she could react, Galien lunged forward and wrapped his powerful arms around her, locking her in a crushing embrace. She struggled, but his grip was ironclad. "You bastard!" she screamed, thrashing against him.
Galien, his strength surging, let out a tired yet victorious smile. "I knew it—even though you're the most selfish one, when it comes to the best and most decisive decisions, you're always there, you damn brat... Icariel. Thanks."
Icariel smiled from his hiding spot. "He was just waiting for an opening to catch her off guard... so he could finish her. And the voice... that's exactly what it told me."
Flashback:
"Throw your axe with all your strength at that woman's head," the voice in his mind had commanded.
"What?" Icariel had questioned in shock.
"Your odds of surviving will increase tenfold."
Back in the present:
Icariel pressed his back against the tree, his breathing steadying as he watched Galien hold the woman in an unbreakable grasp. Her desperate struggles were in vain.
"You told me that so Galien could finish her after catching her off guard thanks to my attack..." Icariel thought. "It was risky, but you never take decisions that put me at unnecessary risk. I always follow what you tell me, always... isn't that right?"
A small, knowing smile formed on his lips.
But the voice in his mind didn't reply.
Galien's grip tightened around the woman, his orange aura expanding, roaring like a flame that rivaled the raging fires around them. The suffocating heat was unbearable, but his voice remained steady.
"You're going down with me," Galien growled, his orange aura growing even brighter, now surpassing the flames around them.
"Elektra," he continued, calling her by name.
The woman thrashed against his hold, her manic smirk faltering for the first time. "What are you doing?" she snarled, her dark red energy flaring wildly. "You wouldn't—"
"I obtained a skill after hunting all this time in the mountain. You know what it's called?" Galien's lips curled into a sad yet determined smile. "Equal Prey."
Icariel's heart pounded as he crouched behind the tree, barely able to comprehend what he had just heard. "Equal Prey?"
Elektra's struggles grew desperate. "You bastard! What does it do?!"
Galien's grip remained firm as his aura began pulling in mana from the surroundings, the flames flickering as if being absorbed into him."I thought you are smart.Like the name suggests... it makes both me and my opponent prey. Neither of us is a predator anymore. And do you know what two equal prey have in common?"
Elektra's eyes widened, waiting for him to speak.
"They both die."
"WHAT?!" Icariel's thoughts screamed inside his head. His body felt frozen as he watched the impossible unfold before him. "Both dying? No... this isn't right...!"
Galien's body shone, his orange aura expanding into an overwhelming light that drowned out even the inferno around them. He gritted his teeth, looking past Elektra toward Icariel's hiding spot.
"This skill gathers every bit of mana from the air and stores it inside my body. It turns my vessel into a living bomb, releasing it all at once—killing my opponent... and myself." Galien's voice was calm, almost peaceful. "A self-destruction skill, worthy for the one who killed my son."
Elektra screamed, thrashing wildly. "YOU DAMN BASTARD!"
Galien smirked. "Goodbye, Icariel. Thanks for helping me in my last moments... for giving me this chance to avenge my son."
"NO!" Icariel shouted, his voice breaking. His body moved on instinct, but it was too late.
A blinding explosion erupted, consuming everything in an instant. The earth trembled. Trees were blown away. Flames scattered like spears of destruction.
Icariel was thrown back, his body crashing through branches before slamming into the dirt. His vision blurred, the world spinning violently. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was the sky, painted in shades of orange and red, as if mourning the fallen warrior.
And then—silence.
Icariel awoke to the scent of charred wood and the distant sound of crackling flames. Bruises covered his face, his hair even messier than before. The trees around him were thrown about—some had fallen to the ground, burning; others had been blasted away; and some stood off-balance from the sheer impact of Galien's final act.
The self-destruction skill, "Equal Prey", had been Galien's last stand to kill the woman who had caused all this in the first place. But as Icariel barely opened his eyes, a voice stirred him.
"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."
His vision blurred as the voice grew clearer. "Wake up."
"I'm already awake," he murmured, slowly pushing himself up from the ground, his hand pressing against his aching head. The shock of everything still lingered in his body.
"If you're already awake—run!"
The voice in his mind was louder now, urgent. "Run? Why? He already killed her—"
"Run away now. She is alive."
Terror struck Icariel's core. He turned his head toward the battlefield, toward the place where Galien and Elektra had their final clash. His breath caught in his throat. Galien's body stood there, lifeless, burned, his arms missing—only his darkened torso remained after the explosion.
Icariel's eyes widened in horror as a figure emerged from the flames, stepping forward with slow, deliberate movements. Elektra.
She walked through the flames as if they were mere whispers of heat, her armor scorched and cracked, but intact.
"How…?" Icariel whispered, his mind refusing to accept the sight before him.
"Run now!" the voice in his head ordered again.
He tried to stand fully, to flee—but a fallen tree had pinned his knee, making movement impossible unless he could lift it.
Elektra's furious expression twisted as she closed the distance between them. Face to face now, she lowered herself to his level and grabbed a fistful of his dark hair, yanking his head back.
"So it was you," she sneered. You're the brat who threw that axe at me, forcing me to activate and lose my one-time-use armor ability?"
Icariel's mind raced. He was finished.
Elektra's grip tightened. "Damn brat. You'll pay for that. I'll make you suffer so much before I let you die in front of your people."
Icariel's vision blurred again. "Ah… I'm finished," he muttered weakly before his consciousness faded once more.
[End of chapter 4]