Tave hurled bag after bag of water into the air, the liquid bursting out and catching the moonlight, glimmering silver beneath the bze of Orion’s fire. In the next breath, the droplets froze mid-air, then unched forward like icy bullets, shards of frost aimed straight at the Volcanic Orc.

  Orion had already surged ahead, reckless, fast.

  The orc swung its massive club with terrifying speed, the sheer force enough to crush a man ft. If it hit, Orion would be done.

  But the man didn’t stop. With an agile leap, he unched himself upward, and in a burst of fme, his sword ignited brighter than ever before, illuminating the battlefield in a blinding bze. A roar echoed, sharp and clear. The cry of a phoenix screaming through fire.

  The inferno smashed into the orc’s chest.

  It was searing, overwhelming heat.

  But the orc didn’t stop.

  Not for a second.

  It roared in fury and kept moving, unbothered by the fmes, charging toward Orion with thunderous steps, its club swinging in a wide arc meant to crush anything in its path.

  Ice shards continued to hammer the creature’s legs, slowing it down just enough. Not much, but enough to dull its momentum.

  Oriana and Lily dashed in from opposite sides, striking at its blind spots. They leapt, weapons fshing with elemental energy, striking at the neck.

  Direct hits!

  But it didn’t even flinch.

  Elemental magic didn’t work. Not against this monster. Not without raw power behind it.

  Tave gripped his sword tightly, heart pounding. He knew he couldn’t rush in. Anyone too close would be crushed in an instant. He signaled Fang to stay alert, to keep scanning the area for incoming threats.

  This was a desperate fight.

  Pushing in recklessly would only mean death.

  And yet Orion kept going, igniting again, sshing again, his fire elemental attacks roaring with fury… but doing nothing.

  The monster swung its club again, a massive horizontal sweep across the battlefield, meant to ftten anyone who dared get close.

  Its range was massive, making any close-quarters assault nearly impossible.

  They were in deep. And running out of time.

  Oriana kept firing ice shards at the monster’s legs, her magic crashing again and again against its thick hide. The ground around its feet began to freeze, slowing it, but only briefly. Each time, the orc shattered the ice with sheer force, stomping through as if it were nothing.

  This wasn’t a casual attempt.

  Oriana was pushing herself far beyond what a Gaia Guardian should. Her core wasn’t ready to handle this kind of sustained advanced-element output. If she kept it up, her core could fail, or worse, burn out completely.

  Meanwhile, Orion was relentless, dashing around the battlefield, sshing at the orc’s fnks with his bzing sword. He dove in from the side, aiming for a weak point.

  But the monster was faster.

  Its left arm swung, catching him mid-strike. The blow sent Orion flying through the air. He twisted midair, crashing down hard but already shifting back into an offensive stance.

  Oriana and Lily kept pressing their debuffs, trying to anchor the monster’s speed and break its rhythm, but it wasn’t enough. Magic attacks barely scratched it.

  Then it came.

  A massive swing of the club. Aimed right at Orion, who was still recovering, caught mid-step.

  A killing blow.

  Oriana moved without hesitation, rushing in between them, her left arm rising instinctively.

  “Lady Oriana!” Lily shouted in panic.

  A massive surge of water energy erupted around Oriana’s arm, forming a glimmering disk of pressure, a shield. It met the club head-on, a resounding csh of force and magic exploding in a burst of mist and sound.

  The club stopped, just for a breath.

  But Oriana couldn’t hold it.

  Tave moved instantly, rushing in to catch her before the sheer force could unch her across the clearing. He caught her, stabilizing her stance.

  And that’s when he saw it.

  His enhanced vision caught the tremor, the fracture in her left arm. The bone was likely shattered.

  “Damn it!” he hissed.

  Lily was already beside them, performing rapid hand seals, casting a focused healing spell onto Oriana’s arm. Light flowed through the cracks in her bracer, seeping into the skin beneath.

  Orion didn’t stop.

  He charged again, letting out a roar, his bde erupting in a massive bzing surge of fire that lit the entire clearing in a radiant glow, forcing the monster’s gaze away.

  Tave did everything he could to divert the monster’s attention. He hurled a cluster of explosive charges into the air. Tick tick tick—BOOM!

  The bst erupted just behind the orc’s head, sending a sharp crack echoing through the clearing. The creature flinched, its head jerking back, momentarily distracted.

  Orion didn’t waste the opening.

  He lunged in with a fierce burst of speed, his bzing sword driving forward, and this time, the strike nded clean. Right into the orc’s midsection.

  The blow sank in. But it wasn’t enough.

  The orc roared, a guttural, furious sound, and began thrashing. It swung both arms, flinging its massive club and body in wild, devastating arcs. The sheer size and weight of its movements tore up the ground and split the air.

  Another heavy swing came crashing down on Orion. He raised his sword instinctively to block. But the force behind it was too much.

  Crack.

  He was unched backward, his body smming hard against the trees at the edge of the clearing.

  The orc, relentless, charged after him.

  But Tave was already setting off more explosives. BOOM, BOOM, bsts ripping through the earth around the orc’s legs, disrupting its charge.

  The monster roared louder, swinging its club wildly, smming it into the ground again and again, pounding the earth as it tried to clear its surroundings. Desperate to find its target through the haze, dust, and fire.

  The battlefield was chaotic.

  Tave threw everything he had into keeping the monster’s attention locked on him. Explosives flew through the air, boom, crack, fsh. Over and over again. He leapt, rolled, dashed, flipped, anything to maintain distance while keeping the beast focused on him and only him.

  His mind was a razor’s edge. His breath shallow. His heartbeat?

  He couldn’t even feel it anymore. It was pumping too fast, too hard. His body had gone beyond panic, into pure survival.

  He was the only one here still at the Gaia Apprentice level. Practically a speck of dust compared to the others. But right now? He was the only thing standing between this rampaging monster and his team as they tried to recover.

  And yet…

  Like hell, they were going to outst this thing. They were burning out faster than the orc was breaking down. The beast barely looked scratched.

  Tave kept moving, forcing his legs to carry him farther, faster, even when they screamed for rest. Dodging, dodging, keeping the monster turning and roaring and swinging wildly.

  Then came one final strike.

  A full-force, direct swing from the monster, aimed straight at him. The club surged forward with terrifying speed.

  Too fast.

  Too strong.

  Death was coming!

  His instincts screamed, and Tave dropped backward, smming himself to the ground just in time as the massive club sliced through the air mere inches above his face. The sheer pressure of it sent a bst of wind that crashed into his body, smming him to the dirt.

  He y there, breath knocked from his lungs.

  That was it. He had almost died.

  And the orc wasn’t done.

  The orc lifted its club once more, its massive form towering over the battered earth, ready to end it.

  Then, light.

  A bzing inferno ignited the sky above the monster, golden fmes cascading downward like a sun crashing from the heavens, searing the night into day.

  Tave blinked up, breath caught in his throat.

  Orion.

  Descending like a comet, wrapped in fme. His entire body wreathed in fire, a colossal bze trailing behind him. An attack so massive, so recklessly powerful, it pulsed with raw Gaia energy. The kind of move that would consume a man’s strength just to unleash.

  Tave knew.

  It wouldn’t work.

  Not on this monster.

  And yet, Orion still believed his fire could burn anything. That it could consume anything.

  Yes, burn it all.

  “DIE, YOU BASTARD!!” Orion’s roar thundered across the clearing, the firestorm screaming in his wake, set to annihite everything in its path.

  The monster.

  The trees.

  And Tave.

  Because in a bst like this, the one closest to ground zero. The one already pinned beneath the monster’s wrath, would be the first to die.

  Tave’s eyes widened.

  His breath caught.

  “Fuck you, Orion…” he muttered through gritted teeth.