The battlefield had already begun to quiet down.
The corrupted beasts at the borders were being pushed back, one by one, until each of the outer fights reached its conclusion. But even with victory appearing close, everyone knew the real danger still stood at the very center of the ruins.
There, the man who commanded everything, the one trying to break the ancient seal around the Obsidian Jewel, was still somewhere inside the rising dust cloud. He had Drakar earlier, and his intentions weren't clear, if wants to just take the jewel at any cost, why does he hold Drakar.
Lucien and Lunis were the first to reach the center. A huge explosion had erupted a short while ago, sending a storm of dust across the central area. They couldn't see anything inside the cloud. It felt like stepping into the heart of a wildfire, heat, pressure, and uncertainty.
Lucien's expression hardened. "Stay alert. The moment this dust settles, we move."
A second later, Movern jogged up to them. His hand was wrapped in makeshift bandages, fresh ones.
Lucien glanced at it, raising one brow.
Before Lucien even asked, Movern sighed and said, "Long story. You'll hear it later."
Lucien didn't respond, but his eyes narrowed slightly. The answer could wait. Right now, nothing mattered more than stopping the leader in the center.
By then, the group who had been fighting corrupted beasts at the border of the centre, Adrian, Adriana, and Diego, also rushed toward them. Adriana spoke quickly, slightly out of breath.
"We didn't see anyone else enter the center! The dust rose a few minutes ago. It was a huge blast. That must be what caused this!"
Lucien nodded, already forming theories. "Maybe he forced more power into breaking the seal. Stay ready."
Adrian glanced back toward the border. "I'll return and help cover the others. We can't let the beasts push inward."
He sprinted back, and shortly after, Alex and Clara arrived.
Lucien explained the situation. Alex peered into the dust cloud. "I can see shadows… but not clearly."
The dust had thickened, almost like a wall.
Moments later, Caelus arrived with Hugo in a waterbed, and Hugo was severely injured. Broken bones, covered in blood, barely conscious.
Everyone froze.
Clara instinctively reached forward, but her mana was drained from earlier. "Bring Iria! Any healer! Quickly!"
Lucien shook his head. "That will weaken the outer defenses."
Adriana stepped forward firmly. "I'll go. Diego, come."
They sprinted back toward the group fighting beasts. Moments later, Iria and Sera returned with them and immediately began healing Hugo.
Only then, finally, the dust started to thin.
And when the cloud cleared… Everyone stared in shock.
The leader wasn't breaking the seal anymore.
He wasn't holding Drakar.
Drakar lay unconscious a short distance away, unharmed but shaken.
The leader was fighting someone.
Not just anyone.
He was fighting Darius.
Lucien blinked hard. "Darius…?"
Alex and Hugo, the only two who had knew about Darius's actual strength, were not surprised at all. They only exchanged a small nod, as if saying, Yeah… this is exactly what it looks like.
But to everyone else, it was unthinkable.
Because he was supposed to face someone who must have been as strong as the figures they had faces. Yet he is here, fighting one on one against someone who is definitely much stronger opponent than anyone before.
---
A While Earlier
Yera'el had faced Darius once before, during that encounter, she trapped him inside an illusion of a peaceful life with his wife and child. A perfect lie. A warm lie. A cruel lie.
Darius shattered it as if it were nothing.
She fled then, too afraid to face the man who tore apart her illusion so easily.
But now, they faced each other again.
Yera'el didn't wait. Her voice trembled with anger and fear as she screamed, "Don't think this will be like before!"
She drew in corrupted aura and let it spread through her body. The air trembled. Her confidence returned.
She thrust her hand forward.
"Bluefall Lance!"
Massive water spears rained down toward Darius. He didn't even shift his footing. He simply swung his shovel with small, casual motions, parrying each spear one by one.
Yera'el felt something cold grip her chest.
Last time, she feared him.
Now, she feared him even more.
But she did not stop.
"Aqua Serpent Strike!"
Serpents made of twisting water surged toward him, hissing and snapping. Darius calmly took a bottle from his pocket, drank deeply, wiped his mouth, and then began jumping lightly between the attacking serpents, not rushed, not panicked, almost bored.
Then he stopped.
He gripped his shovel, scooped the ground lightly.
"Ember Scoop."
The debris ignited into blazing pellets that shot forward. Yera'el smirked, until the serpents evaporated instantly. Her eyes widened in terror. Water should beat fire. But his fire wasn't normal.
Still, she pushed her fear aside and screamed:
"Aqua Dragon Strike!"
A massive dragon of water rose behind her and sprayed sphere after sphere of condensed water at him.
Darius planted his feet.
"Burning Desires."
His shovel erupted in bright fire, and he swung it again and again, striking every sphere head-on. Each one exploded into steam.
Yera'el grew desperate. "Attack him directly!"
The water dragon lunged. Darius simply stepped aside, dodging its sweeping maw again and again.
He even yawned mid-combat. That single yawn nearly broke her spirit. Just who is this man…? He shouldn't be this strong…She clenched her teeth. "Then drown!"
"Eternal Flood!"
Water surged from every direction, air, ground, mist, everything forming a crushing tidal prison around Darius. A giant sphere of water swirled violently, ready to tear him apart.
Darius stared around him.
"…Yeah, I can't jump over this one," he muttered casually.
He scratched his cheek. Then, with a small exhale, he tightened his grip.
"Solar Pulse."
A beam of white-hot fire burst from his shovel, pure heat, pure destruction, burning through the tidal prison from every side. The water evaporated faster than it could crush him.
Yera'el's eyes shook violently. Her power shattered. Her confidence collapsed.
She fell to her knees. Darius walked toward her, slow, quiet steps. Her body trembled. Her hands shook uncontrollably.
He lifted her chin with the edge of his shovel.
His eyes were serious. Empty. Burning.
"Memories are precious," he said softly. "Good or bad, they belong to the one who lived them. You don't get to play with them."
Yera'el bit her lip hard.
He continued, voice colder now.
"You must have your own bad memories, right? Should I make some for you?"
Yera'el broke.
"Please… please don't… I'll never do it again… please…"
He pushed the shovel a little harder against her neck. Tears ran down her cheeks.
"I never said you can talk... My wife meant everything to me. My child too. And I never got to see my child's face." His voice cracked, not loud, but sharp enough to cut. "For you to use their deaths against me… that makes me furious."
Yera'el couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't even move.
Then...
Darius sighed.
"…Yeah. I can't do this."
He lowered the shovel.
"I'm not killing you. Not today."
She stared wide-eyed. "…Why?"
"Because I'm saving that rage for the one who made you do this, the one in the center."
With that, Darius turned and walked away.
Yera'el collapsed fully, unable to even lift her hand.
---
Darius reached the center of the ruins.
He saw the leader, holding over Drakar, still trying to break the seal.
Darius called out, "Oi! You there! Leave the boy and walk away!"
The man turned slightly. "So she failed."
Without hesitation, he fired a corrupted energy orb at Darius.
Darius deflected it with his shovel, though the force pushed him back a single step.
The man studied Darius for a moment.
Darius spoke again. "Last warning. Leave the boy and this place."
The man replied calmly, "It's Xekar."
He threw Drakar aside, stood tall, and lifted one finger glowing with dark energy.
"Fusion Grave."
A beam of deep, corrupt power shot forward.
Darius responded instantly.
"Inferno Blast."
Molten fire roared from his shovel.
The two attacks collided...
A violent explosion tore through the ruins, shaking the entire battlefield. Dust rose like a second storm.
That was the blast everyone heard earlier.
---
Now
The dust had settled.
Everyone stared.
Xekar and Darius were still fighting inside the center.
And the true battle, the one no one had witnessed earlier, was finally revealed.
And the world watched as the man with the shovel prepared to end everything.