The caravan halted while the world itself held its breath.
The forest around them fell silent ; too silently. Even the howling wind stopped. Then it came.
A bellow tore the night air apart, low to rattle bones, feral to tear courage asunder. In the darkness beyond the treeline, the presence of an immense creature pushed forward, blocking moonlight.
Each step it took shook the ground. Warriors stumbled, their legs shaking as the crushing presence rolled over them like a battering tide.
A Nascent Soul Beast.
It was not a typical monster. Its body was a nightmare vision of truth. A tiger-clawed, serpent-scaled form. Four red eyes shone with ageless hunger, and colossal bat-like wings tore the canopy to shreds as it unfolded them in a wide sweep. Its body was wolf-like, lips foaming venom, but its end incorporated a scorpion tail ending in a stinger protruding jaggedly, dimly radiating venomous light. A calamity on legs, forged in nature's malice.
A few of the tribe warriors collapsed on their faces, choking on terror.
"This. this beast is at the peak of Nascent Soul First Stage!" one of them gasped frantically.
The beast's gaze flew towards them. Its roar turned into a raw growl, distorting the air, before it shot off like a storm embodied.
"Formation!" the chief leader yelled. The ten Golden Core disciples scattered simultaneously, beginning to enact their defense arts. Fire blades, earth shields, rivers of light. Each facet erupted in dazzling rebellion.
But when their attack landed, the monster didn't even flinch. Its armored hide deflected most of the blows, and with one sweeping motion of its gigantic claw, three Golden Core masters were sent flying through the air, sputtering blood.
"Impossible…!"
Hopelessness spread like a plague. None of them dared to bridge it themselves. Even all of them together, the worlds' distance was a canyon too deep to cross.
Then—
Darkness encroached upon the battlefield.
The shadow of a sword abnormally lengthened, reaching further than metal ever should. A frigid tide of Tenebris Energy edged forward, slicing across darkness.
The creature growled when the darkened strike raked across its hide, leaving a red gash that drew actual blood. Its focus changed. Away from the group. On one man.
Vaen was at the center, calm as always, his blind eyes covered by his black veil. But around him, the shadows themselves seemed to come alive; twisting, whispering, famished. His Tenebris Energy burst forth in defiance, something which had never been witnessed before by Immortal Organization members.
"Wha—what kind of power is this…" one of them breathed in wonder.
Vaen's expression was unreadable, but his body moved with precision. His blade gleamed faintly under the moonlight as shadows clung to it like loyal soldiers.
"Rael," he said simply.
"I'm here."
Yu Rael moved forward unhesitatingly. Moonlight appeared to ripple around her, encasing her in a resistant silver that broke the beast's crushing presence. Her fingers entwined and unwound, taking threads of light that curved around Vaen's shadows, chaining darkness and moonlight together into an unnatural harmony.
They assaulted together.
Shadow cuts upwards, repelling the creature back by a pace. Moonlit threads entwined upon its wings, burning its skin with radiating purity. Their strikes didn't kill it—but the two of them quieted its rampage, causing it to stumble.
The scenery was breathtaking. A blind man purling shadows, and a saintess guiding moonlight, and they fought as if they had fought side by side for years. Even the masters of the Immortal Organization were silenced, watching the two unexpected people command the battlefield.
But the monster…
The monster wasn't done.
Its four eyes glowed red, its bellow shaking the heavens as it let loose a burst of spiritual energy. The earth cracked beneath its feet as its body stretched, bloodlust suspended in the air like poison.
"Watch out!" Yu Rael cried, pulling Vaen back as the beast pounded its aura in twofold vigor.
The Nascent Soul monster's wings spread broad enough to extinguish stars themselves. And then, its fury unchained, it let loose its full might.
The night became blood-red.
And the actual fight began.