The air itself trembled.
A high-pitched whine pierced the battlefield as the Overlord Machine's cannon, now glowing white-hot with unstable power, reached its peak. Energy surged through the massive weapon, casting eerie red shadows across the broken forest. It was ready to fire.
Marcus's eyes widened in horror.
From his collapsed position on the scorched ground, his vision swam as he forced his body upright. The moment his eyes locked on the cannon pointed at Kael and Lira, time seemed to slow.
"No…!" he gasped.
Kael stood behind a colossal earthen wall, hands dug into the dirt, veins bulging with effort as he pumped every ounce of his remaining Prana into keeping the barrier up. Lira stood behind him, her hands on his back, funneling all the supportive Prana she could muster. Their faces were pale, noses bleeding from the overexertion.
"We can hold… we have to hold!" Kael grunted through clenched teeth.
Lira's eyes were glassy. "I can't… I can't lose anyone else…"
The cannon fired.
A massive red beam, hot enough to melt steel and sear the earth, slammed into the wall. The world turned white with heat. The protective barrier groaned under the pressure, the outer layers evaporating almost instantly.
Kael screamed in agony, blood spraying from his mouth.
Lira's knees buckled. "Just a little more!"
But the wall began to disintegrate.
And then—
The beam's path shifted.
Kael's breath caught as he felt the energy redirect.
Lira's eyes went wide. "What…?"
The red-hot beam, instead of continuing its straight path toward them, jerked sideways, tilting upward toward the sky.
Time rewound.
Marcus's POV
The moment he saw the cannon about to fire, Marcus's world narrowed to a single thought:
Save them.
His mind blanked. His pupils contracted to pinpoints. Every muscle in his body coiled with desperate tension.
"MOVE!" he roared at himself.
He forced his legs to obey, tightening every muscle, and then—
BOOM!
Blue flames erupted from his feet, scorching the ground. His sword ignited, blue fire licking up its blade. A shape flickered above his brow—horns made of blue fire, faint and barely stable, forming like a crown of some infernal monarch.
The ground beneath him exploded as he launched forward, the sheer force of his momentum creating a vacuum of heat and wind in his wake.
The cannon fired.
Marcus reached the Overlord in a heartbeat.
With a primal scream, he slammed into the massive machine's extended arm—just as the red beam surged.
The heat singed his skin, but the blue flames around him surged higher, feeding off his fury. He pushed against the cannon arm, shoulder braced, sword glowing like a beacon.
"RRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
The Overlord's arm groaned under the pressure. Sparks flew. The beam's trajectory began to shift—first barely, then significantly, dragging away from the wall.
Marcus planted his feet into the steel plating of the Overlord's arm, blue fire burning like jets from his soles. His muscles screamed. Bones creaked.
The beam tore through the forest, incinerating trees, ground, even carving a molten trench as it bent skyward.
Then—
CRACK!
The Overlord's arm bent at an unnatural angle. Sparks exploded from its joints. The red beam sputtered and died.
Marcus gasped, falling to his knees on the arm.
The machine reeled.
Then he rose.
Breath heaving, blue wisps of fire curled from his nostrils with each exhale.
His sword burned bright. His stance shifted into the classic draw stance of his clan.
"Blue Flame Demon Roar," he whispered.
He launched forward like a lightning bolt.
The Overlord staggered, the damaged arm trailing sparks.
Marcus blurred past it.
SHHHHRING!
A line of blue fire traced through the cockpit.
He landed silently. The flames around him extinguished instantly. His knees gave out.
He collapsed.
Kael and Lira's POV
They watched in stunned silence.
When Marcus screamed his attack, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze. The very air stilled.
Then—
Silence.
Marcus crumpled to the ground.
On the Overlord's cockpit, a massive glowing slash cut across the surface, and the frame around it began to melt. The machine twitched once.
Kael's eyes widened. "Did he…?"
Lira trembled. "He did."
The monster had been stopped.
But Marcus had fallen.
And the final battle was far from over.
Just as Marcus's body hit the ground with a dull thud, his flames fully extinguished, a low hum surged from the Overlord Machine. Lights flickered violently across its chassis, sparks spitting from the bent arm.
Then, with a jolt, it came back to life.
Inside the cockpit, Goat's voice echoed like a vile resonance from hell. "Hmph… I underestimated you insects," he growled, venom in every syllable. "But now I see… this blue flame brat holds real potential. Potential to disrupt the rule of chaos. That… I cannot allow."
The Overlord Machine's eyes lit up crimson once more. Metal screeched as it raised its remaining functional arm high into the air, servos whining as energy concentrated in its massive hydraulic frame. The intention was clear.
It was going to crush Marcus.
Kael, still bleeding and panting heavily, forced himself upright. His eyes locked on the raised fist.
"NOOOO!" he roared, stumbling forward.
Lira screamed, "STOP!" Her voice cracked from exhaustion.
But the Overlord paid them no mind. The massive fist began its descent, air wailing with pressure.
And then—
BOOM!
A shockwave tore across the battlefield as an old man dropped from the sky, landing between Marcus and the killing blow. With effortless grace, he caught the descending fist with one hand.
One hand.
Ryun stood tall, long coat fluttering in the vortex of impact. His other arm cradled Marcus's unconscious body protectively.
Kael and Lira shielded their faces from the hurricane of force that followed, eyes tearing up as dust and pressure rippled through the air.
The Overlord's arm trembled, completely halted.
Ryun grinned, voice calm and ancient like a mountain breeze. "Hohoho… now now, I can't let you destroy the future of such a promising lad, can I?"
The metal of the Overlord groaned.
The battlefield fell into stunned silence once more.
And the tide of the war began to shift again.