Caelum's eyes narrowed. "Master… someone is coming … was he tailing us since we left?"
Sainm gave a quiet nod, his gaze scanning the dense forest around them. "Yes. I hoped we'd lose him along the way, but I didn't expect him to catch up so soon."
"What do we do now?" Caelum asked, tension rising in his voice.
"We fight," Sainm said calmly, gripping his staff.
Just then, a voice echoed through the trees smooth, mocking, and dangerously familiar.
"Well, well… look who it is. Still alive, old man?"
A tall figure emerged from the shadows, draped in dark robes, his grin sharp and twisted. Caelum instinctively stepped back as the man's presence filled the air with dread.
"It's been a while," the man said with mock warmth. "Good to see you again, Sainm."
Sainm stared silently, his expression unreadable.
"Hmph. You don't look happy to see me," the stranger chuckled. "Still bitter after all these years?"
Sainm's voice was cold. "Why are you here, Meonar?"
"Why?" Meonar ran a hand through his hair, flashing a devilish smile. "Oh, just a little unfinished business."
He tugged his cloak aside, revealing a jagged scar etched across his chest.
"You gave me this," he hissed. "And now I'm here to return the favor by killing that boy… and staining your legacy in blood."
"Don't you think you owe me some payback, Sainm?" Meonar sneered, stepping closer with a cruel grin.
Sainm's eyes darkened. "I don't know who sent you, but this boy is under my protection. I won't let you harm him."
Meonar laughed, low and menacing. "Sainm, you've grown old and weak.
Do you really think you can stand against me? I'm an assassin of the Black Saints."
Sainm's voice rose with fierce determination. "Maybe I've aged, but don't forget who I am, fool!"
Sainm raised his arm, his palm igniting with a swirling vortex of flames.
The fire roared to life, condensing into a massive fireball laced with golden-orange energy. It pulsed with raw power an aura so intense it made the very air around them tremble.
Caelum could feel the heat from where he stood, sweat dripping down his brow.
The energy in that spell… it felt like it could erase the entire forest in a single breath.
"Burn, Meonar!" Sainm roared, and with a sharp flick of his arm, the (Tier 5) fireball hurtled forward like a meteor.
Meonar's eyes widened, and for the first time, his smirk faltered. Shadows surged around him in desperation, forming a thick dome of darkness to shield him.
The fireball struck an earth-shattering explosion lighting up the night as flames surged outward, scorching trees and cracking the ground beneath.
Smoke billowed. The air was thick with ash and heat.
Caelum shielded his face from the blast, heart pounding. That… was magic? That's the power of a real mage?
As the smoke cleared, Sainm stood tall, his cloak fluttering in the wind, his eyes locked on the scorched crater where Meonar once stood.
Then through the smoke came a cough… and a voice.
"You really haven't lost your touch, old man… but you'll need more than that to kill me."
Meonar groaned, staggering out from the smoke with a twisted smile.
His cloak was singed, and a faint scar across his chest glowed ominously.
He let out a devilish laugh, the kind that made Caelum's blood run cold. "You know… this is getting interesting."
Dark energy began to pulse from his body thick, black tendrils crawling up his arm as he summoned his blade.
It wasn't made of steel, but pure shadow, a weapon forged from dark elemental power.
The air around him warped, the aura pressing down like a suffocating fog.
"Now, old man let's see how long you can last!" Meonar roared.
With a surge of black light, he lunged toward Sainm, his blade tearing through the air like a bolt of shadow lightning.
Sainm's eyes sharpened. In one motion, he stepped forward, stomping the ground.
Boom.
A gravity pulse exploded beneath Meonar, warping the space around him. The ground cracked, trees bent, and Meonar's body staggered mid-lunge, his momentum thrown off.
"You'll need more than shadows to catch me off guard," Sainm growled, raising his staff.
A spiral of (Tier 7)flames and gravitational force whirled around him like a storm, blazing hot and impossibly heavy.
"You can't break free from my gravitational seal, Meonar," Sainm said, voice firm as the air around them twisted under the pressure of his magic. "You're already caught."
But Meonar only grinned.
"Who said I can't?" he snarled.
A pulse of dark energy erupted from his core BOOM! a shockwave so violent it tore through the trees like paper. Caelum was thrown off his feet, hitting the ground hard with a grunt.
The air buzzed with raw, oppressive power.
Meonar stepped forward through the collapsing gravity field, his eyes burning with malice. "Now, old man... what were you saying again?" His smirk widened. "You can't beat me anymore. You know that, don't you?"
Sainm gritted his teeth, his hands tightening around his staff.
Meonar's voice dropped into a venomous whisper.
"Because your heart... is slowly being consumed. Ever since the day you used that spell against the Sin of Pride himself, Lucel."
Sainm's eyes widened slightly but just for a second.
"You think I don't feel it?" Meonar hissed. "The corrosion. The curse of Lucel's war still eats at you... every time you draw on that power."
"Let me show you how far I've come!" Meonar roared, thrusting his hand forward. A dark vortex swirled around his palm, growing wider, deeper its center spiraling like the mouth of a beast.
"Darkness Hunger!"
The spell exploded outward a wave of pitch-black energy that seemed to devour even light itself. The ground split and the air turned cold as shadows surged like a living tide.
Sainm tried to shift his weight, to counter
But he was a second too slow.
BOOM!
The darkness crashed into him like a tidal wave, shredding his defenses. A shock of pain tore through his ribs as the spell hit its mark, throwing him back with brutal force.
"Master!" Caelum shouted, eyes wide in panic.
Sainm slammed into the ground, coughing as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. His cloak was torn, the forest scorched around them.
Meonar slowly stepped forward, his blade dragging beside him, aura flaring like a demon basking in cruelty.
"You're slower, weaker... dying," Meonar hissed. "That curse is crawling inside you, and now... I'll finish what Lucel couldn't."
But even on the ground, Sainm smirked through the pain.
"Then... you still underestimate me, fool."
Meonar raised his blade, stepping closer, confident and cruel.
Sainm whispered, "Now."
Suddenly CRACK!
The ground beneath Meonar's feet pulsed with light runes hidden deep in the soil ignited in a flash of crimson. A trap spell!
BOOM!
An explosion tore through the earth, engulfing the area in a roaring blast of heat and debris. Trees cracked, dust filled the air, and flames danced in the clearing like wild spirits.
Caelum shielded his eyes, stunned. "W-What was that!?"
But through the smoke... a shadow moved.
Meonar emerged, cloak scorched, a gash bleeding down his arm he'd dodged, but not fast enough.
He wiped the blood with a smirk, eyes glowing with malice.
"So you did prepare a little trick, old man..."
Sainm stood slowly, wounded but grinning.
"I laid that trap the moment we made camp. You've gotten faster, Meonar... but your arrogance hasn't changed."
Meonar laughed, dark energy surging again.
"This is going to be fun after all."
Sanim coughed out blood, staggering.
"Caelum… leave me. We can't beat him."
"No, Master!" Caelum shouted, eyes blazing. "I won't leave you!"
Meonar's laughter echoed in the burning woods. "How touching."
Caelum turned desperately. "Don't you have any other spell?! Something anything?!"
Sanim gave a weak chuckle. "You really are like your grandfather… stubborn fool."
"I have one," he admitted, "but it takes time to charge… too long, maybe."
Caelum stepped forward, gripping his sword tightly, fists trembling.
"Then I'll buy you that time… no matter what!"
Sanim's eyes softened for a moment just a moment and he saw a flicker of the past… a young boy standing just like that, proud and foolish, his late student Azrael caelym .
"You're just like him…" he muttered. Then raised his voice:
"Don't you dare die, boy."
Caelum smirked, heart racing.
"Of course not, Master. I'm going to become stronger… strong enough to protect the people I care about!"
The wind howled, dust still dancing from the explosion.
Sanim stood behind, chanting his ancient spell pulsing in the air, each word demanding more from his fading strength.
Caelum stepped forward, sword in hand, legs trembling.
"…Hey, dark freak," he said, voice hoarse, "how about playing with me for a bit?"
Meonar turned, face twisted in amusement. "You? I could crush you like an ant."
"I know." Caelum forced a smirk, even as his body begged him to stop. "But you're not laying a finger on my master. Not while I'm standing."
Meonar vanished in a blur.
WHAM!
A flash of black slammed into Caelum, launching him across the clearing. He hit a tree with a sickening crack.
"Gah !" he coughed, blood spraying from his mouth.
But he stood.
Staggered. Shaking. But upright.
Meonar's smirk faded slightly. "Persistent brat."
Another hit. Then another.
Caelum fell, again and again each time slower, bloodier.
His body screamed at him to stay down.
But then...
A memory sparked.
His grandfather's hand on his shoulder, saying:
"One day, you'll get stronger. But strength means protecting the weak."
The day he looked up at the stars and whispered,
"I'll become the strongest..."
And Sanim's smile just a few days ago:
"You remind me of him… That fire in your eyes."
Caelum clenched his jaw. The pain didn't vanish but his resolve roared louder.
He forced his battered body to rise.
"…I promised," he muttered. "Promised I'd become the strongest…"
He glared at Meonar through blurry eyes.
"So if this is all I can do now then I'll give it everything!"
He rushed again desperate, reckless.
Meonar sighed. "You're a fool."
CRASH!
Another blow.
Caelum slid across the dirt, unmoving for a moment.
Then…
He laughed.
A weak, cracked, insane laugh.
"You hit like a spoiled demon princess…"
Meonar scowled. "You're insane."
"Nope," Caelum wheezed, gripping his sword as he dragged himself up again. "Just really annoying."
Behind him, the ancient spell ignited in the sky Sanim's voice peaking.
"Good work, Caelum…" Sainm muttered under his breath, eyes narrowed as ancient runes began to glow beneath his feet.
The winds stilled. The air thickened.
Caelum, bruised and barely standing, turned his head. "Master…?"
Sainm raised his arm, the markings across his skin igniting with golden fire. The trees around them trembled, and even Meonar paused, sensing the shift.
"Let me show you… a spell long forgotten by time itself," Sanim declared, his voice echoing like thunder.
A circle of ethereal light erupted beneath him Ancient Magic (Tier 10): Astralis Dominion.
Meonar's eyes widened. "You… you're using that?!"
The sky cracked open, and a celestial pillar of light struck down from above, engulfing the battlefield. Meonar tried to leap away but the light followed, chaining itself to his very shadow.
"W-what is this…?" he snarled.
"An ancient curse… born from the heavens," Sanim said coldly. "It hides you from the world, Meonar. You'll become nothing but silence. No light, no sound… not even death will know where you are."
The light expanded, wrapping around Meonar like glowing chains.
"Astralis Dominion the magic of eternal exile."
Meonar screamed in rage, but his voice was swallowed by the divine light.
Then BOOM!
A blinding flash exploded outward, shaking the land for miles. Caelum fell to one knee, shielding his eyes.
When the light faded…
The forest was silent. And Meonar… was gone.
But Sanim had collapsed.
"Master!!" Caelum yelled, rushing to him.
Just as Caelum struggled to lift Sanim's unconscious body, the ground trembled slightly hoofbeats.
From the shadows of the trees emerged a hooded figure on a large beast that looked like a cross between a stag and a wolf. The rider dismounted swiftly, his cloak bearing the emblem of a flaming leaf. His silver eyes scanned the battlefield.
"A spell of Astralis Dominion… I haven't seen that in decades," the man muttered, impressed.
Caelum raised his sword weakly. "Who… are you?"
The stranger raised both hands in peace. "I mean no harm. Name's Vulkager, a Passager from the High Trails. I was traveling through the border when I saw the light."
He walked over and inspected Sainm carefully.
"This old man's in rough shape… whatever he unleashed took a toll on his core," Vulkager said. Then glanced at Caelum's wounds. "And you're no better, boy."
Caelum collapsed forward, finally giving in to exhaustion. "Just… save him."
Vulkager nodded, whistling sharply. Two more beasts stepped out from the forest sleek, armored mounts.
"I'll take you both to my camp. You're lucky. The Spirits must still favor you."
As they rode off into the misty forest, Caelum lost consciousness.