Time seemed to freeze in the ashen plains of the Crimson Caldera. In front of them, the leader of the Blazing Sun Sect burned with the fire of pure vengeance. Behind them, the shadow of the Alpha Cinder-Hound loomed like a mountain, its ember-like eyes narrowing as it chose between its prey. The very ground around them was a boiling trap. They were cornered.
"What do we do?" Ci Ying whispered, her voice for the first time holding a note of hopelessness. "We can't fight them both."
"We won't," Jian Ming replied instantly. His eyes closed for a second as his mind calculated a thousand possibilities. When he opened them, they shone with the light of mad genius. He laid out the plan in a quick, hushed voice. "The monster isn't our enemy. It's our weapon. But it's going to cost you, Bu He. You'll pay the heaviest price."
Bu He, feeling the familiar, gnawing hunger in his chest, simply nodded. "Tell me."
"The beast's rage is primal," Jian Ming explained. "It will be drawn to the strongest, most provocative Leyna signature. That's you. You will provoke it. Draw all of its attention. The Blazing Sun Sect will think the beast is going to eliminate you for them, and they'll attack us. In that moment, when the beast is closest to them, you disappear."
It was an insane gamble. It required Bu He to use the monster within to provoke the monster without.
"Do it," Bu He said, without hesitation.
The leader of the Blazing Sun Sect roared, "Say your last prayers, heretics!" and moved to attack.
But Bu He was faster. He took a deep breath and, with an act of will, threw open the floodgates of his Blood Core. A wave of raw, primal, and incredibly arrogant Leyna energy radiated from his body. This was more than just power; it was a challenge. His eyes burned with that dangerous red light, and he looked directly at the Alpha Cinder-Hound.
"I'm here, beast!" he yelled. "Come and get me!"
GRRAAAAAAARRR!
The Alpha Hound's roar shook the earth and sky. The beast, which had been considering the Blazing Sun Sect a threat, now focused all of its rage on a single target: the unbearably pure and defiant energy that Bu He was emitting.
"Fool!" the Blazing Sun leader laughed. "He's sealed his own fate! Finish the others!"
The Alpha Hound, kicking up clouds of ash with its four paws, charged towards Bu He like an avalanche of lava. Bu He stood his ground, feeling the beast's searing breath on his face. The hunger within him screamed in resonance with this primal rage from without.
Just as the hound was about to leap upon him, in that final split second, Bu He unleashed all the power in his legs. With a Traceless Burst, he launched himself not forward or backward, but straight over the beast. He somersaulted through the air, landing directly behind it. The moment his feet touched the ground, he slammed his heel down with all his might.
BOOM!
The impact, like a localized earthquake, shook the unstable ash field. A massive cloud of dust and hot ash erupted, instantly reducing visibility to zero.
The Alpha Hound roared in fury at having lost its target and been tricked. In the blinding cloud of ash, it turned to the nearest threat: the Blazing Sun Sect, who were just about to launch their own attack.
Chaos erupted. The beast's claws and fiery breath began to tear through the unprepared sect members. Their arrogant fire arts were useless against the pure, primal rage of this massive beast.
"Retreat! Retreat!" their leader screamed, but it was too late. Their weapon had been turned against them.
"Now!" Jian Ming commanded. In the chaos, he began to guide his team along the safe path he had charted earlier.
As they escaped, an explosion from the apocalyptic battle between the hound and the sect destroyed a smaller Fire Elemental nearby. The third Volcanic Heart, thrown from the creature's chest, sailed through the air in a glowing arc and landed on a pile of ash.
"There!" Lian Hua pointed, her sharp senses catching that small signature of energy.
Ci Ying, with a final scrap of energy, extended her hand. A whip of flame shot out, snagged the heart, and pulled it back. They had the third heart.
When they reached the edge of the ash fields, on solid ground, they looked back at the hellscape behind them. They had done it. They had escaped an impossible situation with all three hearts and their lives.
But the price had been heavy.
Bu He collapsed to one knee, his hand clutching his chest. Using his Blood Core as bait had pushed the hunger inside him to an uncontrollable level. His vision was blurring. The war outside was over, but the war within was just beginning.
As Ci Ying and Lian Hua cried his name and rushed to his side, the last things he was aware of were the distant sounds of battle, and the savage, hungry roar of his own heart.