Chapter 183 – The ether in a storm
Aeris took a deep breath.
The flow of air around him began to vibrate, swirling against his skin.
— *You could've used that technique to wake Kronn…* he muttered.
Blackstar rolled his eyes.
— *Did you see the state he left the portal in? If I made a cyclone like that at HQ, Lysandra would lock me in a punishment dimension. A week. Without light.*
Aeris swallowed hard, then readied himself again.
— *Alright… here I go. I can't fail. Blackstar is counting on me.*
Blackstar placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
— *Go on, Aeris. I know you can do it.*
Aeris closed his eyes.
The wind tightened around him, forming a sharp, compressed spiral.
Even Blackstar felt the pressure shift.
✦ **Name of the attack: "Implosive Aerial Spiral"**
**Mechanism**
Aeris violently compresses the air into a cylinder around him.
He releases it all at once: the implosive air creates a double shock, first pulling in, then exploding outward.
Perfect for breaking the defenses of the Storm Warden who manipulates chaotic winds.
Aeris unleashed the technique.
A muffled BOOM erupted.
The Storm Warden was sucked into the center, then hurled backward as if folded by a miniature tornado.
Blackstar whistled in admiration.
— *Not bad at all, Aeris.*
He ruffled Aeris's hair briefly — Aeris turned red as if he'd been sunburned.
— *Come on, let's keep going.*
They walked a few more steps.
— *Blackstar… how many abilities do you actually have?*
— *No idea. All tied to the stars and echoes. I'm still discovering them.*
Aeris looked at him with admiration.
— *I've admired you since my awakening… You know… you're super cool. Handsome. And sometimes I wonder how a human can be that strong.*
Blackstar shrugged softly.
— *You just have to believe. And work like crazy.*
— *Do you think I can make it?*
— *Yes. You've got potential. The rest depends on you.*
Aeris nodded, determined.
— *I'll do my best to reach rank S!*
— *I know you can. Don't let yourself get discouraged—*
He didn't have time to finish: several Storm Wardens appeared around them.
Blackstar smiled, raising Orion and Vesper.
Two echo portals opened: one before him, the other in the sky.
— *Rain of Star Echoes.*
Orion released projectiles of fractured resonance.
Vesper fired stellar shards.
The two streams crossed between the portals, falling like a rain of light that pierced the Storm Wardens from all sides.
Vaporized. Instantly.
Aeris stood speechless.
Blackstar sheathed Vesper and said:
— *Alright. The next one's yours, okay?*
Aeris leapt with joy and ran toward him.
---
Meanwhile…
Kronn crushed another grogolith as if he were smashing a cardboard box.
— *SONG OF HARMONIZATION! PURIFICATION!* shouted Seline.
A luminous wave swept across the area: several grogoliths disintegrated instantly.
Others were drawn toward Kronn, who reduced them to pulp in a monstrous crash.
Chapter 184 – The Primal Nexus
Oris and Kae arrived before the Portal of the Primal Nexus.
The portal looked like an ancient circle… but bodybuilder edition.
A gigantic ring, cracked as if a Titan had tried to use it as a hula‑hoop before giving up.
The meteors orbiting around it rumbled like a cosmic stomach that had overeaten.
The portal's surface rippled, red‑orange, almost liquid.
It looked like… magma that had decided to become a mirror.
Oris puffed out his chest.
— "Alright! Let's go in, Kae. I, the Perfect Support, will assist you."
Kae looked at him without emotion.
— "Just… try not to kill me today, okay?"
— "I'll try. Can't promise."
They stepped inside.
---
**The scenery shifted:**
An immense red expanse, breathing, hot, as if the ground had a soul… and a very bad mood.
Veins of light ran through the rock, pulsing like a giant heart.
Stone islands floated in the air, sometimes colliding like drunken boulders.
Kae looked around.
— "Why does everything float in this dimension? What is gravity here, a paid option?"
Oris replied proudly:
— "I control that. It's my daily life."
— "Oris… you don't even control your volume. Stop."
Oris cleared his throat and pretended to walk with dignity.
---
Cracks formed.
Then massive creatures emerged: the *Primalfiends*.
Bodies of burning rock, eyes like living coals, massive arms ready to smash anything that moved.
Kae exhaled.
— "Cool. Angry rocks."
The Primalfiends charged.
---
The first monster leapt.
Kae simply raised his hand, grabbed its head, and **BAM** slammed it to the ground.
A surge of energy ran up his arm until the creature dissolved into dust.
— "Next."
Another Primalfiend hesitated.
Kae gave it a smile — polite but menacing.
The monster backed away.
Too late.
Kae snapped two fingers:
— "Collapse Beam."
A ray shot from his hand: the monster dispersed into particles.
Another lunged at him.
— "Bad idea."
— "Riftbreaker Pulse!"
An energy blast erased it — and several others behind.
---
Oris's runic tattoos lit up as if his body had been plugged into a universal battery.
— "Impulse Rune… IMPELLI!"
The runes vibrated.
**First Form: Impulse Step**
A flash.
Oris moved instantly, cutting through a monster that collapsed.
**Second Form: Titan Surge**
His fist glowed with immense power.
He struck.
The monster flew high… very high… too high.
Kae followed it with his eyes.
— "…When do you think it'll come back down?"
— "It'll return once it's reconsidered its choices."
Oris dashed again and again, leaving sonic impacts that shook the ground.
---
Kae grabbed a Primalfiend with one hand, like a sack of rice.
The monster trembled.
— "I like when they understand."
He placed two fingers on its chest:
— "Atom Pulse."
The monster literally withdrew from existence.
Only a faint *pop* remained in the air.
Another tried to flee.
Kae narrowed his eyes.
— "Running? Really?"
A simple hand gesture:
— "Energy Sever."
And the creature vanished in a luminous detonation.
---
Oris's runes turned bright, almost white.
— "Careful Kae, I'm using my Fourth Form!"
Kae frowned.
— "NO NO NO, I hate that tone! That's your 'I'm about to erase everything without thinking' tone!"
Oris was already ignoring him.
— "Fourth Form… RUNIC NOVA!"
The runes exploded with light.
A gigantic runic wave blasted in all directions, sweeping the entire zone.
The Primalfiends disintegrated instantly, some without even time to scream.
Kae had leapt to avoid the wave.
But of course…
He was hit full force, thrown ten meters, rolling across the ground.
— "ORIIIIIS!!!"
He stood up, covered in red dust.
— "You're COMPLETELY INSANE!
— You see that I'm careful with my attacks!
— But you want to DEMOLISH me or what?!"
Oris replied with criminal innocence.
— "It was controlled."
Kae threw his arms to the sky.
— "CONTROLLED?!
— I saw my life flash before my eyes!
— And it was awful because it was full of YOU!"
Oris placed a hand on his shoulder.
— "Well… at least you're alive."
Kae dropped his head forward.
— "…I swear when we get out of here, I'm locking you in an anti‑rune circle."
---
The Nexus suddenly vibrated.
A massive rumble echoed.
Kae turned his head.
— "Oh no. It's not over…"
Oris smiled.
— "Perfect. Round 2."
Kae rubbed his forehead.
— "I need a raise.
— A HUGE raise."
Chapter 185 – The Nexus Respects No One
Kae had just finished dusting off the runic debris still clinging to him, while Oris stood with arms crossed, observing the devastated battlefield like an artist admiring his masterpiece.
— "Honestly," said Oris, "we make a great team."
Kae stared at him without blinking.
— "Brother… you almost reduced me to particles. PARTICLES."
— "But you're alive, aren't you?"
— "BECAUSE I'M STRONG! That's not an excuse!"
Oris shrugged, utterly unbothered.
— "It was just a mini Runic Nova."
— "Mini?!" Kae shouted.
— "Yeah, the real one would erase an entire chunk of the Nexus."
— "YOU'RE KEEPING THAT TO YOURSELF, RIGHT?!"
A tremor interrupted their argument.
The magma veins in the ground pulsed faster. The fire orbs in the sky began to gather like angry bees.
Kae looked around.
— "There. I knew it."
— "What?" asked Oris.
— "When the scenery starts breathing… that's a bad sign."
The ground cracked.
A monstrous heat rose.
A roar surged from the bowels of the Nexus, like a volcano rudely awakened.
Then… something emerged from the ground.
---
A colossal creature burst from the magma, towering like a building.
Its skin was made of living rock, molten metal, and veins glowing like ancient circuits.
Its eyes were two miniature suns, burning with white light.
Kae stepped back slightly.
— "Ah. Wonderful."
— "What's that?" asked Oris.
— "A Primordial Guardian."
— "Is it strong?"
— "Depends."
The Guardian roared, its heat bending the stones around it.
Kae added:
— "…Okay, no. This one's strong."
Oris cracked his fingers.
— "We share?"
— "Yes. But if you pull another area‑wipe attack, I'll absorb you and spit you out at him like a giant bullet."
— "Threat noted," Oris replied with a smile.
---
— "Before we fight," said Kae, "explain your rune thing."
— "Why do you want to know now?"
— "For the readers."
— "Ah, just for that? Fine."
Oris sighed.
— "A rune is writing that lets me either modify my own body or alter the world around me. Basically, I write little lines of reality."
— "Stylish," admitted Kae.
Oris showed his tattoos.
— "These are passive runes. They're always active. They give me:
immense reflexes
perfect precision
mental resilience
immunity to illusions
advanced runic perception
energy that never scatters"
— "So you've got cheat mode built in," said Kae.
— "Exactly."
"My rune techniques are divided into six families:
— Anchor Runes — *ARCHA‑ANCHORA*
— Impulse Runes — *IMPULSOR*
— Form Runes — *MORPHÆ*
— Flow Runes — *FLUENTIS*
— Perception Runes — *OCULÆX*
— Inversion Runes — *REVERTA*
Each family has its own moves or forms.
And there are derivatives like deviation, assault, amplification…
And that's just the BASE. I can also write rules into the environment, like: 'Here, no one uses powers.'"
— "Man, you're playing God in draft mode," said Kae.
— "A little."
— "And you?" asked Oris.
— "I manipulate energy. Any energy, no matter its physical, vital, elemental, or magical nature… If it exists, I can absorb it, compress it, solidify it, release it, reduce it to atoms…"
— "Yeah, I know. Had to explain it for the readers."
— "Ah, okay, fair."
---
The Guardian slammed the ground. A gigantic shockwave erupted.
Kae moved in a flash.
— "Too slow, big rock."
He condensed energy in his arm, then leapt and unleashed his technique:
— "Astral Breaker Fist!"
(a solid blast of condensed energy)
The Guardian blocked, its arm pulverized… then instantly regenerated, liquid like magma.
Oris whistled.
— "Stylish."
His runes flared at once.
— "Rune of Impression… Rune of Assault… Rune of Deviation…"
The tattoos almost burned.
— "Third Form… Runic Vortex Drive!"
Oris leapt, spun, and struck the Guardian square in the chest.
The creature staggered, the ground beneath it cracking like glass.
— "SEE?!" Oris shouted. "I CAN control my power!"
A second later, the Guardian slammed its fists together.
A fiery explosion engulfed them.
Kae shouted:
— "ORIS! BEHIND—"
— "Too late."
Oris was hurled into a wall.
He slid down slowly… like a badly taped poster.
— "You okay?" asked Kae.
— "Yeah… the wall betrayed me."
— "You threw yourself into it."
— "Yes, but it didn't dodge either."
The Guardian charged a magma laser in its throat.
Kae extended his hand and absorbed it instantly.
— "Thanks, I was hungry," he said.
---
**Oris's Combo**
Oris raised his runic hand.
— "Combination of Impulse Step and Titan Surge…
— *IMPULSOR • TITAN CRASH!*"
(instant dash + superpowered strike)
Oris reappeared before the Guardian.
Impact.
A monstrous shockwave swept across the Nexus.
The floating rocks trembled.
Oris landed back, smiling:
— "Oho? He blocked. Interesting."
---
**Kae's Turn**
Kae concentrated several dense energy spheres around him.
— "Alright… my turn."
He gestured.
— "Quantum Burst Mines!"
(spheres that track the target and explode in sequence)
The spheres rushed at the Guardian, encircled it, then detonated in white light.
**BOOM.**
The Nexus shook.
Oris narrowed his eyes.
— "Looks like you got him…"
The smoke cleared slowly.
A silhouette appeared…
— "Kae," said Oris.
— "Yeah?"
— "…He's not dead."
— "Ah. Great."
Oris smiled, ready to go again.
— "Alright, round two?"
— "Round two."
Chapter 186 – The Guardian Goes Human Pro Max Mode
After the explosion, a silhouette slowly emerged from the smoke.
A humanoid figure, tall and lean, with flaming orange hair tied in a ponytail.
His red eyebrows and lashes seemed to crackle themselves, and his eyes… two miniature suns.
The Guardian's true form.
A shiver ran through the two hunters.
Oris burst out laughing:
— "Bro… he just did a shōnen transformation. All that's missing is the eye zoom."
Kae nodded.
— "And the dramatic music."
The Guardian literally tore off the cooled rock and lava covering his face, revealing a human visage—too perfect, too incandescent.
Then he spoke, in a deep, resonant voice:
— "You two, humans… what brings you into my master's domain?"
Oris smiled with the serenity of a man who has no sense of danger:
— "We're here to eradicate this dungeon. Isn't it obvious?"
Kae slowly turned his head toward him, with a look that clearly said:
*"Why are you like this? It's a Guardian, at least be diplomatic for 0.8 seconds."*
Oris answered out loud:
— "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. But I don't care. Let's see if he can stop us from closing this portal."
Kae:
— "…You're hopeless."
The Guardian narrowed his eyes, as if trying to gauge their strength.
— "Arrogant mortals… just because you possess powers doesn't mean you can hope to measure up to us."
— "Shut up," replied Oris.
"You talk too much. You're the ones endangering the world with your outbreaks, and then you act shocked when we come to close your portal? That's insane."
The Guardian growled, then vanished in a spark of orange light.
In an instant, he reappeared before Oris and swung a sharp sword strike.
Kae intercepted the attack, materializing a blade of pure energy.
— "Surprise, buddy," Kae grinned.
Then Oris raised a hand, writing a runic glyph in the air:
— "Rune of Inversion: *Gravitas Spiræ*!
(Crush to the ground, Mr. Guardian—classier version.)"
The Guardian was immediately slammed to the floor with cosmic violence.
Oris quickly followed with another glyph:
— "*Ascensus Tempestæ*!
(Now fly.)"
The Guardian was hurled so high he vanished into the flames of the ceiling.
Then plummeted back down at ridiculous speed.
Then shot upward again.
Then fell again.
Kae and Oris were doubled over laughing.
Kae:
— "Bro, he's literally playing human yo‑yo!"
Oris:
— "NexusBall Extreme!"
**BOOM!** The Guardian crashed one last time, cracking the floor into a star pattern.
But suddenly…
Several invisible slashes ripped through the air and struck both hunters.
Kae leapt, blocking most of the attacks with his energy blade.
Oris instantly wrote:
— "*Bulwark Sigillum.*"
A gigantic runic shield appeared just in time to block the rest.
— "Kae," Oris shouted, "don't tell me you're about to launch your Zero Field!"
— "And why not?"
— "Because you'll drain ME too, idiot!"
Kae sighed, abandoning the idea.
Oris lifted his quill, which liquefied, reforming into metal.
— "Rune of Form: *MORPHÆ* — Second Form: Transmutation!"
The quill became an ancient sword covered in glowing inscriptions.
Runic flames wrapped around it, warping the air.
The Guardian materialized a new sword, larger, sharper, hotter than lava itself.
Oris declared:
— "Impulse Step… plus Titan Surge…"
— "That's gonna hurt him," Kae muttered.
— "*Astra‑Drive Impact!*" Oris roared.
He vanished and reappeared before the Guardian instantly.
Their swords clashed in an impact so powerful the entire Primal Nexus dilated for a moment.
Oris, proud:
— "SEE? He blocked my boosted strike. He's interesting, this one."
The Guardian pivoted in a flash, knocking Oris back with a backhand, then simultaneously blocking Kae's energy blade.
Both were thrown back, but immediately returned.
The three figures launched into an impossible speed battle—energy blades against flame blades, sparks flying everywhere.
Kae summoned several violet energy orbs around him.
— "Let's test something new."
The orbs fired converging beams in rapid bursts:
— "*Vortex Beam Array!*"
The Guardian swept everything aside with a vertical slash, creating a wave of heat that forced the hunters back several meters.
Oris:
— "Alright then, Mr. Solid."
Kae:
— "I'm telling you, he's a hidden DLC final boss."
Oris:
— "We'll break him just the same."
Kae:
— "Of course."
They charged again.