Chapter 188 – Twig or Not, It Cuts
The three clashed in every direction, their silhouettes becoming almost streaks of light.
Oris struck with his sword covered in ancient inscriptions, still wrapped in runic flames burning in an unreal color.
Kae wielded his condensed energy blade with surgical precision.
And in the middle, the Primordial Guardian — humanoid form, fire‑hair, twin swords of cooled magma — blocked absolutely everything, as if they were trying to slice a mountain.
With a cross‑shaped motion, the Guardian swept them away with a single strike of his two blades.
Oris slid catastrophically for fifteen meters, hand on the ground to brake.
— "I swear it's the floor that's too slippery, not me!" he shouted.
Kae planted his blade into the ground, tearing a long trail of burning rock behind him before stopping.
— "You're just bad," he said calmly.
— "Screw you," Oris replied.
The two exchanged a nod.
— "With me, Kae."
They charged together.
From right, from left, from above, below, diagonal, rotation, combo — every possible angle of attack was used.
The Guardian, arms crossed then blades open, parried everything, unshaken.
Then Oris wrote a glyph with his sword, the air vibrating:
— "Rune of Injunction: CRUSH."
The floating symbol locked onto the Guardian.
**BOOOOM.**
The titan was slammed to the ground as if a planet had fallen on him.
While the Guardian was literally eating the floor, Kae had already dissipated his energy blade.
He focused.
The air around his hand turned white.
The white became blue.
The blue became pure plasma.
— "Alright… here's a gift. PHOTON BURST!" (stylish name)
A mass of compressed plasma struck the Guardian, causing an explosion so bright Oris had to shield his eyes.
— "AAH MY RETINAS! KAEEE! DO YOU HAVE A FLASHLIGHT MODE OR WHAT?!"
The light faded.
The Guardian rose slowly… then swung his two swords in a circular arc.
**WOUM.**
A gigantic shockwave swept across the entire zone.
Oris managed to create a runic shield just in time.
He was knocked back like a ball, but remained intact.
Beside him, Kae, disheveled, stood back up.
— "Tell me something, Oris."
— "Hm?"
— "Earlier, when I used Zero Field, you said I risked draining you.
But TWO SECONDS before, you bragged that thanks to your passive runes you're immune to energy drains and your flow can't even leak out of your body."
Oris blinked.
— "…Oh yeah. I forgot."
Kae looked at him as if Oris had just confessed he breathed through his toes.
— "You really sound like you're messing with me."
— "Me? Never. You're exaggerating.
Look instead: I transformed my quill — my main catalyst — into a sword. Watch."
The flames around the sword slowly extinguished.
The ancient inscriptions on the blade lit up… then changed… morphed… twisted as if searching for a new form.
— "Runic Transmutation…" Oris whispered.
The Guardian frowned.
— "What's that clown preparing now?"
Oris raised the weapon proudly.
— "This, dear Kae… is what I call art."
The blade unfolded, segmented, then recomposed into a new form:
**New weapon form:**
A long, slender, elegant sword, its blade forged in semi‑transparent metal streaked with moving constellations.
The edge pulsed like a star's heart, and the guard was surrounded by fine floating runic lines, like satellites.
The whole thing looked as if the sword only half‑existed in reality.
Kae exhaled.
— "Okay… that's stylish."
The Guardian sneered.
— "Don't get ideas just because you've got… a cosmic twig in your hands."
Oris flicked his wrist.
The "twig" absorbed all ambient mana like a vortex.
— "Not bad, huh?"
He slashed several quick cuts in the air, leaving trails of stars behind.
The cuts formed a six‑pointed star.
— "DECIMA ASTRALIS!"
The six lines began to spin, accelerating like a dimensional saw.
Then — **SHRRRRRRR** —
they shredded the Guardian from all sides, carving scars of light into his body.
Oris raised the sword.
— "And now… Stellar Explosion."
The astral structure imploded.
Then exploded.
A pillar of cosmic light engulfed the Guardian and illuminated the entire Primal Nexus.
Kae raised his arms to shield his eyes.
— "COULD YOU WARN ME BEFORE LAUNCHING SUPERNOVAS, YOU IDIOT?!"
Oris smiled, proud of himself.
— "Relax. It's a little hot, but it gives you a tan."
Chapter 189 – When the Guardian Decides to Go Legendary DLC Mode
After Oris's cataclysmic explosion, a strange silence filled the Primal Nexus.
The smoke settled… slowly… very slowly… as if even it wanted to see the result.
At the center of the crater, only the Guardian's torso remained.
No arms.
No legs.
Just a busted figurine lying on the ground.
Oris placed his hands on his hips.
— "Honestly, he's solid."
— "SOLID?" Kae repeated. "Oris, you turned him into incomplete IKEA furniture."
The two turned forward, already ready to leave.
— "Well," said Oris.
— "Yeah?"
— "All that's left is his master. Then we close the portal."
— "Perfect. Let's—"
They stopped.
A shiver ran down their spines.
Not a small shiver.
A shiver at the level of *"your soul just caught a polar chill."*
They turned back slowly.
The Guardian's torso… was lifting its head.
— "…Oris?" said Kae.
— "Wait, how's he doing that without a neck?"
A colossal aura burst around the Guardian.
His arms regrew in incandescent red light.
His legs reformed with the sound of magma.
Luminous fissures spread across his skin as if living lava flowed beneath.
Then the Guardian opened his eyes.
— "Glad to see you underestimated me."
Oris waved a hand.
— "I'd say we were just too optimistic."
The Guardian raised his two swords.
They ignited… but not in any normal way.
Not red, not blue, not white flames.
An impossible flame.
The color of emptiness.
The color of a dead sun.
The color of *"this should never have existed."*
The Guardian declared calmly:
— "This flame burns at 4,000 billion degrees."
— "Huh?" said Oris.
— "Bro don't repeat that like it's normal," said Kae.
The Guardian made a simple backhand slash.
A wave passed.
A flash.
And half of the Primal Nexus was… erased.
Not vaporized.
Not burned.
Just… deleted. As if the scenery had pressed "delete."
Oris was sweating.
— "Alright. That's officially dangerous."
— "Officially?!" Kae repeated. "We're way past unofficial levels here!"
The Guardian calmly raised his swords.
— "Know that everything that follows… is your fault."
Oris took a deep breath.
— "All that's left is to…"
— "To what?" asked Kae, energy blade ready.
Oris turned on his heels and started running.
— "TO RUN AWAAAAY!!"
— "ORIS?!" Kae shouted.
— "I'm young! I have a life! I have dreams! Let me live!"
Kae blocked Oris with one hand, still in shock.
— "I have to stop him from leaving here… or the civilians…"
Oris reappeared beside him, levitating, looking serious… until he materialized an apple.
He bit into it casually.
— "I was joking. You know me."
He tossed the apple.
— "Here. Might be our last snack."
Kae caught the apple.
— "Why not… if this is our last fight…"
The two stood side by side.
Oris raised his sword, the ancient inscriptions glowing.
Kae vibrated his energy blade, sparks running along his arm.
The Guardian looked at them with the contempt of a divine king.
— "Arrogant fools… you think you stand a chance against me?"
Oris gave him an insufferably confident smile.
Kae added:
— "I don't know if you're suicidal… or just lost…"
A roar shook the entire Nexus.
The three forces prepared.
The tension rose.
Then Oris exhaled softly:
— "Kae."
— "Yeah?"
— "If I die…"
— "You're not going to die."
— "No, but just saying… I'm taking your last cookie from your room."
Kae inhaled deeply.
— "You're absolute trash sometimes."
Chapter 190 – Last Meal Before Chaos
Oris raised a hand toward the Guardian, as if to say *pause, bro.*
— "Guardian… wait. We're going to have one last meal, just to make sure we die with full stomachs. I don't fight on an empty belly."
Before Kae could even comment, Oris traced a series of runic symbols in the air — either very complex or very stupid, hard to tell.
A **ROYAL BANQUET THRONE**, XXL version, appeared as if it were perfectly normal.
A gigantic carved table, styled like *'King of kingdoms who overpays his decorator.'*
Then two massive chairs appeared, as if Oris had taken imperial banquet models and set them to *plus 200% mode.*
Next, more symbols lit up, and suddenly: **COMPLETE BUFFET.**
— "Roast chicken," said Oris, snapping his fingers.
**POOF,** a chicken practically glowing.
— "Smoked meats."
— "Royal stew."
— "Imperial rice."
— "Astral pies… I don't even know why that exists but here it is."
— "And dessert… there."
The table was so full that even Kae was left speechless.
— "Sit down, Kae," said Oris.
The two sat as if it were just a normal Sunday.
The Guardian, meanwhile, froze.
— "What… are all… these… things?"
Oris snapped his fingers again, conjuring a third chair.
— "Want to eat? Come. We'll share the meal."
The Guardian hesitated. Then… sat.
He took a piece of chicken. A golden smoke escaped.
He tasted it.
Silence.
Then his blazing eyes widened.
— "IT'S… IT'S… IT'S… DELICIOUS!"
Kae smiled:
— "He looks like a kid tasting his first candy."
The Guardian then attacked a plate of stew, then rice, then a pie.
— "By my master… humans have created the only thing capable of rivaling destruction: cuisine!"
Oris thumped his chest:
— "Of course. The chef is me."
Kae raised a hand:
— "Lie. I saw you fail instant noodles."
— "That was a trap," Oris replied. "The packet was rigged."
They ate.
They talked.
They even laughed.
At one point, Kae asked:
— "By the way, you got a name, big burn?"
The Guardian straightened proudly:
— "I am Agniryos, Guardian of the Original Furnace."
Oris muttered:
— "Too long… I'll call you Agni."
— "NO."
— "Too late, Agni."
They eventually finished the meal.
Oris snapped his fingers, making the table vanish.
Kae rolled his shoulders:
— "Alright. The fight can resume."
Agniryos placed his hand on a flaming sword:
— "Do not think that because you offered me these dishes… I will spare you."
Kae:
— "Good. We weren't planning to leave you here anyway. The portal must be closed."
Oris added:
— "Otherwise you and the monsters would eventually threaten civilians. We don't let that happen."
Then, calmly, Oris ran a hand along his blade.
The ancient runes on the sword lit up, changing script as if the weapon was finding a new language.
He looked at Kae.
— "Can you handle the power of his sword?"
— "Even if we die," said Kae, tightening his grip, "we'll do it with dignity."
Oris sighed.
— "I'd have preferred 'we'll do it quickly.'"
Agniryos intensified his flames.
The temperature rose so high that even the light vibrated.
— "Come, Hunters. Let your final battle be… incandescent."
The three figures faced each other.
The ground trembled.
The runes glowed.
Energy crackled.
And in a silence almost sacred…
Chaos resumed.
Chapter 191 – The Duel That Should Have Stayed Illegal
Kae and Oris stood facing the Primordial Guardian.
Or rather… facing Agniryos, now that he had given his name during the improvised royal banquet (sadly without dessert—Kae still wanted more).
Oris exhaled, gripping his sword, ready to leap.
Kae, more serious:
— "Be careful. His sword is coated in a flame that burns at 4,000 billion degrees. And these aren't normal flames: even our natural immunities are useless."
Oris raised his hand.
— "As we saw earlier… he vaporized half the Primal Nexus with a single sword swing. Bro, that's… that's insane. It's absurd. Broken even. Who does that??!"
Kae:
— "Watch your language and, ABOVE ALL, your life. You're too reckless."
Oris:
— "Relax. I've got a plan."
Kae:
— "Your last 'plan' almost turned me into a QR code."
Oris pretended not to hear and wrote several glyphs in the air.
Colossal swords appeared around him, gigantic, luminous, menacing.
He extended his arm toward Agniryos.
— "Dance of a Thousand Blades, version 'you're normally dead.'"
The swords charged.
Agniryos lazily raised his own.
**Fshhhhhh—**
Everything was vaporized.
Not destroyed.
Not shattered.
Vaporized.
As if it had never existed.
Oris, mouth half‑open:
— "…That's… that's hacking. He activated mods. I object."
Kae didn't have time to laugh.
Agniryos vanished.
— "Oris!!" Kae shouted.
Oris looked right. Nothing.
Left. Nothing.
Ahead—
**BOOM!**
Agniryos was suddenly upon him at a speed clearly not taught in normal schools, bringing down his cosmic flame sword.
Oris blocked, but the impact triggered a gigantic detonation.
A shockwave that shook the entire Nexus.
Propelled, Oris flipped involuntarily several times before crashing down.
He spat blood.
— "Bro… if I hadn't activated Rune of Persistent Existence, I'd have been WIPED from the timeline. Like deleted from the database. (Too lazy to disappear just because some guy burns too hard.)"
He smiled. His runes lit up.
— "Alright… runic regeneration. There. Handsome again."
Kae had already charged.
Energy blade in hand, he slashed the air—
**KRAAAAAAASH!**
A gigantic explosion resounded as their weapons clashed.
The strikes came so fast they became a living strobe light.
With each impact, Kae absorbed a bit of the Guardian's energy.
Agniryos, annoyed, finally grabbed him by the face and slammed him to the ground like a deflated ball.
— "KAE!" Oris shouted.
He leapt and wrote a complex runic circle that spewed a torrent of infernal flames, forcing Agniryos to step back.
(A tiny step, but still a step. That's a victory.)
Oris, already on him, unleashed monstrous blows.
Then, in a reckless move, he grabbed the Guardian's cosmic flaming blade directly.
He spat a geyser of blood.
— "I'M IN PAIN BUT I'M ACTING TOUGH!" he screamed.
He then traced a tight glyph:
— "Lightning Seal — 'Wrap around him and squeeze tight, thanks.'"
Runic chains coiled around Agniryos.
Oris jumped back, panting.
— "Your turn, Kae…"
He gave him a little thumbs‑up.
— "Careful, okay… I like you… well, sort of… anyway, you get me."
Kae wiped the blood from his face, cracked his neck, and smiled dangerously.
— "Got it."
He raised his energy blade, ready to explode.
And Agniryos growled, his voice saturated with power:
— "I will crush you."
Kae replied calmly:
— "Honestly… we expected that."