The air shuddered with every collision.
Rudra and the Forest Giant slammed into each other at the heart of the ruined northern street—two forces of nature ripping through the world with raw mana storms.
BOOM!
A shockwave burst outward, flinging dust, shattered stone, and mangled monster corpses like leaves caught in a hurricane. Kael raised his arm, bracing against the blast, vision rattling.
He had seen 5th-stage Aura Masters clash during training.
But this…
This was something else entirely.
Rudra moved like molten lightning. Flames detonated beneath his steps, each burst hurling him forward and leaving smoldering craters in his wake. Crimson aura spiraled around him, coiling along his gauntlets like a draconic spirit breathing molten fury into the air.
The Forest Giant roared in answer. Thick green mana surged through its massive frame, hardening into green aura that coated its entire body—most intensely around the enormous stone club in its hand.
The ground split wherever it stepped.Buildings trembled under its weight.Even shards of stone lifted into the air—before melting in Rudra's heatwave.
Kael's throat tightened.
So this is what a true 6th-stage aura master fight looks like…
The gap was overwhelming.
Yet he couldn't look away.
Rudra flickered behind the giant, his form splitting into a red afterimage. His fist ignited—a dense knot of compressed, blazing aura.
"Crimson Burst."
He aimed straight for the back of the Forest Giant's skull.
The massive giant sensed the killing intent at the last possible moment. With a ground-shaking groan, it jerked its head aside.
But not fast enough.
Rudra's strike tore into its shoulder.
The impact erupted like a volcanic detonation.A huge portion of the giant's shoulder vaporized, molten flesh spraying out as the 45-meter titan staggered. Its muscles convulsed while green mana writhed frantically, scrambling to rebuild the ruined flesh.
Rudra's grin sharpened.
"Regenerating this fast, huh…? Good. Don't die too early."
His gauntlets crackled, heat distorting the air as he stepped in again—excited, almost venting—turning the giant into a personal punching bag while still pushing toward a decisive end.
The giant answered with a thunderous stomp and swung its colossal stone club—reinforced with dense green aura—down like a collapsing mountain.
Rudra raised his hand almost lazily.
A dragon-shaped aura roared outward, intercepting the blow and splitting the shockwave in two.
Kael's heart pounded.
It felt like watching a dragon tear a mountain apart.
Behind him, Fumitaka, Zaur, and Leyla staggered back after their own brutal clash with another Forest Giant. Dust streaked their faces; their chests rose and fell in ragged breaths. They had timed their assault perfectly—striking the moment a barrage of spells forced the giant off balance. A coordinated blow to its chest shattered its core defenses, dropping the giant for good.
Zaur bent forward, hands on his knees, wheezing."Hah… hah… that kid… is a freak of nature," he managed, staring at Rudra like he wasn't sure whether to admire him or fear him.
Leyla winced as she unclenched her fists, mana still crackling unevenly around her fingertips."Freak? He's practically a natural disaster."
Fumitaka steadied himself against a shattered wall, exhaling slowly, forcing his breathing under control. His voice was low and strained, but his eyes remained sharp—studying Rudra even through exhaustion.
"He's improved again."
Kael glanced at him."Again? You've seen him fight before?"
Fumitaka shook his head once, sweat dripping off his chin."Not… recently." He inhaled sharply before continuing."But a year ago, his aura was unruly—raw fire with no reins. Now?"
He gestured toward the battlefield, fingers trembling slightly from mana backlash.
"It's controlled. Tempered. Like he's finally learned to wield it, not just react to it instinctively."
He tilted his head.
"Look at the flames. They're starting to coil around him like they understand his intent."
A chill crept down Kael's spine.
He's getting stronger… even now?
The thought hammered inside him.Every punch Rudra threw, every burst of crimson heat—it all felt like a reminder of how far Kael still had to climb…and how small he truly was on a battlefield like this.
#
On the rooftop, the mages collapsed into a brief moment of respite. Spent spell circles flickered faintly beneath their feet.
A young mage trembled. "I—I'm out of mana."
Another clutched his staff. "Me too. My channels are burning."
Their breaths fogged the cold morning air.
Lara remained standing. Sweat glistened across her forehead, and her Lava-affinity mana still pulsed like slow, heavy magma beneath her skin.
She inhaled deeply, grounding herself.
Her eyes drifted toward Rudra's battle.
Even from this distance, the shockwaves of his aura made her robes ripple faintly.
Flashes of crimson light pulsed in rapid succession, each strike followed by a delayed, shattering boom rolling across city blocks.
She could feel the faint pressure of his mana even from rooftops away.
"His aura output exceeds baseline Tier-6 by… a lot," she muttered, analyzing the aura density. "And with his fire-infused aura layered on top… he's even more dangerous than before."
A mage beside her coughed. "Are we… supposed to fight things like that someday?"
Lara didn't answer.
Because deep inside—beneath her calm, commanding exterior—she felt it too:
Ambition.The desire to reach higher.To stand at that level—perhaps even surpass it.To burn just as brightly.
She tore her gaze away and tapped her staff twice, voice steady.
"Everyone, positions. We're not done yet."
The mages straightened, exhausted but determined.
Because the monsters inside the city weren't fully cleared.
Not yet.
#
Deep within the shattered ruins of a collapsed warehouse, a patch of darkness was darker than it should have been.
The Shadow Arachne hung silently from a bent steel beam—its body pressed flat, limbs folded tight, aura suppressed to a needle point. Only its crimson eyes glowed faintly.
It watched the city. It watched the chaos calm. And it waited.
From its hidden vantage, it surveyed the aftermath.
Two Forest Giants remained, surrounded by dozens of Transcendents who converged like wolves.
The rest of the giants lay broken—some charred, others crushed, a few shattered from within by overwhelming aura and magic.
Guild elites, WGDA operatives, and independent fighters slowly regrouped, breathing hard but victorious.
A few bodies lay among the ruins—high-rank Transcendents who hadn't been fast or strong enough.
Lower-rank fighters spread outward, hunting down the remaining monsters still slipping through alleys.
The horde was nearly gone.
The city was stabilizing.
Which meant soon…
Opportunities for ambush would return.
The Arachne clicked its mandibles softly, an almost inaudible rasp, more felt than heard.
It remembered the scent of its nest.Its eggs.
Burned.By humans.By Transcendents.
Just last week, while it hunted deep in the ravines, a small strike team had "cleared out a minor monster den."
They had called it a routine sweep.
The Arachne called it murder.
So when the horde charged tonight, it had followed—not out of obedience, not out of instinct—
—but for revenge.
Now it watched the humans gather strength again.
They were wounded, exhausted, scattered.
When the moment ripened,when they relaxed,when their guard slipped—
It would strike.
Its crimson eyes narrowed as its gaze slid across the battlefield—toward the brightest flame of all.
Rudra.
His aura tore through the city like a blazing dragon, scorching the air and turning stone to molten slag. Every movement radiated heat and power that made the shadows tremble.
The Arachne sensed the danger and pressed flatter, shrinking its aura to dust. It would not approach him—not yet.
But Rudra suddenly paused mid-exchange, fist cocked back, eyes narrowing.
He turned slightly.
His gaze cut directly toward the warehouse ruins.
Toward the Arachne's hiding spot.
A faint dragon-born instinct rippled through him—predatory, ancient, instinctive. The blood-heart he consumed long ago stirred inside him.
Someone was watching.Something hungry.Something that wanted to kill.
But the moment he focused—
—there was nothing.
Only darkness.
Rudra snorted, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off a chill.
"Tch. Probably just my instincts messing with me again."
He turned back to the fight.
The Shadow Arachne did not move.Did not breathe.Did not blink.
It only waited.
Because patience was the deadliest weapon of a hunter.
And the night was far from over.