Great Desert, Black Peaks Region – Night, Year 7002
The Great Desert's Black Peaks region roared with the fury of clashing mana, its obsidian dunes trembling under the crescent moon's pale light. Sand swirled in chaotic spirals, glassed patches gleaming where energy had scorched the earth. The air was thick with ozone and the acrid scent of molten sand, the wind howling like a mournful beast. Seven miles from the ArchenLand camp, the battle raged, a tempest of light and shadow amidst the desert's darkest hills.
Predatress stood at the center, her thorn-tentacle arm whipping through the air like a serrated storm, her venom-green eyes glowing with mechanical malice. The Fısıltı Çivisi (Whispering Spike) pulsed at her throat, void-energy twisting her ash-gray fur.
"Another chance to finish what I left off," she hissed, her voice half-machine, half-madness. "I won't fail my master. This time, you will lose your Arcem and…" Her other arm morphed into a tentacle of glinting thorns. "Your lives!"
With a snarl, Predatress charged Trevor and Darius, firing a burst of violet mana bullets that tore through the night, trailing radiant energy. Trevor stepped forward, his brown-furred monkey frame taut, his True Staff crackling with amber lightning.
"You'll need better tricks than that," he spat, unleashing a bolt that met the bullets in a blinding collision. The explosion lit the desert like a false dawn, sand vaporizing into glass, the shockwave rippling outward.
Predatress hissed, her whip-arm slicing where Trevor stood, but he vanished in a burst of static, reappearing behind her.
"Missed me," he taunted, slamming his staff into her spine. Her exoskeleton screeched, but she pivoted with inhuman speed, claws erupting from her fingertips, raking toward his throat.
Darius's hammer, Baltacek, met her mid-strike, cratering the dune beneath them.
"You let your guard down, Child," he growled, his bull frame towering, fur and mane flaring with his lemon-green aura.
Predatress recoiled, chitin armor sliding over her limbs. "Pathetic," she sneered, her whip-arm coiling around Baltacek, yanking it from his grip. Her thorn-tentacle slashed at Daruis, but his aura healed the wounds instantly, green light sealing his fur.
Trevor lunged, lightning arcing from his staff.
"Eyes on me, rust-bucket!"
Predatress dodged, the bolt searing a trench into the sand, raising a dust cloud. "You chatter too much," she hissed, her arm reforming into a cannon.
"70% Output: Predator's Barrage!"
A barrage of mana bullets erupted, twice as forceful, forcing Trevor into a defensive spin. The desert trembled, dunes leveling under the onslaught.
She's matchin' my mana manipulation, Trevor thought, deflecting a volley. At seven miles, the camp's in danger if I go all out.
Darius reclaimed Baltacek, slamming it into the ground, the shockwave upending Predatress. She rolled, legs elongating into spindled blades, and charged, her mana slashes carving trenches. Darius met her blows, each clash a thunderous roar, his hammer glowing with aura.
Trevor drove his staff into the sand, clapping his hands.
"Doğa: Kargaşa Girdabı (Nature: Chaos Vortex)!"
Amber mana took a bluish hue, moisture thickening the air. A vortex of glowing water swept the battlefield, churning violently. Lightning crackled through it, a living storm.
"Obliterate!" Trevor roared.
The maelstrom consumed all, air crackling with power. When it settled, Predatress rose from a puddle, panting but unharmed.
"Is that all you've got, Narn Lords?" she sneered, arms morphing into segmented blade-whips. "I'm the ultimate machine! The perfect creation! I will win my hunt!"
Predatress rushed forward, blades slicing with deadly precision. Darius nodded to Trevor. "Do it," he said quietly.
In a flash of blue light, Darius vanished, replaced by Adam via his teleportation, his blue fur glowing under the moonlight. His Grand Kurt form pulsed with cerulean mana, the Crescent Moon necklace blazing. Predatress hesitated, surprised, but pressed her attack, blades whistling.
Adam slipped beyond her strike, fluid as a shadow.
"Doğuş: Hayalet Adım (Birth: Ghost Step)," he said coldly.
Predatress collapsed, paralyzed, limbs twitching, mana channels severed. "What is this?!" she screeched, struggling against the invisible force.
"Ghost Step," Adam explained, detached. "I move through and break mana channels. You can't use mana, and your body's paralyzed."
Predatress glared, venom-green eyes raging. "Kill me already."
Adam's expression remained unreadable. "I'm not the one to determine your fate. The one you hurt will decide." With a pulse of mana, he teleported Kon to the scene, the tiger Tracient appearing in blue light. Adam walked away, his fur fading into the dunes.
Kon stood over Predatress, his single eye sad but stoic, tawny fur shadowed.
"Get it over with!" she spat. "Put me out of my misery. That would satisfy your vengeance, wouldn't it?"
Kon shook his head, drawing one of his double swords, its blade glinting. He raised it high, the desert holding its breath—then drove it into the sand with a thud. Leaning close, his voice trembled with love and pain.
"No. Killin' you would be mercy, not punishment. You hide it, but I know you love me, Tigrera. And I can't deny I love you. This forbidden love… it's the greatest punishment for what we've done."
He stood, yanking his sword free, and walked away, his steps heavy. Trevor, watching from a dune, his brown fur shadowed, joined him, a sad look in his eyes. As they vanished, Predatress shed a single tear, her scream tearing through the Black Peaks—a raw wail of rage and anguish that echoed across the desert, swallowed by the night.