The den quaked under the sheer weight of two titans colliding.
The Guardian, a beast of terrifying magnitude, thundered toward Ethan, its massive battle axe cleaving through the air with a howl of death.
The arc of the swing was vast, wide enough to split a small building in two—but Ethan met the charge head-on, his eyes gleaming, his smile wide and wild.
At the final moment, he sidestepped with graceful precision, the axe slamming into the floor where he once stood, sending dust and rubble flying.
Ethan's body then twisted mid-air, a blur of motion as he spun into a brutal kick, activating Force Might just as his foot connected with the Guardian's gut.
But the Guardian was no mindless beast.
With reflexes that defied its enormous size, it jerked its axe up in time to deflect the blow, the force still enough to shove the creature several meters back, its heels gouging deep scratch marks into the floor of the den.
As Ethan landed lightly, his eyes narrowing in interest.
"Not bad…" he muttered.
"You've got some fight in you."
The Guardian snarled in response, its gaze burning into Ethan's very soul.
Then, red aura began to seep from its body like a slow-burning fire, coating its limbs, its weapon, its breath.
The air became thick—charged with primal energy.
Ethan's smile widened.
"So you're using your Guardian's Authority, huh?"
He wasn't surprised. He had read about it—how the Black Pit bestowed that power upon the strongest beast to protect it.
A power fueled by the pit itself… a power made to kill heroes like him.
The ground shattered beneath their feet as they launched at each other again.
Each Clash creating shockwaves and Dust storms.
Ethan weaved through the battlefield with a dancer's rhythm, toggling between Force Drain to sap energy and redirect attacks, and Force Might to return blows with crushing strength.
Each time the Guardian swung, Ethan deflected or dodged—leaving a counterstrike like a hammer of retribution.
And the Guardian?
It endured. It retaliated. It fought with the ferocity of a world on the brink of collapse.
Every swing of its axe cracked the air like thunder, every roar echoed with wrath.
Then—
Clash. Push. Distance.
They separated, both panting slightly, muscles tense, eyes locked.
That was when Radiant Striker and his unit arrived.
The heroes looked around in awe, stunned by the devastation—and more so by the sight of a young man locked in battle with a creature ten times his size.
The air was thick with tension and death.
Striker narrowed his eyes, silently watching the fierce combat, then said, "Stay alert. We'll step in if needed… but for now, we watch."
Neither Ethan nor the Guardian spared the newcomers more than a glance.
This battle was personal.
This was man versus beast. Invader versus guardian.
And neither intended to fall.
With primal fury and unrelenting force, they charged once more, their clash erupting into a spectacle of chaos and carnage that would be remembered by all who witnessed it.
****
Far beyond the chaos raging within the den, deep in the shadow-drenched expanse of Blackwood Forest, a lone figure stood beneath the twisted boughs.
Cloaked in a dark robe, their presence barely disturbed the forest's eerie stillness.
In their hands, they held a device—not quite a communicator, but something far more intricate.
Cables, rune-like etchings, and a pulsating core suggested it was built to transmit through layers of interference and perhaps even mask its signal from detection.
The figure worked swiftly, pressing symbols along the device's surface until it clicked into activation, emitting a low hum.
A few seconds later, a holographic projection emerged—murky, crackling with static.
The image it displayed was a shadowed figure, completely obscured, only the silhouette of a hooded head visible.
The robed agent took a step back and pressed a clenched fist over their chest in solemn salute.
"Agent 66—Mireveil—reporting in."
There was no immediate response.
The projection remained still, the only sound being the wind through Blackwood's haunted trees.
Tension tightened the air like a noose.
Finally, the figure in the projection spoke.
"…Carry on."
Mireveil exhaled slightly.
"The task is complete. The core has been inserted into the den and everything is proceeding as planned.
After the den passes through its Duality Phase, it will give birth to an Abyss Dread."
The shadowed figure said nothing for several seconds, as if weighing the statement. Then, in a tone as cold as death:
"That is good. Just remember… failure will not be tolerated."
Mireveil visibly gulped, a bead of sweat tracing down their temple beneath the hood.
"Understood, sir."
The projection cut out with a sharp hiss of static.
Mireveil stared at the device for a moment, then crushed it in their hand.
With a brief shimmer of dark energy, the shattered pieces turned to ash, dissolving into the wind like they had never existed.
They whispered to themself, "There's no reason to panic. The task has a hundred percent chance of success.
The intel said only Level 3 heroes were sent and they won't be enough to stop what's coming."
And then—they were gone.
No footsteps. No sound. No trace.
Just the whisper of wind, and the dark promise of something monstrous about to awaken.
****
Back in the den, the feral symphony of war between Ethan and the Guardian raged on.
Each clash of Ethan's empowered strikes against the Guardian's colossal axe resounded like a thunderclap through the cavernous domain.
Dust shook from the ceiling with each blow, the den echoing with the raw, unfiltered violence of man versus monster.
Then it happened.
Thump.
A dull sound reverberated beneath their feet—not from the clash, but from something deeper.
Ethan's foot slid slightly on the rocky floor, his instincts twitching.
But He shook it off.
As the Guardian snarled and charged again.
Thump… Thump.
Two heavy beats this time.
The den responded, a gust of foul wind sweeping in from the black pit at the center.
Ethan narrowed his eyes mid-motion, landing a vicious knee into the Guardian's shoulder, only for it to block with the haft of its axe and shove him back.
Thump… Thump… Thump.
Three beats.
Louder, Closer and Unnatural.
Ethan's expression shifted.
He could feel it.
A wrongness blooming like rot beneath the ground.
His body moved on instinct—he let the Guardian's axe strike his side, and instead of resisting, he activated Force Drain, siphoning the blow's kinetic energy to hurl himself backward.
His boots scraped across the stone, sparks flying.
He muttered, low and tense, "Something's not right…"
Striker, observing with sharp eyes from the edge of the den, felt it too.
Decades of experience screamed in his bones. He clenched his fists and snapped to his team, "Everyone, get ready. We'll be stepping in soon."
But before they could even move—
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Ten consecutive thumps shook the den like the heartbeat of a god waking from slumber.
The ground split.
The ceiling cracked.
Massive chunks of rock and jagged debris rained from above.
The air turned to fire—thick, hot, choking with a pressure that made everyone's knees buckle.
Striker and his team struggled to stay on their feet, some shielding their heads, others casting protective barriers to keep from being crushed.
At the center of it all, the Guardian suddenly let out a deafening roar, its body trembling, flesh bubbling, bones cracking.
A scarlet aura surged around it, and its muscles began to swell grotesquely, its tusks stretching longer, eyes glowing brighter. It was undergoing a metamorphosis—it was evolving.
Ethan's eyes widened. "You think I'll let you get a power-up mid-fight?!" he growled.
Without hesitation, he lunged forward, Force Might surging through his veins like liquid fire.
But just as he neared the Guardian, his instincts screamed—a primal warning too loud to ignore.
In that instant, he saw it—the flicker of amusement in the Guardian's eye.
The look of a creature that had already won.
From across the battlefield, Striker's voice rang out, strained and frantic:
"Wait! It's dangerous—!"
Too late.
The Guardian erupted in a blinding flash of red light, a supernova of energy that pulled everything inward—rocks, dust, even Ethan, caught mid-charge.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A colossal explosion tore through the center of the den, engulfing the area in fire, shockwaves, and chaos.
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A/N will release an extra chapter if I get 50 power stones.
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