Naro's blade flashed upward and carved through the Shade's right eye.

  The strike landed cleanly, the blackened steel biting deep through the amber surface before the creature even had time to recoil. Dark ichor spilled from the wound, hissing where it struck the stone below, and Naro was already shifting his footing, drawing the sword back for the follow-up he had planned from the moment the first blow connected.

  'Storm Strike.'

  The runes along the Sky-Fell Sword ignited as the thrust surged toward the creature's skull, the extended edge aimed directly for its brain.

  The Shade reacted faster.

  One of its wing-arms twisted in a blur and slammed into him with brutal force.

  The impact sounded like stone shattering.

  Naro's body was thrown through the air, bones breaking all at once under the monstrous strength behind the strike. His sword flew from his grip as the world spun violently around him before he crashed against the rampart stones and collapsed in a heap of unmoving limbs.

  Khiel did not hesitate.

  The opening Naro had created lasted only a heartbeat, but it was enough.

  With a sharp motion of his hand, the air around him erupted into motion as countless metal blades formed at once: dozens, then hundreds, each one humming with a different spell woven into its edge.

  Lightning crackled along several of them, Flames roared across others. Ice gathered like frost over a cluster of gleaming steel.

  Some carried the unstable pulse of raw explosive magic.

  "STRIKE IT DOWN!"

  They shot forward all at once.

  The barrage slammed into the Shade's remaining eye in a storm of steel and magic, the swords piercing deep before the spells bound to them detonated one after another in a blinding cascade of light and elemental fury. Thunder cracked across the sky, flames burst outward from the impact, shards of ice exploded into glittering fragments, and the force of the blasts drove the creature backward with a shriek that rattled the stones beneath their feet.

  Before the Shade could recover, the ground itself rose to meet it.

  Astor thrust both arms forward, and the ground trembled as massive limbs of stone surged upward from the earth, thick pillars twisting into the shape of giant arms that wrapped around the creature's torso and wings. The stone tightened relentlessly, forcing the Shade down against the wall as cracks spread through the ground beneath its weight.

  Only then did Astor turn away.

  He moved quickly to where Naro had fallen, kneeling beside the broken body and assessing the damage with a grim expression that did not quite hide the urgency in his movements. The impact had shattered nearly everything.

  Naro's normal arm twisted at impossible angles, his ribs collapsed inward, and his legs bent wrong in several places.

  Without wasting a moment, he reached for the small daggers strapped at Naro's belt.

  "I hope this will be enough..."

  One by one he drove the four blades into all the damaged places on Naro's body.

  Each dagger lit up with a blue colour the moment it pierced flesh, releasing a surge of restorative magic that flooded through the ruined body, knitting bone, sealing fractures, forcing life back into muscles that had been moments away from failing completely.

  On the northern rampart, the defenders had seen everything.

  The sight of Naro falling sent a ripple of panic through the ranks, but the arrival of one at the rear of their formation steadied them before the fear could spread too far.

  Yidra had removed her blindfold revealing her golden eyes, her expression was forlorn when looking at the chaos unfolding far below. "Beastly Knight..."

  Rami screamed at her. "THERE'S NO TIME, GET TO THE CANONS, NOW!"

  Yidra's eyes widened at her cousin's outburst then she did just that.

  The moment she joined the formation, the spellcasters along the wall felt the difference immediately. Power surged through the network Agir and her had built together, strengthening the spells being prepared and sharpening the control behind them.

  Bolts of magic began to rain down again.

  But this time they struck harder.

  Far harder.

  Firestorms crashed against the Shade's restrained body. Spears of lightning slammed into its wings. Bursts of compressed force detonated along its back as the barrage intensified under Yidra's direction and Agir's amplifying runes on the canons.

  Through the communicator at her side, Rami's voice suddenly broke through the noise.

  "Naro! Answer me!"

  "NARO!"

  The shouts cut sharply across the channel before her voice dropped into something far smaller, almost breaking.

  "Naro...please respond to me...please..."

  The silence that followed stretched painfully long.

  On the rampart, several of the Magi stopped firing. "No way..."

  Zoldyk's expression dimmed a bit.

  Even Astor paused where he knelt beside Naro's body.

  Then, at last, the communicator crackled.

  A tired voice answered.

  "Yes, my beloved...my moonbeam...my darling star...my honeybun...my dearest heart...my starlight...my joy...my..."

  "Everything...?"

  There was a faint pause before he finished.

  "What's wrong?"

  For a moment no one said anything.

  Then Rami let out a long breath that sounded dangerously close to a sob.

  Astor allowed himself a brief, quiet exhale. "I thought we had lost you..."

  Slowly, and painfully, Naro pushed himself upright with a faint smile. "It's gonna have to take more to kill me."

  He searched for his blade, took it, then regarded the Shade.

  It was still there, still screaming beneath the relentless assault of magic raining down from the rampart.

  Its body was mangled, wings torn, its surface scorched and cracked from dozens of spells striking it at once. Both of its eyes had been destroyed, leaving only dark, bleeding sockets where they had once burned with amber malice.

  But Naro could still feel the Authority presence it emanated, even if it was weak.

  'Why can't you fucking die already.'

  Naro rose to his feet, breathing slowly as the last remnants of the healing magic finished repairing what the Shade had shattered moments earlier.

  Across the battlefield, the creature stilled.

  Even without sight, it felt him stand.

  Its head turned slowly in his direction, grit its fangs and roared.

  Then, with a violent surge of movement, the Shade tore itself free in a violent burst. The stone arms holding it shattered apart as it twisted its body upward, its wings reshaping again as the wing-arms reformed into full, beating wings capable of flight.

  Before anyone could react, the creature launched forward.

  Its talons closed around Naro and carried him while flying high into the sky.

  "LET GO OF ME!" He screamed.

  "ROAAAAARRRRRRRR" It replied while climbing higher and higher.

  Naro's eyes widened. 'Killing...us both?'

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "In your dreams!" The Slayer shouted.

  'Storm Strike!' The sword extended and cut through the Shade's talons, making it roar in pain.

  Feeling its grip lessen, Naro dashed again and again until he was near one of its damaged wings and grabbed one of its enormous dark scales with the claws of his volcanic arm in order to not fall.

  "Heat up!" Just as the sword glowed from the heat, Naro struck the messy-healed membrane down in quick succession until it came off, dark ichor falling from the sky as he did so .

  The ascension to the sky halted, as the Shade struggled to fly up and whirled around in the sky.

  Naro kept an iron grip on the scale despite the turbulence and his exhaustion, his next movements were a series of Dashes and climbing the creature's scaly back.

  He arrived near the Shade's horn-crowned head, grabbing onto one then pulling it to the side with all that he had to redirect the creature's fall away from Almati.

  Seconds later, they crashed on the ground at high speed, letting a thunderous sound resonate across the plain, sending dust and earth alike flying.

  The dust cloud slowly thinned across the shattered plain.

  Fragments of stone and dirt still rained down from the sky where the two bodies had fallen moments before. The impact had carved a deep scar into the ground, a jagged crater stretching outward from the point of collision.

  At the center of it, the Shade stirred.

  Its massive body twitched, wings bent and half-broken beneath it as it pushed itself upright. Dark ichor seeped from dozens of wounds where spells and steel had torn through its hide. Its chest heaved heavily as it tried to regain its balance.

  For a moment, it remained still.

  Its blind sockets turned slowly left and right as the creature searched for the presence it knew should be there.

  It could feel him, he had to be close. The air shifted as it sensed slow, and measure footsteps.

  The Shade's head snapped forward, through the haze of dust, a silhouette walked toward it.

  The "kin".

  Naro's armor was cracked in several places and his breathing was rough, but he stood upright, the Sky-Fell Sword resting loosely in his hand as he approached.

  The Shade reacted instantly.

  Its right claw shot outward in a violent sweep, smashing across the ground with enough force to shatter stone.

  But the strike landed on empty air.

  It had predicted the wrong move.

  Naro had never dashed to the side, hell...

  He did not dash at all, he simply walked towards it with no care in the world.

  "Storm Strike - Vertical Slash."

  The Runes along the Sky-Fell Sword ignited as the blade extended in a sharp vertical arc and carved down through the Shade's exposed right arm. The cut split scale and muscle alike, dark ichor bursting outward as the limb tore open under the empowered strike.

  The Shade shrieked, its maw snapping open wide, rows of jagged fangs lunging toward Naro's body.

  Naro vanished and shot backward several meters, reappearing just outside the reach of the snapping jaws.

  The Shade's teeth slammed shut where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier.

  For several seconds neither moved, both stood facing one another across the ruined ground.

  The creature's chest rose and fell with deep, ragged breaths.

  Naro leaned slightly on his sword as he inhaled slowly, letting the last of the adrenaline settle while his stamina crawled back from the brink.

  They needed the same thing.

  'One last push.'

  Naro studied the monster in front of him for a long moment before finally speaking.

  "Y'know..."

  He rolled his shoulder slightly, loosening the tension in his arm.

  "I've realized we're not so different, you and I."

  The Shade's head tilted slightly toward his voice.

  "That's why I can predict what you're going to do," Naro continued. "Because I would do that too."

  His sword lowered slightly as he gestured toward the battlefield around them.

  "That desperate attempt to kill us both right before. The way you changed tactics when you saw what was in front of you when you first fought me, Khiel, and Astor."

  He pointed toward the distant ramparts.

  "The way you targeted the walls because they were nuisances..."

  Naro smirked faintly.

  "All of those are things I would do if I was you."

  The wind carried the dust between them as silence stretched for a moment.

  Then Naro exhaled slowly.

  "Even this little talk and 'break' we're having right now..." he said, lifting his sword again.

  "...is because we're both preparing to go all out one last time."

  His eyes sharpened.

  "Ain't it?"

  The Shade answered, a low growl rolling up from deep within its chest.

  Its lips curled back, baring rows of fangs in something that almost resembled a grin.

  Naro blinked.

  Then he laughed. "I knew it!"

  His grip tightened on the sword.

  "You're the same as me!"

  He tilted his head slightly, studying the towering creature before him.

  "We're both Slayers in our own right."

  For a brief moment, his expression softened.

  "It kinda makes me happy to know something — even if it's not a Gaonian — actually understands me."

  Then his gaze turned cold.

  "But at the same time..."

  His voice hardened as the memories flashed through his mind.

  The massive torrent of violet flame that erupted from its jaws, the beam that almost destroyed the North ramparts and countless allies.

  Rami's scream, when she thought he had died, Khiel almost dying to its claw.

  "You touched a lot of things that are mine."

  The Sky-Fell Sword rose, its runes beginning to glow again.

  Naro pointed the blade straight at the creature.

  "So prepare to die..."

  His stance lowered.

  "...NightSlayer."

  Naro Dashed forward again, forcing his exhausted legs to move even as every muscle protested. The Shade felt him coming and reacted instantly, its ruined head turning toward him as the purple markings along its body flared with violent light.

  The creature opened its maw, the blast rushed toward him like a collapsing wall of violet flame and heat. Naro tried to shift his footing to dodge, but the strength was no longer there, his body had reached its limit.

  "Heat up."

  The sword glowed molten red in his hand, the blade blazing brighter as the ability awakened.

  "Storm Strike, Maintain!"

  Instead of releasing the technique, the elongated edge remained stretched outward, the burning blade widening into a massive incandescent arc. Naro planted his feet and raised the weapon before him, using the expanded edge like a shield as the fire crashed into it.

  The impact shook him to the bone.

  Violet flames poured over the blade and spilled around him, roaring like a living storm. Heat blasted against his armor and skin, the air itself burning his lungs as he struggled to remain standing.

  His right arm screamed in agony.

  The metal of the sword burned hotter and hotter in his grip, the heat climbing through his gauntlet and into the flesh beneath.

  "Damn it!"

  He shifted his stance, releasing the weapon with his right hand and put his clawed palm on the wide feller hilt with his left, the volcanic arm closing around it with far greater tolerance to the searing temperature.

  Even so, the force of the beam of fire pushed him back step by step, his boots grinding against scorched earth.

  "COME ON! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE A SWORD THAT FELL FROM THE SKY?!"

  The flames intensified, the violet torrent roaring harder against the blade.

  "YOU SURVIVED WORSE HEAT THAN THAT PURPLE THING!"

  His teeth clenched, muscles trembling as the fire threatened to swallow him entirely.

  "COME ON!"

  The pressure grew unbearable.

  "PARTNER!"

  The blade held, its elongated edge burned brighter, resisting the fire as the torrent slowly weakened. The moment the blast finally died, Naro did not wait.

  He dashed.

  The violet flames still clung to the sword, licking along the molten edge as he launched himself forward with a roar that tore from the depths of his chest.

  "RRRRRAAAAAAAH!"

  The Shade sensed him too late.

  Naro shot straight toward the creature's open jaws and entered the maw in a blur of motion. Darkness, heat, and the jagged wall of teeth surrounded him as the mouth began to close.

  The sword moved first.

  He thrust upward with every ounce of strength left in his body, the burning blade punching through flesh and bone as it drove straight into the Shade's brain.

  The creature died instantly.

  The jaws snapped shut.

  Naro reacted on instinct, dashing repeatedly inside the collapsing maw and bursting back out between the teeth just before they slammed together. Momentum carried him forward and he rolled across the scorched ground before finally coming to a stop on his back.

  For a long moment he simply lay there, staring upward into the endless stars in the dark sky as he breathed in ragged, exhausted gulps.

  The sword still burned faintly in his hand.

  Something about it felt different, it did not become heavier, nor sharper.

  But Naro changed in a way that was harder to describe.

  Naro lifted the blade closer to his face and squinted at the runes along its surface. some new markings had appeared among them, glowing faintly like the last embers of a dying fire.

  Skills:

  [Dash>: A movement warp that displaces its user some meters depending on the user's will, can trigger in midair.]

  [Storm Strike\|/: Extands the blade and doubles the impact and cutting power of the user's attacks.]

  Sub-Skills:

  [Dash>: Increases overall speed by a small amount after using it.]

  [Storm Strike\|/: Secondary function of Storm Strike is active at all times.]

  Remembered ones:

  [Apex slained: "Shell-gleam slime", "Magma-Knight".]

  [Guardians slained : Paro.]

  [Dragonoid killed: "NightSlayer."]

  Attributes:

  "Skyfire."

  "Ah," he muttered quietly, his voice hoarse. "So the blade doesn't change or sharpen its edge to fight those scaly things better."

  His eyes drifted toward the enormous corpse of the Shade.

  "Figures, since it's not a leader or apex..."

  The leader of the "Dragonoid" would be the Devourer itself.

  He was far too tired to think about what the new attribute actually meant, his eyes beginning to close as the tension drained from his body.

  Then the communicator crackled.

  "Naro?"

  Yidra's voice came through, sharp with urgency.

  "I can't see the Shade's Authority presence anymore. Did you kill it?"

  Naro let out a slow breath, remaining on his back as he answered.

  "Yeah, the spine's intact like Rami asked too."

  He paused, then added with faint annoyance.

  "I'm fine too, you know."

  A laugh burst through the communicator.

  "Good, because Astor, Khiel, and Rami are already coming your way, so stay exactly where you are! Half assed Oracle, over."

  The line went quiet.

  Naro remained where he was, watching the sky while the wind moved softly across the battlefield.

  After a moment something caught his eye.

  A small mote of light drifted upward from the Shade's massive corpse.

  "What is..."

  The glowing speck rose higher and higher, ascending into the dark heavens above Gaon. Naro followed it with his gaze until it reached the distant Scar that cut across the sky like an ancient wound.

  The mote entered the center of the Scar.

  A faint, tiny glow appeared there.

  Smaller than a star...and yet...

  He could tell what it was.

  Naro's eyes widened slightly as the old words returned to his mind.

  Yeah. Everyone describes it like some enormous fire hanging above the world. Hard to imagine it was ever real.

  "...Is that..."

  His voice barely escaped his lips.

  "No, it's smaller than what they described, but still..."

  He stared at the distant point of light forming inside the Scar.

  "The Sun..."

  A quiet realization settled in his chest and he smiled. "It's real!"

  The light did not illuminate Gaon, the world remained locked beneath its endless night. Yet far away, within the walls of Almati, people looked up toward the sky as something stirred inside their hearts.

  Hope.

  And across the darkened plain, two Ascendants and a Magus moved quickly toward the man lying on the ground beside the fallen dragon, the faint new light above them reflecting in their eyes.

  Far, far away in Rit

  A gigantic scorpion looked up at the sky with its many eyes, half-emerged from the ice, its massive body coiled beneath the surface. The black carapace dusted white by the snow.

  "Ah...my weapon...my weapon did it...!" He said while clicking his pincers, thousands of voices coming out of his mandibles as he spoke.

  "Can you see it, Arielle? Gaon has a chance to be saved." Spike turned his many eyes toward one of his oracles, the mother of Rami.

  She stood next to him with a forlorn expression. She wore warm clothes and a sickle on her belt, her long white hair cascading her back.

  Somewhere else, far deep in the jungle of Rikshasha, a six-winged insect-like woman looked up to see her god, while two Ascendants were trying to survive her jungle.

  And somewhere, far, far away, a man with long flowing white hair glared at the sky with unbridled hatred.

  Star Knight, End of Volume 1 : Sunbringer