Chapter 66: Silver strike

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Silver strike

Another explosion tore through the forest side of the peak. Theon turned sharply.

Fen.

His eyes widened.

The white creature standing across from the Hellhound looked nothing like the Fen he had known before. His body radiated light in soft, steady waves. A glowing halo floated above his head, pulsing gently. His white fur seemed almost silver beneath the celestial energy surrounding him, each strand catching and reflecting the light.

Fen stared at the three-headed beast without fear.

The Hellhound snarled. Three mouths opened and three different attacks came at once. One head lunged forward with its jaws open wide enough to swallow a man whole. Another released a stream of black flames that scorched the stone black. The third gathered dark mana between its horns, forming a dense, pulsing sphere.

Fen moved.

A blade of light formed beside him in a flash of pure white. He swung. The blade struck the first head aside with a sharp crack of impact. He twisted. A barrier of radiant energy appeared before him just as the black flames crashed against it.

BOOM!

Fen slid backward several meters, claws digging deep furrows into the stone. The third head released its dark spell. Fen jumped. The attack tore through the ground beneath him, leaving a smoking trench. He landed on one paw. Then disappeared.

A beam of light struck the Hellhound’s center head from above.

BOOM!

The beast roared in pain and fury. Black smoke poured from the wound. Fen continued attacking without mercy. Light blades flew through the air in precise arcs. Spears of radiant energy formed around him and launched one after another. The Hellhound dodged some. Others struck its dark armor, leaving glowing white scars that resisted regeneration.

The beast retaliated. Its left head attacked with its jaws. Fen blocked it with a raised barrier of light. The right head launched hellfire. Fen jumped over the stream, body spinning. The center head created a massive sphere of dark mana and hurled it forward. Fen’s eyes narrowed. He thrust both paws forward. A circular barrier appeared, larger and denser than before. The dark sphere exploded against it. The mountain shook hard enough that Theon felt the vibration through his boots.

Theon stared.

"Fen is winning."

Silver nodded.

"Obviously."

"Then why hasn’t he finished off the beast?"

Silver glanced at him.

"Because if he uses a strong attack, he may destroy the entire mountain."

Theon looked back at Fen, then at the fragile, cracked ground beneath their feet, then at the sheer drops surrounding the peak.

"Oh."

He paused.

"...I kind of want to see that."

Silver gave him a flat look.

Theon cleared his throat.

"Never mind."

Fen suddenly roared. A gigantic circle of light appeared beneath him, expanding outward in glowing runes. The halo above his head became brighter, almost painful to look at directly. The Hellhound charged with all three heads roaring. Fen met it head-on. Light collided with darkness in a blinding flare. The mountain shook again.

Theon watched as Fen slipped between the three heads with fluid precision. One head snapped at him. Fen ducked. Another released hellfire. But Fen rolled beneath the stream. The third head attacked from behind. Fen spun and struck its jaw with a glowing paw, the impact sending a visible shock through the beast’s neck. The Hellhound staggered. Fen did not stop. A spear of light appeared in the air beside him. He drove it forward. The beast blocked with a wall of dark flames. For several seconds light and darkness fought for dominance, neither yielding. Then Fen forced the Hellhound backward, step by grinding step.

Theon could not help smiling, just a little.

Fen had grown.

A lot.

But his attention returned to the sky. To Ifrith.

The Flame Empress was being pushed backward again.

Ifrith appeared above her. She disappeared into a flare of crimson. He followed the residual heat. She appeared behind him. He turned. Their fists collided.

BOOM!

The shockwave spread across the clouds, tearing them into ragged strips. The Flame Empress’s body shifted backward through the air. Ifrith followed without pause. Another strike. She blocked. Another. She dodged. Another. She countered with a sharp palm that forced him to twist aside.

Theon watched. Something felt wrong. He narrowed his eyes.

The Flame Empress was not using her full power. He could feel it now. She was deliberately restraining herself.

"Silver."

"Yes master?"

"She’s holding back."

Silver looked upward.

"Obviously."

"Why?"

Silver was silent for a moment. Then she answered.

"Because that isn’t her real body."

Theon’s expression changed. He looked at Lyra’s body. The young girl’s form. The Flame Empress was using it as a vessel.

"If she releases everything..."

"The vessel won’t survive."

Theon felt his stomach tighten.

"So she’s fighting with a limit."

"Yes."

"And Ifrith?"

Silver looked at the corrupted demon still pressing the attack without hesitation or restraint.

"He doesn’t have that problem."

Theon stared at the sky. Suddenly the battle looked completely different. Ifrith was fighting without caring what happened to himself or his surroundings. The Flame Empress was fighting while protecting Lyra’s body. And yet neither had fallen.

Ifrith suddenly grabbed the Flame Empress by the arm. He slammed her downward with brutal force.

BOOM!

The mountain exploded beneath her. A new crater opened. Dust and shattered stone erupted in a wide ring. Theon clenched his fists. He wanted to move. He wanted to help. His body immediately rejected the idea. Pain shot through his muscles in sharp, punishing waves. His knees weakened. Theon gritted his teeth.

He tried to straighten himself. Another wave of pain passed through his body, deeper this time, centered in his chest where the old injuries still refused to fully heal. He could not fight this battle. Not like this. Not against am primodial demon like Ifrith.

For once, Theon had no choice. He had to rely on someone else.

He turned toward Silver.

"Can you defeat him?"

Silver looked at him.

"No."

Theon’s expression fell.

"But I can stop him."

He blinked.

"What?"

Silver looked toward Ifrith, still locked in violent combat high above.

"I can bring him back."

"You could have done that this entire time?"

"No."

She shook her head.

"He was too strong."

Theon stared.

"If you tried before..."

"He would have killed me."

That answer silenced him.

Silver’s gaze remained fixed on Ifrith.

"He needs to be weakened first."

Theon understood. All this time the battle had been more than a fight. They had been creating an opening.

He looked at Silver and said.

"Be careful."

She smiled.

"I will."

Then another roar came from the mountain. Theon turned.

Lazaria.

Nova emerged from the crater she had created earlier. Blood covered his face. His breathing was heavy. His pride was wounded more deeply than his body. He stared at Lazaria with something close to hatred.

"What are you?"

Lazaria said nothing. She simply watched him.

Nova wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You’re nothing but a child."

Lazaria’s eyes remained cold.

Nova laughed, the sound brittle.

"Do you really think you can protect him?"

Theon’s name hung between them like a challenge.

Something changed.

Lazaria’s aura erupted.

Theon felt it even from a distance. The pressure hit him like a physical weight, forcing the air from his lungs for a moment. His expression tightened. Silver stopped mid-motion. She looked toward Lazaria. And in that moment her expression showed genuine concern.

"What?"

Theon followed her gaze.

"What is it?"

Silver did not answer immediately.

"What do you recognize?"

Silver’s eyes narrowed.

"I’m not sure."

Lazaria’s aura continued expanding. It was not ordinary dark magic. There was something older inside it. Something that felt ancient and nostalgic. Something that made even the surrounding darkness seem insignificant by comparison.

Silver whispered.

"But This aura..."

Theon looked at her.

"What?"

"It’s actually the same as the Demon Kings own."

"What?"

Silver’s expression hardened.

"The Demon King."

Theon froze.

His mind immediately began racing. Lazaria. The hidden power. The strange aura. The mystery surrounding her from the beginning. Could she be connected to him? Could she be his daughter? His bloodline? Something else entirely?

Theon shook his head hard. No. He did not have enough information. It was only a suspicion. Nothing more. He could not let a suspicion become a fact. Not yet.

Nova charged again, driven by wounded pride and rising fear. Lazaria lifted one hand. Dark energy gathered around her fingers in slow, deliberate coils. Nova’s expression changed. For once he looked truly afraid.

Lazaria disappeared.

Theon barely saw her move. Then Nova was thrown through the air again, body carving a trench through stone before he finally stopped. The mountain shook from the impact.

Theon stared. There was still something about her that he did not understand. And somehow he suspected that even Lazaria was not showing everything.

Silver finally moved.

She rose into the sky. Higher. Higher. Until she stood above the entire battlefield. From that height all three battles became visible at once. Below her, Ifrith and the Flame Empress tore through the burning sky in continuous exchanges of force and fire. Farther down, Lazaria and Nova destroyed sections of the mountain with every exchange. And near the forest edge, Fen continued battling the Hellhound in a storm of light and darkness that left the ground scarred black and white.

Silver stretched both hands forward. Dark energy gathered between her palms. At first it was only a small sphere, no larger than a clenched fist. Theon watched from below. The sphere grew. Larger. Then larger still. Lightning began crawling across its surface in jagged black arcs. The air trembled. Loose stones rose from the ground as if pulled by invisible threads. The mountain cracked beneath the pressure in long, deep lines.

Theon looked upward. His eyes widened.

That was not an ordinary spell.

Silver continued compressing the energy. The sphere became enormous. Darkness twisted inside it like a living storm. Lightning wrapped around its surface in continuous, branching flashes. The sky itself seemed to bend toward it, clouds spiraling inward.

Theon swallowed.

"You’re really going to use that on him?"

Silver looked down at him.

"Yes."

"he won’t die From the impact right?"

"No."

Theon still did not like the answer.

"Then be careful."

Silver smiled. Not arrogantly. Not proudly. It was the smile of someone who already knew exactly what she was about to do.

Her eyes turned toward Ifrith.

"This isn’t even enough to scratch the Dark One."

Theon went silent.

Silver’s voice remained calm.

"But it should be enough to bring him back to his senses."

She released the spell.

The massive dark sphere began descending. The sky darkened further. Lightning erupted across the clouds in violent white-black flashes. The Flame Empress looked upward. In that moment her expression changed, sharp and assessing. Ifrith stopped mid-attack. His corrupted eyes lifted toward the enormous spell falling toward him. Fen paused for a fraction of a second, ears pinning back. The Hellhound’s three heads turned toward the sky in unison. Lazaria and Nova both felt the terrifying energy descending upon the battlefield. Even Lazaria looked upward, eyes narrowing.

And Theon...

Theon could only stare as the spell was falling, Straight toward Ifrith. And there was no stopping it now.