Chapter 32: Celestial Rage

"System... release all safety limits," Ren commanded, his eyes narrowing into two sharp points of cold violet intensity.

He understood the math now. If the probability of absolute defeat hovered near a hundred percent, then honoring Liora’s sacrifice meant burning through every last resource left in his engine. He wouldn’t die in passive resignation. If death was the ultimate conclusion waiting at the bottom of the hill, he was going to make this nightmare pay for every bloody inch.

Thirty paces away, Vorzakh raised its gargantuan crystalline scythe high above its shoulder, the edge crackling with condensed purple mana as it prepared to shatter the weakening red dome shielding the survivors.

"Get away from them!" Ryu roared.

Ryu surged forward, his boots digging deep grooves into the gravel as he launched himself into a low sprint. Mid-stride, he swung his longsword upward in a violent, sweeping arc.

SWISH—!

A crescent wave of brilliant violet light tore out from the tip of his blade, burning a path through the dust as it flew straight toward the titan’s upper torso. The energy slash slammed full-force into Vorzakh’s chest plate. The sharp impact sheared through the monster’s veiny purple hide, carving a deep, smoking laceration that exposed the dark meat beneath.

Before the black fluid could even drop onto the dirt, the tissue squelched, the open flesh knitting back together in less than a heartbeat.

Vorzakh paused mid-strike. Slowly, its three glowing crimson eyes pivoted away from the red dome, locking onto Ryu.

"GRAAAAAAA—HHH!"

The 6.5-meter abomination let out an ear-splitting screech, its four split mandibles vibrating with violent rage. Shifting its massive weight, Vorzakh broke into a dead sprint, spinning its giant scythe in a lethal circle that swept up rocks and debris. The bedrock shook violently under every heavy, hooved stride as it charged the young swordsman.

Ryu locked his joints, bracing his blade horizontally to meet the kinetic storm.

THUMP!

Vorzakh slammed its massive hooved foot directly into the earth five paces ahead of Ryu. The force shattered the ground into floating stone fragments, creating an explosive shockwave that launched Ryu helplessly into the air.

Defenseless and suspended in mid-air, Ryu’s eyes widened as Vorzakh brought its colossal scythe back, sweeping the massive crystal blade across the sky to cleave the airborne swordsman in two.

CLICK. PIN PULLED.

Before the scythe could bisect Ryu’s midsection, a sleek metallic cylinder flew through the gap, striking Vorzakh right across its central eye cluster.

BOOM!

A concentrated explosive charge detonated point-blank against the titan’s face. The blast roared with localized kinetic force, driving Vorzakh’s massive head back and forcing its towering frame to stumble three heavy steps backward. The left side of its jaw cracked open, chunks of charred purple flesh and jagged tooth fragments raining onto the gravel.

Ryu crashed back onto the hill, rolling twice across the dirt before popping back up to his feet. He snapped his head toward the side, his jaw dropping.

Ren stood twenty paces away.

A sleek steel longsword was gripped tightly in his right palm, its edge wrapped in a dense, pulsing cloak of dark purple aura that crackled like localized lightning. The faint, shadowy wisps of mana swirled around his arms and shoulders, vibrating at the exact same frequency as Ryu’s ancestral technique.

Vorzakh thrashed its head, roaring through the black smoke. The scorched, cratered flesh on its face vibrated, the charred tissue peeling off as fresh, veiny purple skin rapidly wove back together over its exposed facial bones.

Ryu’s breath hitched as he stared at Ren’s glowing blade. "Celestial Rage...?"

He had actually awakened the dormant bloodline trait.

DING!

[CONSTRUCTION SUCCESSFUL!]

[ITEMS OBTAINED:]

• 2× Tactical Fragmentation Grenades (Explosive Payload)

• Steel Longsword (High-Density Alloy, Enhanced Structural Integrity)

[REMAINING RESOURCES:]

CM: 2,458 (2,477 − 19)

CP: 776 (792 − 16)

[NYX SEAL WARNING:]

Status: 93% → 97%

⚠️ [CRITICAL HAZARD: NYX SEAL OVERWRITE IMMINENT...]

A suffocating tightness clamped down on Ren’s chest, feeling as though an invisible, iron claw was squeezing his heart until it bled. The dark energy inside his core vibrated violently, sending sharp, icy pricks through his bloodstream.

Ren gritted his teeth, forcing his spine straight against the agony. ’I won’t let her death be in vain...’

His original deduction was correct. The moment his palm wrapped around the cold steel grip of the sword, the host body’s dormant cellular memory reacted to his absolute, unshakeable intent. The buried instinct of the Celestial bloodline flooded his nervous system, lifting the heavy weight of his hesitation.

His limbs felt weightless, even as his heart hammered erratic, painful thuds against his ribs.

"GRAOOOR!" Vorzakh fixed its three healed eyes squarely on Ren.

Ren narrowed his vision, locking onto the pulsing violet core nestled deep behind the creature’s throat. Thin, light-purple filaments swept through the core like trapped souls—the harvested essence of Vora’s victims powering its endless regeneration.

Standard physical decapitation or body severing was useless. To put this thing down for good, he had to destroy that inner core from the inside out.

He still had one explosive grenade left in his inventory.

"Ryu!" Ren yelled, his voice cutting through the howl of the wind. "We take it down now! Cover my assault!"

Ryu didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. "On you!"

Both swordsmen kicked off the ground simultaneously.

SWISH! SWISH!

Twin trails of purple light flashed across the gray terrain. Driven by the innate muscle memory of the Celestial Rage, Ren didn’t need to manually calculate his sword swings; his body moved on pure martial instinct.

Ren closed the distance, ducking low under a sweeping claw strike from Vorzakh’s left hand. He executed a sharp pivot, driving his longsword deep into the creature’s lower ankle joint.

CLANG!

The blade sparked against the dense skin, but the sheer momentum of his Celestial aura sheared through the tough tendon.

At the exact same time, Ryu vaulted off a floating rock fragment, spinning mid-air to deliver a heavy diagonal slash across Vorzakh’s right shoulder, carving through the armored plating and drawing a spray of black fluid.

’I don’t even know how to hold a sword properly as Elian,’ Ren analyzed mentally, his heart racing as his body automatically parried a brutal backhand strike from the titan. ’The bloodline instinct is driving the movement mechanics. I just need to supply the tactical trajectory!’

The two Celestials operated like a single synchronized unit. When Vorzakh swept its massive scythe toward Ren, Ryu darted inside the weapon’s inner reach, slamming his hilt into the titan’s wrist to alter the strike’s angle. When Vorzakh turned to stomp Ryu into paste, Ren lunged from the flank, driving his steel edge directly into the knee joint to break its balance.

Yet Vorzakh was far from a stationary target. Frustrated by the high-speed insects stinging its legs, the titan let out an earth-shattering howl.

The heavy purple aura around its 6.5-meter body exploded outward in a localized shockwave.

BOOM!

The sheer kinetic force slammed into both teens. Ryu, caught mid-dash, was caught directly by the titan’s colossal right forearm. The heavy arm hit Ryu’s chest like a falling battering ram, launching him seventy feet across the plateau before he crashed violently into the rock wall.

Ren leaped backward to escape the main blast, but the tip of the crystalline scythe grazed his left upper arm.

SLASH!

The razor edge bit clean through his sleeve, carving a shallow red gash along his bicep. The pressurized wind pressure following the strike slammed into Ren’s torso, sending him tumbling head over heels across the rough gravel.

Vorzakh towered over the clearing, its massive chest heaving as black smoke billowed from its split jaw, roaring in absolute triumph.

Over by the cliff edge, Vora remained comfortably seated on a flat boulder, resting her chin on her palm as her dark dress fluttered in the breeze. An amused smirk touched her lips as she watched the bruised boys struggle to stand.

"The tactical synergy of the Celestial lineage really is a breathtaking sight," Vora purred, her voice carrying over the wind. "Such a shame it ends in a bloodbath."

Ren pushed himself up onto his knees, his arm trembling violently as warm blood trickled down his elbow, staining the dirt below. His vision flickered with red static as the Nyx Seal pounded relentlessly against his skull. The air in his lungs felt heavy, like breathing liquid lead.

"Screw... you..." Ren spat out a mouthful of blood.

He shook his head violently to clear the blurriness in his eyes. He couldn’t drop now.

Ten paces away, Ryu dragged himself up using his sword as a crutch, clutching his fractured ribs with a ragged cough.

"Ryu!" Ren shouted, his voice hoarse. "Aim for its jaw! We hit the left and right hinge simultaneously to lock its mouth open! Its core is exposed in the throat!"

Ryu met Ren’s gaze, wiping a streak of blood from his mouth. He nodded tightly, resetting his stance without a single word of complaint.

’I have to detonate the payload inside its throat before the Nyx Seal takes full control of my mind,’ Ren calculated, his knuckles turning white around his sword hilt.

Ren and Ryu lunged forward once more, their purple aura flickering like dying flames against the dark sky.

Vorzakh met their rush, sweeping its giant scythe in wild, erratic patterns. Ren analyzed the weapon’s trajectory in a split second, ducking beneath a horizontal slash that shattered a rock pillar behind him. As the titan brought its left hand down for a crushing slam, Ryu stepped onto the monster’s descending forearm, using the kinetic momentum to propel himself straight toward its face.

SWISH!

Ryu brought his glowing longsword around, slicing clean through the muscle connection on Vorzakh’s left upper jaw!

"GRAAAH!" Vorzakh roared in pain, its head jerking sideways.

Ren took the opening. Vaulting off the titan’s right knee, he drove his blade straight into the right jaw hinge, channeling the last burst of his Celestial Rage into the point.

CRACK!

The joint snapped. The split mandibles hung limply, forcing the titan’s gargantuan throat completely open and exposing the glowing violet core pulsing within its dark gullet.

Before Vorzakh could react, its massive tail whipped around, striking both Ren and Ryu across their midsections and blasting them backward onto the dirt.

Vora leaned forward slightly from her seat, her brow twitching in slight irritation as she watched her pet’s mouth get locked open. "Ren... just give up and become mine already. Stop forcing yourself to fight for dead weight. If you submit to me, I promise to keep you safe."

Ren ignored her completely. His eyes were locked solely on the gaping, broken maw of the titan.

’This is for Liora.’

Driving his boots into the gravel, Ren ignored the intense electrical pain shooting through his heart and sprinted straight toward the reeling monster.

Vorzakh brought its giant scythe down to crush him, but Ren executed a hard slide across the dirt, passing directly between the titan’s towering legs. As he popped up behind its heels, he pulled the pin on his final grenade with his teeth and hurled the metal cylinder straight into the gaping, open jaw.

The white canister flew true, disappearing deep into the creature’s dark throat, landing directly against the exposed violet core.

BOOOOOOM—!

A deafening explosion tore out from inside Vorzakh’s neck.

The localized blast ruptured the titan’s internal organs, shattering the core into a million glowing fragments. The monster’s upper head exploded outward in a shower of black sludge and shattered bone, its body staggering violently as thousands of liberated purple soul particles burst out of its neck, shooting straight into the cloudy sky like reverse rain.

"ARGHHHH!" Vorzakh’s headless body thrashed madly before collapsing to its knees with a heavy, earth-shattering thud.

Ren tumbled onto his side, panting heavily as he watched the trapped spirits soar into the atmosphere, dissolving into faint blue starlight.

Ryu dropped to one knee thirty paces away, resting his forehead against his sword hilt with a long, exhausted sigh of relief.

"It’s... finally over..." Ren wheezed, his vision swimming.

BOOOOM!

A column of unstable dark-purple energy erupted from the fallen carcass, blasting Ren and Ryu backward across the plateau.

Ren hit the rocky ground hard, rolling three times before slamming into a stone ledge. Every nerve in his body screamed in agony, his vision turning completely black for two terrifying seconds before slowly returning.

When the dust settled, the headless body was gone.

In its place stood something infinitely worse.

The black energy condensed, expanding into a towering 8-meter primeval colossus. Its frame was draped in skeletal obsidian armor that bulged with dense, veiny purple muscles. Jagged, translucent purple crystal spikes sprouted from its spine and shoulders like a mantle of broken glass. Two massive, leathery demon wings tore out from its shoulder blades, whipping up gale-force winds with every slow flex.

Its head bore two sweeping, pitch-black horns that curved toward the sky, framing a nightmare face featuring three vertical, blood-red eyes that burned with absolute, unadulterated malice. In its massive right claw, it held a gargantuan, double-bladed death scythe that hummed with a thick, pitch-black aura.

The entity shifted its mass, blocking out the full light of the crimson moon and casting the entire plateau into pitch darkness.

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR—!"

An apocalyptic roar ripped through the mountain, the sheer sonic pressure creating visible shockwaves that shattered nearby boulders into dust and sent heavy stone fragments raining down upon the valley.

Ren looked up from the dirt, his breath hitching as the colossal shadow fell over his trembling frame.

The Nyx Seal inside his mind hit 97%, pulsing with a terrifying, rhythmic beat that echoed the monster’s roar.

The nightmare hadn’t ended—it had just reached its final form.