Ch 6

  I slammed into the earth with a bone-shattering force. For a moment, everything went cold; When I tried to pry my eyelids open, I saw nothing but a visceral, pulsating crimson—as if my world had been submerged in blood. I struggled to move, but my body refused to obey. My arms felt like leaden weights, shattered and useless. I was broken, lying in the ashes of my own defeat.

  Then, a series of golden notifications flickered through the red haze of my vision:

  I lay there, staring into the darkness, the red veil still blinding me. I knew that if I stayed down, it was over. What would happen to my brother? To Maya? To my friends who were bleeding out on this scorched earth? Fear, raw and cold, gripped my heart, but through that terror, a new sensation emerged.

  A call. A deep, resonant hum vibrating from the base of my spine to the crown of my head. It was as if my own soul was screaming at me, calling me back from the edge of the abyss.

  It felt as though someone—or something—was calling out to my very soul. I focused through the haze of agony and realized the signal was coming from my Silver Bow, which had slipped from my grasp and lay somewhere in the ash. Driven by a primal instinct, I reached out my hand toward the void. I didn't know how it was happening, but as my fingers closed around the familiar grip, it felt as if I were holding a part of my own body, a loyal companion who refused to leave me behind.

  Using the bow as a crutch, I dragged my broken frame upward. I could only manage to rise to my knees; the strength to stand fully had long since withered away. Then, another call resonated from the weapon. It was a command. Guided by an invisible force, I brought my trembling hand to the bowstring and began to pull with every ounce of my remaining resolve.

  I poured everything I had into that draw. Suddenly, I felt a massive surge of Prana erupting from within me—a torrent of Prana so cold and pure that it neutralized the blistering heat of the battlefield for a fleeting second. As my fingers gripped the string, a searing sensation flared in my eyes. I was still blinded by the visceral crimson veil, unable to see anything but red, yet I could feel the world around me.

  My Prana was siphoning into the astra with such violent velocity that it felt like a Great River breaking its banks. The Silver Bow groaned under the immense pressure, vibrating so intensely that I feared it would shatter in my hands. That vibration traveled through my arms and into my entire body, making my very bones shudder in synchronization with the weapon.

  The numbers flashed in my blurred vision, confirming my body's collapse. A massive surge of Prana was radiating from the bow in my hands, but it wasn't just power—it was an agonizing pressure that felt like it would tear me apart. The bow was molten in my grasp, threatening to fuse my skin to the metal.

  My hands were shaking uncontrollably, and my entire body was failing me. I thought I was moments away from exploding, my skull throbbing with an intensity that promised immediate rupture. I was blind, I was broken, but I could feel the world. I pointed my bow toward the source of the most extreme heat—the Stalker. I didn't aim with my eyes; I aimed with the screaming guidance of my Intuition.

  I gathered the last fragments of my will, pulling the string back to its absolute breaking point, and roared at the top of my lungs:

  "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

  As I released the string, I felt as though I wasn't just letting go of an astra; I was letting go of my life. My body gave up, my consciousness faded to black, and I collapsed onto the scorched earth, believing I had finally found peace in death.

  …………….

  POV: Maya

  I watched, paralyzed, as Amit loosed astra after astra in a frantic rhythm, the battlefield disappearing behind a thick, suffocating shroud of steam. Then, the monster shifted. The Hell-Fire Stalker’s gaze locked onto Amit. In that second, my heart skipped a beat; a wave of pure, cold anxiety washed over me. I knew what was coming—it was going for him.

  Fear, raw and paralyzing, gripped me, but only for a heartbeat. As the Stalker lunged toward Amit, I forced my broken body to stand. I lunged for my fallen Gada, grabbing it and instantly infusing it with every drop of my Earth and Air Prana.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "You bastard, I won't let you touch him!" I screamed in my mind.

  Just as the Stalker opened its molten jaws to tear Amit apart, I hurled the Gada with everything I had. It struck the beast squarely in the jaw, forcing its head upward and diverting its lethal bite. Amit was saved, but only for a moment.

  My relief lasted a fraction of a second before horror struck again. An Elite Cinder-Hound emerged from the smoke, lunging at Amit from his right flank. He was barely four meters away when Amit loosed a desperate shot, striking the hound dead. But the victory was a death trap. The Elite detonated instantly, and Amit—being only three meters away—was launched into the air like a broken doll by the shockwave.

  "AMIT! NO!" I screamed, but my voice was swallowed by the roar of the war.

  He hit the ground and didn't move. He lay there, motionless, amidst the falling ash. My heart shattered. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. A suffocating pain, far worse than the burns on my skin, tore through my chest. It felt as if my soul were being ripped out of my body.

  After my parents and my family were taken by that accident, Amit and his aunt were my only world. They were my only reason to keep breathing. The thought that I had failed to protect him... it was a darkness I couldn't bear.

  Then, the pain turned into something else. It turned into Rage. Pure, unadulterated, lethal fury.

  "HOW DARE YOU! YOU FILTHY BASTARD!" I roared, my voice sounding like a stranger’s.

  My body went on auto-pilot. The searing heat, the blistering air, the pain of my injuries—none of it mattered anymore. I didn't feel the fire. I only felt the urge to kill. I sprinted toward the Stalker, grabbing my Gada from the dirt as I ran.

  I swung my Gada again and again, striking the Stalker with every ounce of strength left in my broken body. CRACK. THUD. CRACK. But it was like hitting an unmoving mountain of solid stone. The monster didn't even flinch. A wave of suffocating despair crashed over me—I couldn't even protect the person I loved most in this world, and now, I couldn't even avenge him.

  The Stalker turned its predatory gaze toward me, its eyes filled with a terrifying indifference. But just as I prepared for my end, the pressure in the air shifted. It wasn’t the searing, dry heat of the monster; it was a heavy, glacial chill that began to suppress the flames. The Stalker froze, its head snapping toward the source of this new power.

  I followed its gaze through my tear-filled eyes, and my heart stopped.

  There, amidst the swirling ash and embers, Amit was rising. He was on his knees, trembling, propped up only by the frame of his Silver Bow. He’s alive, I thought, a sob catching in my throat. He is still alive.

  The surrounding heat began to wither under the weight of his presence. Sensing a true threat, the Stalker unleashed a world-shaking roar—"ROAAAR!"

  It ignored me entirely, charging toward Amit to end him once and for all.

  "NO! I won't let you! You bastard, I’ll kill you!" I screamed, throwing myself at the monster’s flank, swinging my Gada wildly. I didn't care about my life. I didn't care about the pain. But the Stalker swatted me aside like an insect, its eyes fixed solely on Amit. It felt as if a jagged blade was being twisted in my chest. I’m going to lose him again. I’m failing him.

  Then, I saw Amit’s face. Half of it was horribly charred, his skin a roadmap of raw, blistering burns. He looked like a man who had walked through hell and returned broken. But he wasn't finished.

  As he pulled back the bowstring with his mangled fingers, two brilliant lights ignited on the bow’s frame—one at the top and one at the bottom, right where his hands gripped the weapon. They shone like two miniature source of light amidst the darkness of the battlefield. One was a piercing, icy blue, and the other was a blazing, radiant orange. Between these two orbs of light, an astra was manifested, vibrating with a pressure so immense it felt like the earth itself was bowing before him.

  GET OUT OF THERE! NOW!"

  Amit’s roar tore through the air, vibrating with an authority that forced my legs to move before my brain could even process the command. I sprinted away from the epicenter, my heart screaming a single prayer: Amit, you better not die. You promised me we would survive this together.

  As I ran, I looked back over my shoulder. The sight was enough to freeze the blood in my veins. The Hell-Fire Stalker had launched itself into the air, a massive silhouette of obsidian and flame. Its claws were extended, its molten jaws wide open, descending upon Amit like the hand of doom. I wanted to close my eyes. I didn't want to see the person I loved crushed into the ash.

  Suddenly, a shockwave rippled through the atmosphere. Mid-air, the Stalker was slammed by an invisible force of such immense pressure that it was blasted two meters backward, its momentum completely negated. My breath hitched in my throat—I knew that pressure. It was Amit’s astra, the one born from those two glowing tattoos light.

  The Stalker crashed into the dirt, struggling to right itself. it let out one last, defiant roar, but the sound was cut short by a sickening, wet crunch echoing from inside its torso.

  BAD-DAM!

  I stared in shock as a massive, jagged hole appeared in the center of the Stalker’s chest. The astra had bored through its lava-armor and detonated within its very core. Slowly, the internal fire that fueled the monster began to dim. The glowing orange veins in its skin turned to dull, cold grey.

  For a second, relief washed over me. We had done it. Amit had done it.

  But then, the world went silent. The Stalker’s corpse didn't just lie there—it began to pulse with a blinding, rhythmic white light. My smile faded instantly as a cold realization settled in my gut. I knew that light. It was the sign of a Rank-C Explosive Rupture.

  Amit had killed the beast, but in its final act of spite, the monster was going to take us all with it. I looked toward Amit, who was slumped on his knees, and I felt a strange sense of peace amidst the horror. We had won the war, but we weren't going to live to see the sunset. The blast was coming, and there was nowhere left to hide.

  I stared at the blinding white light, bracing myself for the end. But then, the impossible happened. The radiance began to dim. I watched in awe as thick plumes of steam started hissing out from every crack in the Stalker's stone-like body—from its mouth, its nostrils, and the gaping wound in its chest. It was as if two primal forces were warring inside its corpse.

  Suddenly, instead of magma, a torrent of high-pressure water erupted from the hole in its chest. Amit’s astra hadn't just killed the monster; it had transmuted its core.

  BAD-DAM!

  A final explosion ripped through the Stalker’s remains, but it wasn't a blast of fire. It was a violent burst of ice and water. The Commander’s body shattered into a thousand jagged pieces of wet obsidian. The atmosphere, which had been a hellish furnace just moments ago, turned instantly, chillingly cold.

  But I didn't care about the victory. I didn't care about the cold. My eyes were searching for the only person who mattered. I saw him lying in the dirt and ash, collapsed facedown, motionless. I sprinted toward him, my heart screaming with every step. I reached his side and pulled his broken frame into my arms.

  "Amit! Amit, open your eyes!" I cried, my voice cracking. I shook him, desperate for any sign of life. "Open your eyes, Amit! You can’t leave me! You promised you would stay with me forever! You can't break your promise!"

  I was screaming, sobbing into his scorched chest, but he remained still. His skin was deathly pale, and half of his face was horribly charred, yet he looked strangely peaceful. It terrified me.

  Suddenly, the System’s golden notifications began to flicker in the corner of my vision, but they felt like a mockery.

  "To hell with the rewards!" I screamed at the empty air. I didn't want the levels. I didn't want the system. I just wanted Amit back.

  Next Chapter will be around 5 PM tomorrow, so I hope you will be ready for tomorrow.