“Watch out!” Cyran’s face went pale as he swung his staff wildly. The arcane sigil flared to its full size in an instant, straining to block the claw.
Terraen shouted and slammed both palms to the ground. A wall of earth, several yards thick and shimmering with ochre crystal light, erupted between the sigil and the attack.
Dustin poured every ounce of his strength into the strike. His mystical pure energy surged through his sword without restraint, forming a condensed cyan sword aura that seemed sharp enough to split light from darkness. He aimed it directly at the center of the claw.
The three unleashed their full defenses, but Malthor’s claws smashed through them with unstoppable force. There was no stalemate, only the sound of everything collapsing.
The crystal-light barrier that Terraen had conjured shattered like paper. Cyran’s arcane sigil twisted violently, the swirling energies spinning madly in a desperate attempt to contain the dark energy.
However, it could only last for a heartbeat before exploding. Cyran groaned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and he staggered backward.
Dustin’s dual-essence sword aura struck the claw mark, and it was like ice against adamantine. The clash rang with a piercing screech, and the sword aura broke inch by inch.
The backlash tore open the web between his thumb and forefinger, nearly sending the blade flying. He was thrown backward as if struck by lightning, blood spraying from his wounds.
All of it came from a single casual swing. Yet somehow, despite fighting together, the three of them were thoroughly defeated.
The demonized Malthor let out a cruel, savage laugh. His tattered demonic wings snapped open, and in the blink of an eye, his ghostly form appeared right in front of Terraen. He moved faster than ever before.
“Accursed one, you’ll be my first appetizer, ” he said. A jet-black dragon claw, radiating an energy wave that could obliterate everything, slammed down toward him.
Terraen’s face went pale, and he tried to use the earth-escaping technique. But the surrounding space was sealed off by demonic energy, leaving him with nowhere to dodge.
“Don’t touch my disciple!” Cyran roared, his eyes blazing with fury.
Ignoring his own injuries, he forcefully activated his inner core, and the energy surged through him. In a flash, he positioned himself in front of Terraen. His staff transformed into thousands of silver threads, swirling like a collapsing river of stars toward Malthor’s claws.
“Dustin! Get him out of here!” he shouted.
“Mr. Xalvador!” Terraen screamed.
“Trying to run?”
The demonized Malthor laughed coldly, and his dragon claw snapped shut. The river of silver threads shattered instantly, vanishing without a trace.
Cyran staggered back, blood dripping from his mouth. His energy wave faltered in an instant, and his inner core clearly suffered a crushing blow.
Malthor’s other dragon claw had already appeared behind Dustin, silent as a shadow. The tips glowed faintly, aiming straight for the back of his heart
Dustin was trapped, attacked from both front and back. It was a brutal sneak attack. He gritted his teeth against the pain and turned to block with his sword.
The clash of metal echoed through the sky. A force beyond description slammed into him, rattling the bones in his arm.
The impact sent him flying again, smashing into a pile of broken walls and rubble. Buried beneath the debris, his life hung in the balance.
The gap in strength between them was terrifying. Malthor, fully consumed by his demonic energy, had long surpassed the terrestrial immortal realm. He had reached an entirely new level of strength. Even if the three of them had fought together, it would have been like a mouse challenging a lion.
He moved forward with heavy, deliberate steps toward the barely conscious Cyran and the terrified Terraen. His dark-red, vertical pupils gleamed with cruel amusement, like a cat playing with its prey.
“Cyran, you stubborn old fool,” Malthor spat. “You will watch with your own eyes as I slowly crush your accursed one’s soul to dust. ”
His dragon claw reached toward Terraen’s head, moving deliberately slowly. But every inch radiated a suffocating, bone-deep pressure.
Terraen’s eyes darted between Cyran’s ashen face, Dustin buried somewhere in the ruins, and the deathly claw closing in. For the first time, his dark, lively eyes showed a resolve and sorrow far beyond his years.
“Mr. Xalvador…” he murmured, his voice trembling but filled with unshakable resolve. “I don’t want to hide anymore. Let’s fight him together.”
Cyran looked into his disciple’s eyes and saw the same fierce determination he recognized in himself. Then he turned to face Malthot and his overwhelming presence.
Any lingering doubt in his mind burned away, replaced by a calm, tragic acceptance. It was the clarity of one willing to risk everything to protect the path of righteousness.
With great effort, he raised a hand and gently stroked Terraen’s hair. His voice was hoarse, but it carried an unusual serenity, a quiet strength in the face of death
“You’re right. Protecting this island and cleansing it of demon energy is our destiny. Today, we will use our broken bodies to fight for a sliver of life for all living beings.”
With that, Cyran straightened his hunched frame in a sudden surge of will. The lifeless energy that had clung to him flared violently, like a dying light returning with a roar But this time, the surge carried something new. It was a burning, all-consuming resolve
A dazzling cyan radiance erupted from his body. It wasn’t spiritual energy but was the essence of his life itself, the fire of his divine soul blazing with unstoppable intensity.
“Cyran! Are you out of your mind?”
The demonized Malthor stiffened, his expression twisting in alarm. His dragon claw lunged toward Terraen, moving with terrifying speed.
“Dustin, inherit my legacy. Strike down this demon.”
Cyran let out a long, earth-shattering roar, his hands thrusting forward with tremendous force. The towering column of vivid cyan energy, burning with life and spirit, did not attack Malthor.
Instead, it traversed space like rivers returning to the sea, instantly pouring into the distant pile of rubble where Dustin lay buried.
