Chapter 157 – Pearlbay (7) The Generation Torch
The sea rumbled as Thal'ryx emerged from the water, towering and twisted, scales blackened, spikes glinting like obsidian. Even at half strength, the creature radiated raw, intelligent power every muscle, every sinew, every surge of corrupted Shinrei thrummed with lethal intent. Its jaws snapped, sending waves smashing into the dock, splintering wood like twigs.
"This thing… fifty percent… and it moves like a god," Kaen thought, flames licking higher along his arms. "We trained for three years… every beat, every Echo Art, every Taishin Gate… it all comes down to this."
Rael stepped forward, Lumen Blade raised, emerald light blazing, pride and precision entwined. "Then let's remind it what humans can do."
Khael's hands glowed faintly, Dragon Bloodline stirring, threads of wind and power weaving into a Conflux of Shinrei. "Focus. Strike together. One mistake and it'll shred everything."
Juno's stance solidified, Fifth Gate open, veins thundering with controlled power. "I will hold it… no matter what." The tail crashed toward him, water exploding, and he absorbed the impact like steel.
Kaen leapt, flames spiraling toward corrupted seams exposed by Juno's anchor. "Burn through its rot… precision, Kaen! Control it!"
Ceyla's lightning danced across joints and tendons, muscles spasming under her strikes. "Feel the rhythm… feel its weakness…"
Lira wove threads of Bloom, binding and mending, her aura weaving safety amid chaos. "You will not die. Not while I can thread life into you."
Rael's Lumen Blade arced through the air, emerald light locking onto Thal'ryx's jaws. "Now, Khael. Strike the heart."
Khael's Dragonwind Conflux surged, threads of wind, fire, and pure Shinrei lacing together, slicing toward the core corruption inside Thal'ryx. "Concordant Severance… burn it away!"
The shard within Thal'ryx shattered with a hiss, black-crimson fragments scattering across the tide. The monster bellowed, shaking the docks, thrashing, a tidal wall surging behind it. Even at half power, it was a living hurricane.
"(Did we did it…)" Rael thought, pride tempered by awe, emerald eyes reflecting the chaos.
Khael's voice cut through the storm, calm but firm. "Not the end. But we bought the night. And Pearlbay survives another hour because of all of you."
Kaen's flames smoldered low, exhaustion creeping in, but determination unbroken. "This… this is only the beginning. We'll see how strong it really is."
The docks shook beneath the sea's wrath, but the villagers were safe, the Pearl Guardians resolute, and the young warriors ready to test their limits against the half-awakened calamity that was Thal'ryx.
The shard's hiss faded into the storm, its fragments scattered like embers over the black tide. Thal'ryx bellowed, a sound deeper than thunder, shaking Pearlbay's docks until planks cracked and lanterns burst in their chains. The tidal wall behind it rose higher, water drawn like breath into the monster's rage.
Even at fifty percent, the creature was relentless a living hurricane bound in scale and muscle, black spines bristling like jagged reefs. Its single remaining eye glowed crimson, and with every lash of its tail, the sea itself seemed to recoil.
Rael's chest heaved, emerald light gleaming off his blade. Pride tightened in his throat, though awe lingered sharp in his gaze. "We… we did it… together..?"
Kaen's flames guttered at his fists, smoke curling from singed sleeves. His grin hadn't faded. "This… this is only the beginning. We'll see how strong it really is."
Lightning still flickered in Ceyla's storm-colored eyes, her chest rising and falling in sharp bursts. "If this is fifty percent…" she thought, jaw tightening, "…then one hundred would drown the world."
Above them, on the sanctuary's steps, Elder Moe watched in silence. His robes clung damp to his thin frame, ocean spray soaking the parchment scrolls at his side. The old man's eyes once dulled with years of war now burned with a light he thought lost.
"Children," he whispered, voice cracking against the howl of the wind. "They're children… yet they stand where even my generation faltered."
He gripped the rail as Thal'ryx reared, waves slamming against the barrier wards.
His gaze trembled, but his heart steadied. "This is the new generation… and they fight as though the world itself entrusted them its heartbeat."
Thal'ryx lunged again, jaws splitting the sky with a roar. Its breath was brine and blood, its body a cathedral of destruction. Even shackled at half its power, its strikes tore through the dock like paper.
Juno braced, Fifth Gate still open, muscles screaming. "Hold… hold…! I will not break! You will not pass me!" He caught the monster's tail again, his body a human wall against a calamity's fury.
Kaen seized the moment, fire threading through the cracks Juno exposed. "Burn, damn you! Burn where it hurts most!" His flames pierced a joint, the heat making Thal'ryx screech as steam burst from its scales.
Rael's pride surged, his stance perfect, blade raised with aristocratic poise. "Look at me, beast! Look at me and know who strikes you down!" His Lumen Blade locked the monster's jaws once more, emerald arcs flaring like judgment.
Khael inhaled, the storm around him bending toward his will. Scales on his arms glowed, veins alight with Dragon Shinrei. "Stay together. Don't fracture. We strike as one or not at all."
And Lira, her hands radiant, whispered prayers that carried through the chaos. "Not one life will slip past me. Not tonight." Threads of light wove across their wounds, sealing blood, patching flesh in the seconds between each strike.
Elder Moe's throat tightened as he leaned forward, knuckles white.
"Yes… yes… this is it. They're not fighting as children. They're not even fighting as individuals. They've become something we could not." His eyes blurred, but he didn't The tide crashed against the splintered docks, black water foaming around broken beams. Every crash was a warning, every spray a reminder that Thal'ryx half-awake, half-chained still carried the weight of a calamity.
Rael stepped forward, his uniform clinging to his frame, Lumen Blade gleaming like judgment incarnate. His emerald eyes reflected both fury and certainty.
"Time to finish this!!"
To be continue