NOVEL NEXT Chapter 294: The Law Of Fire
Velira's words drift with the wind, sharp with envy. Lightning ripples faintly across her scales as she circles lower.
"Every moment I waste here is a moment I could be with his majesty. I belong by his side, not watching empty fields."
Grathum grunts, rolling his shoulders, magma dripping from the seams of his stone-like skin.
"Careful what you say, snake. His Majesty gave the order. If he wants us here, then here we stay. Doesn't matter if the night is long."
Velira hisses softly—not in anger, but in raw frustration. The air bends under the subtle pressure of her wings.
"You think I don't know that? You sound like some grumpy old man. Don't you remember what it feels like to be in love? Tssk." Her voice trails off, and for a heartbeat, storm clouds ripple faintly around her wings.
Through it all, Zurrak remains silent, his shape barely visible against the folds of night. His breath is steady, the faint shimmer of warped space swallowing his presence until he's little more than a ripple in reality.
Then—he stiffens.
The Void Warg's ears twitch, his head snapping toward the horizon. A pulse rolls over the valley, invisible yet undeniable, and the very air seems to flinch.
Velira freezes mid-flight, her vast body coiling instinctively as thunder crackles across her scales.
"…That aura…"
Grathum's grin vanishes, molten eyes narrowing. His grip tightens on the axe, the ground beneath him spiderwebbing with glowing cracks.
"Damn right. That pressure… it makes my bones remember."
Zurrak's voice is low, calm, yet carrying a weight that forces the other two to listen.
"It's a Tier 7. Coming this way."
Silence. The kind of silence that presses against the lungs.
Grathum's laugh is harsh, almost bitter.
"The last time we fought a Tier 7, the three of us died. You remember that? Hah. Felt my soul scatter like ash in a storm."
Velira's eyes narrow, storms churning across her body. Her voice is steady, but her coils tremble with memory.
"This one… it's as strong as the last. We've faced worse. I can feel it. But still—Tier 7 is Tier 7. Above us. Beyond us."
Zurrak lowers his head, void shadows crawling up his fur like smoke.
"The three of us can't kill a being like that. Not even close. No matter how weak it is." His eyes glint, sharp as the edge of a blade in darkness. "But we can buy time. Enough for His Majesty to arrive."
Neither Velira nor Grathum argue. The oath is spoken, and that is enough.
Without another word, Zurrak melts into nothingness—slipping between layers of space like a shadow stepping behind a curtain. His presence vanishes entirely.
The morning wind carries the scent of ozone, and then—
A man walks into view.
He wears his arrogance like a crown, every step measured, his long coat trailing faintly behind him. His aura presses down over the valley like a storm sky, turning three peak Tier 6 monsters into insects beneath his heel.
Vernoso.
His lips curve into a smile as his gaze sweeps the ridge, falling on the two visible guardians.
"Well, well. What do we have here? A magma brute and a sky worm." His laugh is quiet, almost playful, but his eyes are knives.
He spreads his arms wide, as if inviting their answer.
"Hahaha… are you really trying to stop me? Step aside, and perhaps you'll see another sunrise."
Grathum slams the butt of his great-axe into the stone, magma spilling from the cracks. His voice bellows like an eruption.
"Step aside? Human, listen well. If our king orders us to block a path, then no one passes while we yet draw breath!"
Velira coils above, her wings spreading wide, thunder booming across the sky. Her eyes are sharp, her voice a hiss of stormwind.
"Our lives are his to command. Not yours to spare."
Vernoso chuckles, shaking his head as if disappointed in children.
"Loyal pets. Fierce, but blind. Very well…" His aura flares, heavy and merciless, drowning the valley in its weight. His smile twists, cruel and delighted. "Let's see how long you can last."
Grathum roars and charges first, magma boiling along the cracks of his stone hide. His colossal axe blazes like a burning mountain, tearing through the air as it comes down on Vernoso's skull with bone-splitting force. At the same time, Velira descends from the clouds, wings thrumming with violent storms. She twists her serpentine body, mouth opening as she breathes out a Tier 6 gale infused with wind and lightning, a hurricane compressed into a spear of destruction.
The earth shatters. The sky screams.
And yet—
CLANG.
Grathum's axe freezes mid-swing, as though an invisible wall has caught it inches from Vernoso's head. Velira's storm spear disperses into harmless wisps before it even grazes him, shredded apart by nothing more than the air around the man.
Vernoso doesn't flinch. He doesn't even raise a hand. His smirk deepens as he looks up at them.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" His tone drips with mockery. "A Tier 7 being is protected by law itself. Your pretty little elemental tricks will never touch me."
For a heartbeat, silence.
Vernoso expects despair, maybe rage. But instead, he sees the opposite.
Grathum's lips pull into a savage grin, magma dripping from his jaw. Velira's coils tighten, her eyes gleaming with stormlight.
Grathum growls, his voice a rumble of stone grinding against stone.
"Thanks for the heads-up…"
Velira hisses, sparks dancing across her scales.
"…but we already knew that."
Together, they draw forth small relics from their forms—unassuming trinkets that gleam with a light not born of this world. Not gifts from Alix. Not stolen spoils. These are theirs—hard-won, purchased, kept for a moment such as this.
They crush the relics in their grasp.
The air shudders. Law bends.
When Grathum swings again, his axe no longer halts. It tears through the invisible veil and crashes against Vernoso's shoulder with a thunderous boom. Sparks fly, and for the first time, blood arcs through the air.
Velira's storm spear follows, ripping into his side. The wind howls as it bites flesh, lightning carving deep grooves into his arm.
Vernoso staggers half a step, shock flashing across his features. The wounds aren't fatal, but they hurt.
His smirk dies. His eyes narrow, venomous and cold.
"…Impossible. You're Tier 6. You shouldn't…" His words falter as he stares at them, fury swelling in his aura. "You bypassed the law."
Grathum bares his teeth, magma veins blazing brighter.
"Your thinks you're untouchable just because of law. But we've clawed our way out of death before."
Velira coils higher, her storm intensifying, voice cutting through the crack of thunder.
"Your mistake, human, was thinking only gods can challenge gods."
Vernoso snarls, power flaring as the ground buckles beneath his feet. His voice drips with rage.
"You insects dare wound me? You'll regret that."
But unseen in the folds of space, Zurrak watches. Silent. Patient. Waiting for the moment Vernoso overcommits.
Vernoso's fury ripples outward, fire licking along the edges of his aura like a living inferno. The heat is suffocating, the ground beneath him splitting open as molten cracks spread like veins. His voice carries a dark amusement, low and seething.
"You think those little trinkets will save you? You may bypass the veil of law—but you cannot withstand its wrath."
He raises his hand, and the air ignites. Not a spell. Not a skill. The Law of Fire itself bends to his will.
Flames erupt without source or fuel, not conjured but commanded. They twist upward, devouring oxygen, burning hotter than any mortal fire—pure essence, born from truth itself. The mountain ridge glows red as stone begins to melt.
Velira recoils instinctively, her wings straining against the searing heatwave. Sparks crackle across her scales, the stormlight woven into her body flickering against the blaze.
"Tssk… this is giving me déjà vu. The power of law is absurd."
Grathum plants his feet, magma pouring from the seams in his body, defiant against the inferno. His voice bellows over the roar.
"Doesn't matter! I'll cut it down all the same!"
Vernoso smirks, fire swirling tighter around his arm until it forges into a blade of burning law. It isn't a skill, not truly, but each swing carries the weight of inevitability—stronger than any Tier 6, weaker only than the true Tier 7 skills or spells.
He moves, and the valley itself screams.
The flame-blade carves outward, a crescent arc of searing law that tears through air and stone alike. Trees ignite in an instant. The earth cracks, glowing molten rivers spilling outward.