[Oliver’s POV]

  Oliver saw the exact moment Katherine’s blood hardened into crystal and tore through the Guardian’s scales. The shards pierced deep, but it didn’t emerge from the other side.

  “Come on,” he hissed.

  He drove another punch into the creature’s gut, his fist darkened by the condensed Energy. The impact cracked like thunder, forcing the Guardian against Katherine's attack. The shockwave rippled through the air. Still, it wasn’t enough.

  Just one more. Oliver wished.

  He struck again, his knuckles slamming into the monster’s abdomen. The ground beneath them fractured, spiderwebs of cracks spreading outward.

  But even that wasn’t enough.

  The Guardian snarled, its hatred tangible, its teeth bared in a grotesque grin. With a guttural roar, it lashed out.

  The claws came faster than he could react.

  Agony ripped through him as the talons tore across his chest, shredding his cloak and uniform in a single swipe. The force hurled him backward, his body crashing into the stone floor. The world spun, his lungs seized, and warmth spread across his torso. Blood, thick and dark, trickled down his chest, soaking through the tattered fabric.

  “Still alive, old man?” Adrian’s voice cut through the chaos, strained but mocking. He was braced against the Guardian’s other arm, his mineral-encrusted fists holding back claws that could carve through steel.

  “Yeah,” Oliver growled through gritted teeth, pressing a hand to the wound. Pain flared, but he forced himself upright. “Still here.”

  He stood, legs trembling. His vision cleared enough for him to take in the battlefield.

  The Guardian was a blur of motion, its tail slicing through the air like a blade. Each strike drove Katherine backward, forcing her to stumble for footing. The blood crystals still clung to her arms as her body trembled from exhaustion.

  Alan stood farther back, hands raised as he bent gravity to his will, forcing the Guardian down. The air around its legs shimmered under the strain while the weight of the world pressed upon it. Yet even that force only managed to slow the creature.

  If the dragon above was a King… what the hell is this thing? Oliver wondered, staring up at it. The creature’s presence was frightening.

  We need to push it a bit more. Oliver kept repeating to himself.

  If I could use [Prometheus]. He wished. But he couldn’t. Not here. Not now.

  His eyes flicked toward Katherine and Alan. They’d notice.

  He tore a strip from his ruined uniform and wrapped it tightly around the wound across his chest. The fabric darkened with blood, but it would hold. His body was already knitting itself back together, the regeneration slow but steady.

  The creature’s movements had grown sluggish. Alan’s gravitational field dragged down its massive body. Each step was a labor, claws gouging deep into the floor as it fought against the weight. Yet every strike it managed still carried the strength to kill.

  “Alright,” Adrian barked, his voice strained as he blocked another bone-shattering blow. “Anyone got a plan?”

  The Guardian’s claws slammed down again, sending shockwaves through the chamber. The minerals coating Adrian’s arms cracked, fragments scattering across the floor. He staggered, blood dripping down his forearm, but he refused to fall.

  Oliver stepped forward, his mind already moving faster than his body. “You,” he said, pointing toward Katherine. “Can you do that again?”

  She turned mid-dodge, barely avoiding the creature’s tail as it swept past, shattering a pillar behind her. “I think so!” she shouted back, her breath ragged.

  “Good. We’ll try it again. I’ll draw its attention—” The rest of his words were swallowed whole by the roar that followed.

  A resounding boom erupted from the far end of the hall, shaking the floor beneath their feet. The walls trembled, and dust fell from the ceiling as the shockwave rippled through the chamber.

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  For a heartbeat, everyone froze. Even the Guardian hesitated, its eyes flicking toward the distant corner where smoke and light began to spill into the room.

  Adrian and Katherine leapt back at the same time. Instinct drove them away from the creature’s reach. However, even the Guardian froze, its massive head turning, its eyes narrowing as it tried to comprehend what was happening.

  Through the haze, a silhouette appeared at the top of the stairway, the main entrance to the hall.

  A figure descended slowly.

  Short black hair framed a face of sharp features and even sharper eyes, green, cold, and unflinching.

  Demi.

  In her hands, she carried a trident that pulsed with red light. The air around it shimmered, small arcs of pure Energy snapping between its three prongs.

  “How did you get here before me?” she asked, her tone calm, almost curious. Yet her gaze never left the towering monster before them. The question was rhetorical, a formality. Her focus was absolute.

  Before anyone could answer, she raised the trident.

  The weapon vibrated, its hum reverberated through the chamber. Then, with a single flick of her wrist, three lances of crimson Energy erupted from the prongs, streaking through the air.

  Impressive, Oliver thought, his eyes widening. He could feel it. It had a raw, unfiltered power radiating from that weapon. It wasn’t the same as the oppressive presence of a Sovereign, but it was close.

  The shot tore the air apart.

  It wasn’t just sound, it was pressure, the atmosphere itself splitting to make way for the torrent of crimson Energy unleashed from Demi’s trident. Unlike Alan’s energy strikes, this power didn’t flow from a living being. It was raw, unfiltered force born from the crystal forged into a weapon.

  The Guardian, which had withstood the combined might of the four, was forced to raise both of its arms to shield itself.

  When the impact faded, the monster’s silver scales were no longer pristine. They were shattered. Whole sections of its armor were torn away, the plates scorched and cracked. The air stank of molten metal.

  “Hold it down!” Katherine’s voice cut through the chaos.

  Oliver turned his head toward her, then to Demi, then to the wounded creature thrashing in the aftermath of the blast. He understood instantly.

  Alan moved first. An energy-filled aura radiated from his body as he crossed his arms. The gravitational field around the Guardian intensified, rippling through the ground. The creature’s legs buckled, its claws grinding into the stone as an invisible weight dragged it downward. The ground cracked beneath it, unable to withstand the force.

  Oliver followed. Despite the pain burning through his chest and the blood seeping through his makeshift bandage, he charged. His hands slammed into one of the beast’s arms, locking it in place. Muscles strained, his bones creaking under the pressure, but he held on.

  Adrian was already there. The heir of Meridius lunged forward, his mineral-coated fists slamming into the creature’s other arm.

  The Guardian roared, a sound that shook the entire temple. It thrashed, its tail whipping violently, smashing into walls and sending fragments of stone flying. But it couldn’t break free.

  Katherine was the last to move. She sprinted behind the beast, her hands coated with the crystallized blood. She struck, her palms slamming against the creature’s lower back.

  Demi stood apart from the others, eyes locked on the wounded creature. The Guardian writhed under the combined pressure of the group’s assault, its massive limbs pinned, its tail thrashing helplessly. For the first time, it looked vulnerable.

  She didn’t hesitate.

  Clutching her trident, she broke into a sprint. The weapon pulsed in her hands, veins of crimson light running through its length.

  In a single, fluid motion, Demi leapt.

  She soared upward, twisting in the air. The Guardian’s head turned toward her, its eyes widening as it realized too late what was coming.

  Demi came down like a meteor.

  The trident struck the creature’s chest with a sound that split the air. The impact rippled outward, a shockwave of heat and light tearing through the chamber. The weapon sank into the Guardian’s scales, but only barely, just a few centimeters. The monster’s silver armor resisted, its body trembling as it fought against her strike.

  “More! You’ll need more!” Oliver’s voice roared, his words nearly drowned by the creature’s screams. He could feel it. Demi’s attack was powerful, but not enough. Not yet.

  The Guardian convulsed, its body twisting violently. But Demi’s grip didn’t falter. Her boots locked against the creature’s chest, her arms trembling as she forced the trident deeper.

  And then the weapon began to vibrate.

  The red light intensified until it drowned the chamber in crimson. Energy gathered at the weapon’s core, the air around it distorting with the sheer density of power.

  Demi’s jaw tightened. She screamed as she unleashed the weapon.

  The trident fired point-blank.

  A blinding column of scarlet Energy erupted from the weapon, punching straight through the Guardian’s chest. The beam tore through scale, flesh, and stone alike, carving a hole clean through the creature’s torso.