Chapter 32. A Boy and a Shield

Three Aether Tusks collided with the Mega Tusk. Mountains met a wall. The sound split the world, bones snapping, tusks cracking, air tearing apart. The forest detonated into chaos as dirt surged skyward in a massive pillar and tusk fragments spinning through the air while broken bodies hurtled in every direction. The Tusks I’d spent an entire Broadway show taunting? Gone. Reduced to airborne junk and violent regrets.

“Levin!” I yelled. “They’re all yours!”

He was already moving before the Tusks even hit the ground. Faster than I’d seen in days. Lyra’s magic wrapped to his boots, boosting every step. Sword tight in hand, he closed in on the wreckage of three steaming beasts. The Mega Tusk had already done half the job, those things weren’t whole anymore. Their ribs crushed, armor splintered and all Levin had to do now was finish it. I floated back, drifting toward Lyra. She leaned on a tree and steadied her shallow breath. Overcast fatigue clung to her, but she met my eyes and gave a firm nod.

The first Tusk twitched where it lay, barely clinging to consciousness, its breath wheezing through torn lungs, blood soaking into the soil as one swollen eye blinked shut. Levin reached the beast, lifting a palm as orange mana sparked between his fingers.

“Scorch Fang,” he muttered.

Flames surged from his palm—violent and instinctive. His mana twined and expanded, shaping itself into the vague form of a beast, its shoulders wreathed in fire and its chest ablaze. In that instant, a full wolf emerged, spectral and immense, its body stitched together by heat and hunger, trailing off into flickering embers and distorted waves of heat.

Then the rest burned away, leaving only the head. Its jaw stretched larger, sharper, alive with heat. Eyes were nothing but pits of fire and its fangs glowed like molten obsidian. Flame dripped from its maw, salivating raw heat. It growled low and deep, vibrating through the ground like a smoldering landslide. When the wolf lunged, Levin moved with it. He stepped forward, blade igniting mid-swing as it cut through the air alongside the beast.

The wolf jaws locked around the Tusk’s skull, the sound of hissing flesh and crunching bone filling the air.

VOOMPH—SCREEECH!

The creature shrieked, flailing and a red-hot steel tore through it in a brutal arc. Sparks scattered through the haze while the blade carved clean from neck to shoulder.

The first Tusk barely groaned before his blade carved it down in a swift, clean strike, followed by a fireburst that scorched the air. The body collapsed before it finished falling. Levin exhaled, spun, and with his ponytail snapping behind him, launched toward the second.

The second Tusk rose slow and shaking, dark blood trailing from a ragged wound along its side. Pain didn’t stop it. The beast lowered its tusks and moved forward, each step heavier, driven by rage. It was wounded, but not finished yet. Levin shifted his grip and tossed the sword from his right to his left. His left hand caught it cleanly as his right shot upward, the space ring pulsing with a burst of orange light.

A second blade flashed into existence, landing in his palm with a hiss of fire as runes flared to life. Flame surged around him, the heat rising with every breath. With two blades in hand, Levin settled into a stance—poised and lethal, fire coiling around both swords as if they already knew what was coming.

The Tusk roared.

And Levin screamed.

Mana surged as the air trembled around him, runes lighting up along both blades, glowing with fiery veins while the steel groaned under the strain of raw fire mana.

Levin sprinted forward just as the Tusk prepared to meet him head-on. He skidded to the right, stepping just outside the beast’s charging line, then dropped low into a crouch. Both blades swept outward on his left side, stacked together in his grip. He slashed low across the beast’s legs, the blades crashing into its front limb and knocking it off balance.

The Tusk tumbled sideways with a thunderous grunt, flopping hard into the dirt. Before it could rise, Levin lunged forward with a burst of speed, leaping into the air and throwing his full weight behind a single motion. He landed hard, a boot slamming into the Tusk’s flank as both swords plunged into its exposed side.

THUNK.

The blades hit the Tusk’s hide and stopped cold, crashing against it and meeting resistance buried deep in flesh-bound stone. Flames surged through the blades, fire spiraling along their edges as he pinned the creature down, snarling through clenched teeth. The Tusk thrashed, legs kicking and tusks gouging the ground, but Levin held firm, pouring more mana into the hilts until the steel began to glow.

His muscles tensed as his mana flared hotter and brighter.

“RRRGHH—!”

He pushed, arms trembling, driving both weapons deeper with sheer force. The air around the blades shimmered with heat distortion. Steam hissed from the contact points. The Tusk bellowed, legs buckling.

Hoofbeats pounded behind him, fast and close.

The third Tusk was already barreling in, gaining speed with murderous intent.
Levin had no time. One breath too slow, and he’d be skewered. He roared—

“HHHHAAAAA—!”

Denser flame erupted from his forearms as he forced more mana through the hilts. The resistance cracked, and both blades sank deeper. Flesh parted under the heat, and bone gave way with a wet crunch. The creature staggered. Levin tore the blades free, fire now streaming behind each edge like twin comets. He crossed the swords and dragged them diagonally through the Tusk hide in one brutal, grinding motion.

“Blazing Swords.”

The runes ignited. A flare burst from the crossing point, carving an X-shaped brand into the Tusk’s flesh. The flames tunneled inward, drilling deep. A pulse of heat surged deep beneath the flesh and the beast spasmed. Its ribs glowing from the inside, cracks spreading along its frame like lava veins.

FWOOOOOSH—KRRRSHHH.

The heat detonated from within, bursting through the Tusk’s side in a violent spray of fire and ash. Blood geysered in a thick, steaming arc as flesh tore open and guts vaporized mid-air. Bone fractured under the pressure, and fragments of charred muscle hurled outward like shrapnel.

Its body convulsed before one side collapsed entirely, half-melted and smoking, the ruined flank pulsing with orange light before crumpling into scorched dirt. Levin stood over the corpse, body heaving, his face and arms soaked in blood. Burnt flesh clung to him as red mist rose with each breath like war made flesh. But before he could catch the next breath, the third Tusk was already upon him. An avalanche of muscle and ivory, shrieking through the fog with bloodlust.

“Levin behind you!” I screamed.

Levin stayed calm. His swords vanished into his ring and in the same breath—

THOOM!

A shield dropped into his grip with a hiss of flame, its surface ember-lined, reinforced and heavy. He met the beast head-on. The Tusk slammed into him.

THRUM—CRASH!

The impact hammered through the shield, crushed into his chest, bent his spine and the shield itself screamed from the force. His feet left the ground. Breath ripped from his lungs. The blow sent him airborne, shoulders snapped back as boots kicking uselessly at the air. The world spun around him in a blur of motion and pain.

His back slammed into a tree with a gut-crunching thud, splitting the trunk behind him. He dropped hard, coughing blood, the taste of iron and dirt thick in his mouth. Pain surged through his ribs, and his shield arm trembled from the impact.

He began to rise—shaking.

Not a clean recovery, but a surge of will dragging him upright through the pain.
A violent comeback.

He screamed as he moved.

He lunged upright, fire exploding from his shoulders. Mana rushed to the shield, flame crawling across its rim with purpose—revenge. He roared and ran.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Flames burst from his boots, launching him forward in a blast of raw propulsion. Every step scorched earth, blistering the air in his wake. Ahead, the Tusk reset its stance, preparing. Then Lyra’s voice rang out behind me, sharp and calm.
“Whatever this is—it’s twice as strong! Speed buff! Go, Levin!”

I almost commented on how fast she’d picked up the word buff. But yeah, probably not the moment. Wind surged around him. Fire and air entwined. His speed surged. Tripled. He ran with more than speed—he was a hurricane made of flame. He tore through the battlefield, unstoppable and blazing with desperation.

BOOM.

The impact hit with the full force of a detonation. He collided with the Tusk in a blast of cannon-fire. The shield struck its ribs with such violent force that the beast was lifted clean off the ground. A shockwave burst outward, flattening the grass, cracking the dirt, and ripping a sonic ripple through the forest.

Bones shattered on contact. The Tusk's massive frame whiplashed sideways, legs flailing midair, its roar strangled into a choking shriek as air and momentum were torn away in an instant.

While it hung suspended, Levin was already there charging in. He moved with purpose, closing the gap in a single breath. The shield came down from overhead, driven by his full weight.

CRACK!

The shield slammed into the Tusk’s face, shattering a tusk and splitting its jaw with a wet, meaty crunch. Blood sprayed across his chest. The beast reared up, eyes wild, shrieking in fury then crashed to the ground in a flailing heap. It writhed, limbs thrashing, instinct driving its rage through the pain. One massive swing caught Levin off guard. Its bulk slammed into him, hurling him sideways.

THUD.

He crashed to the ground, coughing blood, ribs screaming. Behind him, the Tusk lunged.

SHRRRK—RIPPP!

Its remaining tusk raked across Levin’s back, carving a deep trail. The shattered stump slammed into his ribs with crushing force, and the intact tusk gored into his side, tearing through cloth and slicing deep into flesh. Levin screamed as the tusk dug in, a spike of pure agony that twisted his spine.

Then, teeth clenched, he twisted hard and jerked himself free. The tusk tore out of his side in a spray of blood, a crimson arc slicing across the air. Levin collapsed to one knee, clutching his side, something inside had torn loose. His eyes went glassy, unfocused. The shield sagged in his grip. Almost fell.

Almost.

But he gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, dragging one foot back to brace. Then he drove the shield forward, edge-first, into the beast’s throat.

CRACK.

The Tusk reeled. Levin surged forward, caught its charge with a half-raised block. Metal slammed into skull. The beast’s momentum crumpled. One of its front legs buckled, driving its chest down low to the ground—exposed, trembling. Levin took the opening without hesitation. He stepped onto its foreleg, planted a boot against its shoulder, and hauled himself up, pinning the beast beneath him with his shield raised.

Heat ignited beneath his skin, racing down his arms until the shield flared to life. His shield lit again edges glowing red-hot. He roared—and slammed the shield down.

BANG!
The shield struck its snout.
Bone warped under the blow.

BANG!
The jaw cracked sideways.
Heat and blood sprayed.

BANG!
He drove it into the eye.
Flames burst from the socket.

The beast kicked. Levin roared louder.

BANG!
He slammed the rim into its skull, something fractured beneath.

BANG!
The shape caved in, half of a face, gone.

His face slick with blood, eyes glassy.
But his hands kept moving.

BANG!!

The shield cracked and so did the Tusk. The flames flickered once, then faded as the last of his mana drained away. No more heat. Just metal.

And him.

The Tusk shrieked a raw, rattling cry, all lungs and fury and blood. Its body convulsed beneath Levin, flinging itself like it meant to crush him with its last ounce of strength. It lurched backward, slamming its spine into a tree, crushing Levin between beast and trunk with its final gasp of fury.

Pain exploded through his back. The blow knocked the breath from his lungs. A fissure split down the bark as the force crashed into him, splintering wood and sending fragments flying.

But he didn’t fall.

He gritted his teeth, slammed the edge of his shield into the Tusk’s back like an anchor then dragged himself higher, bracing a knee into its ribs and brought the shield up again.

BANG!
The jaw crumpled, already hanging loose.

BANG!
He drove the rim into the side of its skull. Bone splintered with a wet crunch.

BANG!
He slammed the shield into its shoulder joint—something popped deep inside.

He screamed, a desperate, ragged cry shaped by fury alone.

His face was a blood mask.
His body shook.
But his hands didn’t stop.

BANG!
He struck the snout again craters deepened.

“AAARRRHHHH!” Levin roared again.

BANG!
The eye socket ruptured and searing white heat poured from the wound.

“GAAAAHH—!” he bellowed, voice ripping from his throat.

BANG!
He jammed the shield into its maw. Metal grinding against bone.

The shield’s edge bent.
His shoulder nearly dislocated.

Still—
He brought it down again.

“RAAAAHHH! HHAAAAAAA!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

His scream wasn’t human anymore. It was grief and wrath, bound together in a rage that refused to die.

BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!

It destroyed everything.

Until the shape was gone. The skull, shattered. Nothing left but ruin.

And Levin...
Still screaming.

He knelt amid the wreckage, breath ragged, tears streaking his face. Blood covered his arms, shield smoldered, cracked and dripping with gore. Magic spent. Mind unraveling.

Just one boy,
And a shield that refused to stop.
Not until the last tremor stopped.
Not until he knew it was over.

I watched in silence, a dozen sarcastic lines queuing up in my head, each one itching to mockingly congratulate his “win,” but not a single one made it out. Lyra stood frozen beside me, her hand half-raised in an instinctive twitch before her body locked in place, her eyes fixed on Levin with the same stunned disbelief that held me still.

None of us moved. Because really, what could you even say to something like this? Her gaze shifted from Levin to me, and I caught the worry trembling at the edge of her expression. That wrinkle on her brow. I’d seen it before. Twice today.

Once when I made the Mega Tusk.
And now, again.
Same fear. Just wearing a different shape.

Kevin was still perched in a tree, arms folded. But this time, he wasn’t unreadable. I thought he might actually say something or maybe climb down to check his son. He didn’t. Just released a long breath through his nose, too sharp to be calm. His fingers twitched once—tightened around his elbow then silence again.

Relief? Concern? Resignation? Or some kind of silent praise? Hard to say. But I was sure he had even more questions than I did. It’s his son, after all. Still, I don’t think it was worth cheering. After what I saw… calling it a win felt wrong. He won. But it didn’t feel like we gained anything.

If anything… we lost something.

And it all escalated from my mistake, the Mega Tusk.

I pushed him to this.

I didn’t know how to process it. Maybe none of us did. That was when Levin moved. Barely. One leg trembled with every step. Blood poured from his side. The shield scraped the ground. But still, he moved.

Step by step, he turned toward another battlefield.
Toward the last two Tusks.

“I will be your shield...” he whispered weakly.