Chapter 13 – Fire at the Edge

The trees had thinned.

Not naturally—but violently. Burned trunks leaned like brittle fingers toward the sky. The scent of ash and rot clung to everything, the last gasps of the Demon’s Forest choking the light before it broke free beyond the treeline.

Riku stood still, surveying the forest’s edge. His hand rested on the hilt of his blade, but his mind was already past it—beyond the trees, toward the world waiting to see what would emerge.

Kaela stepped beside him, adjusting her bandages with a wince. “So close I can taste the freedom.”

Selene floated ahead, her ghostly shimmer twitching with each pulse of magic nearby. “There’s a divine barrier just before the exit. I can feel it.”

Talia was last to follow. Her steps were slow, almost dragging. Flames crackled softly at her fingertips—not in rage, but in restlessness. Her eyes flicked between the trees, never settling.

“Something’s wrong,” she murmured. “The air’s too hot here. Like someone else has been burning.”

They were all scarred. They were all tired. But for the first time since entering this cursed forest, they moved with unity. With purpose.

And that made what came next all the more dangerous.

The clearing revealed itself like a wound.

A wide, barren field of obsidian-crusted dirt, broken only by the remnants of charred obelisks and cracked sigil stones. The divine seal shimmered faintly overhead—an invisible dome of suffocating pressure, humming with holy power. Guarding it stood a monster.

The warbeast was ten feet tall, stitched together with rune-infused sinew and molten steel. Its eyes burned with a sacred fire that knew no mercy. Chains hung from its shoulders like ceremonial armor, and jagged horns curled back from its skull.

Behind it, three Blessed Scouts flanked the edges, all armored in crimson plate, each one branded with the same sigil Riku saw on Captain Elgren.

The Flame Queen’s mark.

Talia’s face went pale with rage.

“They’re hers,” she whispered. “I recognize that insignia. They’re from her fortress.”

Riku’s system pulsed.

[Godhunter System – Divine Strike Zone Entered]
Danger Class: Moderate–High
Enemy Affinity Detected: Flame Domain / Holy Binding
Auto-Engage Enabled

Kaela dropped into a crouch, twin daggers drawn. “How do you wanna play it, boss?”

Selene’s fingers twitched as illusion glyphs began to spin from her palms. “Distract or disable?”

Riku’s grip tightened on his sword. “We don’t split. This thing wants a show—we give it one.”

Talia stepped beside him, eyes alight. “Time to burn.”

The scouts moved first, flanking fast and efficient—blessed speed. One hurled a divine spear directly at Kaela’s path. She twisted mid-run, the blade grazing her ribs, but she didn’t slow.

Selene’s illusions flooded the clearing—clones of Riku and Talia surged forward. The warbeast turned too late, slashing through phantoms with frustrated roars. Riku darted in behind it, blade gleaming with shadow energy.

Steel met divine bone.

It was like striking a wall of molten iron. The blade dug in—then skidded off a rune-laced shoulder. The creature retaliated with a roar and a tail sweep.

Riku was thrown back thirty feet, slamming into the dirt.

Kaela disabled one scout with a dagger through the throat, but another grabbed her leg mid-dodge and flung her against a ruined pillar. She hit hard, crumpling with a cry.

“Kaela!” Selene screamed, breaking her illusion form to dash to her side.

Talia stood frozen.

The warbeast turned to her.

It moved slower now—but its steps were deliberate. With each one, runes flared along its chest and throat.

A divine strike incoming.

Talia raised her arms, flames building fast—but too fast. Unstable. They flickered violently around her, licking at her sleeves, her face, her eyes. She couldn’t hold it.

“I—can’t control it—!”

Riku rose, blood dripping from his nose. His system screamed at him.

[Pact Bond Alert – Target: Talia]
Emotional Trigger Detected: "I won’t lose her too."
Initiating Pact Trial…

Darkness.

Then fire.

He stood in a field of ash. Talia was there—alone, curled in the center of the storm. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear. Fire raged around her, licking at the sky, but never touching her skin.

“I told you,” she whispered, “I’m too dangerous. I’ll kill you.”

“You won’t,” Riku said.

Talia shook her head. “I can’t stop it. I was born in flame. It takes everything.”

Riku stepped through the fire. His cloak burned at the edges. His skin blistered.

But he didn’t stop.

He reached her.

And he knelt.

“You are not a curse,” he said. “You are a weapon.”

Her lips trembled. “So what… you think you can use me?”

“No.” He took her hand. “I want to fight beside you. I want you to burn everything that stands in our way—and I’ll carry the heat with you.”

Talia gasped.

And the fire stopped.

They returned to the world in sync.

Riku’s eyes glowed crimson.

Talia’s hands surged with white-hot fire.

They moved as one.

“Now,” he said.

She nodded.

They charged.

[Dual Technique Unlocked: Blazing Maelstrom]

Talia erupted into a spinning flame vortex, launching upward.

Riku leapt into the spiral, blade raised.

The warbeast roared and lunged.

They met in midair.

A spiraling slash of fire and shadow carved through the creature’s chest—clean, final, beautiful.

The beast fell in two halves.

The scouts tried to run.

Kaela, limping but defiant, threw a dagger into one’s back. Selene overloaded another with a dozen illusion strikes at once, driving him to madness before Kaela finished him off. The last one didn’t make it two steps before Talia hurled a flame chakram into his spine.

Silence.

Ash.

Breathless victory.

[System Update]
Riku – Level 33
Talia – Level 21 (Pact Active)
Kaela – Level 26
Selene – Support Rank: B+
New Pact Formed: Talia – Flameborn Outcast
Rare Weapon Obtained: Pyrestorm Chakram (Bound to Talia)

They camped beneath the divine barrier, Kaela resting her head in Selene’s lap, Talia gently adjusting to the new chakram circling her wrist. Riku stood apart, gazing toward the edge of the world.

He didn’t speak for a long time.

When dawn broke, the barrier cracked and fell with a sigh—its power spent.

Beyond the trees, green fields waited. And far in the distance, the smoke of a burning village curled into the morning sky.

Talia stepped beside him. “Another problem?”

Riku’s eyes narrowed.

“Another mission.”

Selene, now visible to the others for the first time in weeks, grinned. “Let’s hope they’re ready.”

Kaela groaned, stretching. “I vote we burn first and ask questions never.”

Riku smiled.

“We survived the Demon’s Forest. Let’s see how the world handles us.”

Together, they walked toward the smoke.

Not heroes.

But something better.