As the Onyx Blade pierced through the Behemoth’s gaping wound and its neck, it…shattered. However, the blade’s fragments didn’t shoot in all directions. Instead, the Onyx Blade was locked firmly in its place by the layers of Energy Blades and Shadow Blades shrouding the weapon.

A cracking sound originated from Xavier’s arm, much louder than before. He used every bit of strength within him to drive the Onyx Blade deeper into the Behemoth, but its flesh was quite tough and hard, like a boulder. No matter how much Xavier tried, he couldn’t pierce the Onyx Blade deeper.

Suddenly, a wave of smoke blasted into his face. The Behemoth groaned in pain and flung its body around, forcing Xavier to let go of the Onyx Blade and retreat. However, the Behemoth was fast enough to strike Xavier. The Behemoth’s head smashed against Xavier’s chest, breaking several ribs right before the Elemental Aegis manifested. Xavier was flung through the air like a cannonball. He smashed into the building next to where his father had been hurled. Several bones in his body broke, but Xavier smiled.

He released the energy compressed within the Energy Blades, Shadow Blades, Armor Pierce, Break Armor, and Coat of Fire. The power stored within the Card Effects was infused into the Onyx Blade’s fragments, which were released in all directions inside the Behemoth’s gaping wound.

The Behemoth roared loudly, and more smoke filled the surroundings. However, instead of charging at the other buildings, it tried to flee. The bombardment of powerful attacks had severely injured the Behemoth. It was still strong enough to run around, but it wasn’t confident that it could kill everyone and survive at the same time.

But something weird happened as the Behemoth turned around to flee. It faltered and crashed to the ground. All of a sudden, the Behemoth let out pitiful wails, and black mist oozed out of its ears and nostrils. The black mist was ominous. It didn’t feel like a Card effect, yet it was incredibly potent. The black mist condensed and shaped into various forms above the Behemoth’s head before it dispersed in all directions, leaving Haven’s residents alone with the Behemoth.

The hue that had shrouded the Behemoth disappeared alongside the black mist.

Only a moment later, the Behemoth stiffened and collapsed to the ground with a colossal thud. The ground cracked, and dust rose up several feet in the air, making the residents cough out loud.

“What happened?” Someone asked, but his voice was drowned out by all the coughing. A few Card holders readied themselves to strike again, but then the dust settled, and they noticed that the Behemoth was not moving.

Their gazes traveled to the ground to see a large puddle of blood forming on the ground.

Heavy Armored Behemoth(Superior) has been slain.

"What the hell just happened? “Is it really dead?" The earlier guy asked.

Xavier ventured forward cautiously, his blade pointed forward. He nudged at the corpse with the tip of his blade.

“Yup, dead”

Xavier heard them take a breath of relief as a few of them took a step forward.

They hesitated but approached the corpse to take a good look. Xavier and Silvia left the monster corpse and rushed to look for Mark. He had managed to push himself into a sitting position, and the healers were already working on healing his injuries.

“Oh dear, are you alright?” Silvia asked Mark in a trembling voice as her husband gave her a tired smile.

“Hale and hearty as a horse, my dear.”

Xavier wanted to return to the Behemoth and inspect it closely, but Silvia did not let him leave until the healers had treated his injuries. It was good that they also had passive Cards that accelerated their healing.

Ensuring his mom that he was okay, Xavier rushed back to the corpse to see the others talking curiously with each other.

“Look, something is hanging from its neck. Is that a necklace?” One of the men shouted.

Xavier pushed through the crowd of onlookers and snapped the thread around the behemoth's neck to check what it was.

A small piece of paper was folded and tucked inside a small metal ring.

Curious, he gently unfurled it, but seeing something written on it stunned him.

It was a small note or rather a message that said ‘Leave or Die.’

Everybody looked at the note and soon began whispering amongst each other.

What could it possibly mean? Have monsters evolved to communicate in human language? That seemed like a far-fetched thought.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Was it the Kobolds, then?” someone asked.

“No, the ones we saw could not even speak, let alone write. All they did was hiss and growl.” The others nodded in agreement, and speculations were ripe about who could be the messenger.

A few concluded that humans had tried to invade their home a few hours ago. That made sense since the residents of Logwood were not in a position to wage a war against them.

But that led to many more questions. How had they found a behemoth and tamed it? Did they have more such monsters to throw at Haven? Did they have to relocate and start from scratch all over again?

The more they speculated, the more problematic the situation became. Luckily, Mark ordered everybody to go home, clean themselves up, and get their injuries checked. He also announced that they would have a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss it further.

That made sense. They had sustained two back-to-back attacks and survived somehow. They had suffered some casualties this time, but the behemoth was a much bigger monster to take down.

Even with the passive healing, Xavier had too many broken bones to mend, and that took time. His parents ordered him to take complete rest and warned him not to show up at the meeting.

They promised to fill him in on the decisions later.

Xavier grumbled, but his chest hurt whenever he tried to move too fast. He figured he would slow down the process if he kept pushing himself instead of giving his body some time to heal.

Thus, he listened to them and went to bed. Only when his back touched the bed’s surface did he realize how sore his entire body was? It ached, and it did not take him even minutes to drift to sleep.

**

Xavier found himself in a vast dark space all by himself. He looked around in confusion but had no idea where to go. It looked the same everywhere: dark and ominous. It was as if he was separated from the rest of the world and transported to some dark corner of the planet.

“Where am I?”

Xavier asked aloud, but nobody answered him. Worried, he tugged at his head and wondered what to do when suddenly he heard a voice.

“I found you.”

Xavier turned around on his heels so fast he feared he had sprained his ankle. But there was no one.

Did I imagine it?

Barely a second later, he saw hazy outlines of something…or someone. It was too dark and hazy to be specific, but Xavier felt as if there were more than one voice. He saw a man and a woman…or their blurred outlines.

The woman looked like a monster, hideous and menacing, while the man was all black. It felt like the man was darkness personified.

Xavier peered intently as he felt a trace of darkness take root inside him. Barely a millisecond later, he shot up from the bed, clutching his shirt and covered in sweat.

He had been dreaming, and the sudden movement made him remember all the parts that still hurt and needed time to heal. Though the pain was less compared to before, it still hurt.

Xavier winced as he straightened his back. He might have been healed but he was still sore. His broken bones – or healed bones – felt better than before, but it was still a little weird. Xavier broke a lot of bones in his body the night before, yet he was back in his prime less than 24 hours later.

“Wait. Glut!”

Xavier sensed that something within his Soul World and Foundation Orb had changed and he finally recalled what it was. Glut’s evolution should be complete by now.

Feeling excited, Xavier sat cross-legged in his room and closed his eyes to reach the Soul World. He did not have to look around for long as a blazing fiery cocoon shone brightly in the relatively empty Soul World. The cocoon was coated in a blazing fire, yet Xavier knew that the fire did not harm the little guy inside. In fact, it was nourishing his little companion.

Xavier felt as if the cocoon sensed his presence and a few embers lept up at him to greet him. A sweet smile appeared on his lips as he murmured.

“I missed you too, buddy.”

The moment he said that, the cocoon began to rattle a little. Xavier felt Glut tugging at him to release him from the Soul World. Glut was eager to meet Xavier and reveal his achievement to his companion. It had only been a few weeks but Glut felt isolated and could not wait to reunite with his human companion.

“Ok fine, relax.”

As if in response to Xavier’s assurance, the cocoon stopped rattling. Slowly, Xavier released Glut from his Soul World and the next second, the blazing cocoon had manifested in his room.

The cocoon lit up the room with a bright light, but it did not burn anything. It simply sat on the floor as Xavier watched curiously.

Slowly, the cocoon began to crackle and unfurl. One layer after another was slowly peeled off as it fell to the ground, and the fire started to dim. And right in the center was a curled-up ball of wings and feathers.

Glut slowly stretched his wings and got up as Xavier watched him in awe. The last few flames licked Glut’s body as he shook it and slowly opened his eyes. The little bird was not so little anymore. He had grown up a little and was around 30 centimeters tall with a wingspan of more than a meter. The wings were covered in shiny golden feathers with hues of red, orange, and yellow. Glut’s eyes were a majestic black, and they contrasted perfectly with the rich golden color.

The wings shone with an otherworldly glow as Glut looked up at Xavier and stretched his wings further, trying to do a little twirl but tripping. Xavier chuckled as Glut stared at his feathers and body in amazement.

“Yes, you look magnificent. Good job!!”

Glut let out a happy chirp and, this time, did a twirl without tripping or falling. The excitement was quite visible on the little fellow’s face. He slowly took his first baby steps towards Xavier, who felt the heat as Glut neared him.

“Welcome back!!”

Glut’s evolution has been completed.

Ember Sparrow evolved into the Descendant of the Ancient Spirit Arcaes.