Striker stood inside the lightning dome, hands buried in his pockets. A low chuckle slipped from his lips.

"Now that's what I call a fiery wolf," he said with a smile. But then his eyes darkened. He froze. His gaze snapped to the right.

Elexa.

She was preparing something, something big. The air around her buzzed, crackling with unstable power. Her lips curved into a wicked grin, sharp and daring.

"It's sparkle time," she said in a singsong voice, but her eyes were cold, deadly serious.

She hurled the condensed bolt of lightning forward. It screamed through the dome like divine wrath, ripping through Striker's red defense. The blast slammed into his black armor, blasting him off his feet. He bounced across the ground, smashing against the wall with brutal force.

Dust fell.

Striker's eyes snapped open. He staggered upright, hand brushing his cheek. Wet. He looked at his fingers...red. Blood.

A chuckle rumbled from his chest. "Hah… really? I was wounded… by lightning?" His grin widened, dangerous.

"Good job, Elexa." Aiden walked to her side, still steady on his feet. Scars and burns marred him, but he stood tall. "You should do that more often."

Elexa shook her head, breath ragged but controlled. "You sound delusional. If I could spam that, don't you think I would've already? It takes time. Focus. Control."

Aiden rubbed the back of his head, sheepish. "Fair point."

Striker's low chuckle dragged their attention back. He stared at the smear of blood on his fingertip, then at them, eyes gleaming, smile warm, mocking.

"Well, well. If it's lightning you want… let's play."

Crimson sparks ignited, racing across his frame. Two long whips of red lightning snapped into existence in his hands, hissing like serpents.

"Hey," Elexa muttered, face pale but eyes sharp, "if you can get any faster, do it now."

Aiden gave a small nod. He understood.

"Don't worry about me. I'll manage." His legs twisted, reshaping into beast limbs built for raw speed. Two black horns jutted from his head, his face shifting, darker, sharper. He grinned, feral. "Alright… let's do this."

He charged.

The whips lashed down, tearing into the ground, walls splintering as arcs of red lightning tore stone apart. Elexa danced through them with near-elegant ease, her speed barely enough to dodge. Aiden, empowered by his beast transformation, tore forward through the chaos, blocking, parrying, enduring.... but the strikes shook him to his core.

Every lash felt like it could erase him. His blood ran cold. One mistake, one slip, and he'd be finished.

This won't do, Aiden thought, chest heaving. I need something stronger. Something that can defend.

Elexa's speed gave her the edge, but something was wrong. She felt it, an unease in the rhythm, a gap in the storm. Her instincts screamed, but the truth hit too late.

A massive bolt of red lightning tore down from above, aimed straight at Elexa. Her body moved on instinct, barely dodging at the very last heartbeat.

Her eyes snapped upward. What she saw made her chest lock tight.

Striker.

He was smiling at her. Not with his whips anymore. No, he held two colossal bolts of raw, condensed red lightning in his hands. Her own attack mirrored back at her. Only worse. His lightning was heavier, darker, far more destructive than her blue.

"Chew on this," Striker said, voice dripping with amusement as he unleashed hell.

The first bolt ripped through the air, instant death. Elexa twisted aside again, barely escaping. But the second.... too fast. It smashed into her abdomen.

"—ghhh!"

Agony exploded through her throat as the force ripped her from the sky. She plummeted, body convulsing, until she slammed into the ground with a deafening boom. Dust and stone burst outward. Red lightning crackled along her body, burning into her frame. She writhed, pain tearing through her.

Striker laughed softly, weaving yet another storm of lightning in his palm. His voice was almost gentle.

"You're strong. But too bad. Unfortunate… that you met me."

He hurled the next bolt.... deadly, merciless...straight toward her crumpled figure.

But before it struck, the ground erupted. A massive green vine shot upward, coiling into layer after layer of barrier. The red lightning slammed into it, tearing through wall after wall, ripping vines apart like paper yet they kept coming. More and more, endless, relentless.

Striker narrowed his eyes as the bolt began to waver. Its destructive edge dwindled. Then, with a thunderous snap, the last sparks were caught in a gargantuan gorilla's palm made of living vine and crushed to nothing.

The vines fell away, and Elexa stood again, staggering but alive. Striker tilted his head, lips curving. Even he had to admit.... her endurance, her speed, her raw force, it was impressive. If they weren't enemies, maybe he would've let her live.

But his eyes shifted forward. Past her.

To him.

Aiden.

Striker's smile stretched. Just how many forms could this man take?

Before him stood a towering figure, four, maybe five meters tall. Obsidian-and-green scales rippled across its body, massive vine-gorilla fists glowing with emerald aura. Vines coiled and shifted constantly around its frame, alive with power.

Aiden had stepped into his Emerald Vine Mode.

He would've preferred Dark Essence. But that was gone, destroyed forever. Still, he wasn't about to mourn it. Not here. Not now.

Aiden took a single step forward, eyes burning. He raised a finger at Striker.

"You said we'd found death," he said, voice low, steady. "But you're wrong. The one who dies here… won't be us. It'll be you."

Then he smiled....warm, mocking, sharp enough to cut.

Emerald power roared to life. Vines erupted, dozens, then hundreds, coiling and wrapping around him. They layered upon each other, sealing him in, swallowing his frame whole until he vanished inside a living fortress of green.

Soon, Aiden vanished from sight, swallowed whole by a mass of twisting vines. They coiled tighter and tighter until he was sealed inside what looked like a massive egg of living green.

Striker didn't even lift a finger. He just stood there, hands loose at his side, eyes calm, faintly amused. Impressed, even...but waiting. Waiting to see what this blonde fool would pull out next.

The vines pulsed. Then the egg cracked.

A massive fist, carved entirely from vines, shot out, slamming toward him.

Striker's frame shimmered. Red lightning crackled and he was gone in a flash.

"Tch. Slippery bastard," Aiden scoffed, the vine-fist retracting.

But the transformation wasn't done. Not yet.

The rest of the structure shifted, stretched, layered. The shape of something immense began to emerge, and when it finally settled into form, even Elexa froze. Her mouth hung open.

Striker's eyes widened, if only for a second.

Aiden grinned inside the living fortress. Pride burned hot in his chest. That reaction, it makes it all worth it.

He had returned to the Emerald Warrior King. The same monstrous form he had once unleashed against the scorpion beast. And this time, his control was sharper, his power heavier. Stronger. Faster. Deadlier.

"Let's see you handle this," Aiden muttered.

A massive spear of vines burst into existence in his hand, the weapon glowing faintly with emerald light. He chuckled, voice carrying through the giant frame.

"With this… the tide shifts. We can end him."

Above, Elexa floated back into the sky, blue lightning rippling along her body. Her eyes flicked to him, this towering monstrosity of vines with Aiden at its core. He raised a colossal hand and gave her a thumbs-up.

His voice rumbled out seconds later, steady and sharp:

"I'll be the shield. You be the sword. Together.... we crush him."

Elexa nodded, sparks dancing across her frame, and turned her gaze on Striker.

He stood there, arms folded. That warm smile was still plastered across his face. Too warm. Too calm.

And then he grinned wider, eyes gleaming with a predator's light.

"…How interesting," he whispered.

---

TO BE CONTINUED…....

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