"I will be the shield. You will be the sword," Aiden said, standing at Elexa's side.

In his emerald warrior vine form, he was practically at his peak. Not the peak.... that was when he used Dawn Overflow, where his power roared without restraint. Now his energy was limited. Every move had to be calculated, every strike measured.

Too much, and he'd burn out fast. But if there was one thing Aiden trusted in himself, it was his ability to improvise. At least… that's what he believed. He didn't care what anyone else thought.

Lightning cracked violently around Elexa, her body a storm of blue arcs. She hadn't known Aiden could even fight like this....well, he hadn't gone all out in the tournament, so maybe that explained it. But she knew one thing: this form of his was strong. Maybe too strong. Together, they could bring down this so-called Dark Emissary.

Yet, for all the shifting tides, Striker didn't show a shred of fear. If anything… he looked amused. Not almost but completely amused.

Elexa's eyes darkened. She glared at Striker, who stood with that calm, almost warm smile on his handsome face.

"You're really interesting," Striker said lightly. "I once thought Han was the only freak in the Trust Guild… but seeing you now, I'm starting to think otherwise." His gaze slid to Aiden. "Impressive."

Inside the emerald warrior king's head, Aiden grinned at the words. A fleeting grin which was quickly buried under a hard, serious expression. Compliments from the enemy meant nothing. If there was one thing he'd learned, it was that giving a Dark Emissary room to scheme only spelled disaster. Striker had to go down.

Elexa didn't hesitate. Blue lightning streaked violently around her as she lunged. Aiden followed, spear glowing faintly in his grip as the giant warrior surged forward.

Striker didn't linger either. Red lightning wrapped his frame as he burst into the air, clashing against Elexa head-on. Their battle detonated into a frenzy bolts splitting the walls, shattering stone, scorching the air.

Aiden bided his time. Then, when the moment opened, he launched forward, spear flashing. Elexa disengaged, leaving Striker just off balance. He couldn't react fast enough.

The spear slammed into Striker's chest.

"—ngh!"

Pain tore through him, white-hot and blinding, hurling him across the room. He skidded, rolled, then came to a brutal halt against the floor. Groaning, Striker staggered back up, clicking his tongue in irritation. How could he have forgotten? Aiden wasn't just background, he was still in the fight. And in this form, he packed a punch.

"Ready for round two?" Aiden's cocky voice rang out.

Striker shook his head, surprisingly calm. "No. Let me rest. I haven't been hit like that in a while."

Aiden's face twitched. Rest? In the middle of a war? Was this guy insane?

Elexa didn't wait for banter. She launched forward again, fist blazing with condensed blue lightning.

At the last instant, Striker's hand shot out, catching her fist mid-swing.

Her face paled, but then a wild grin spread across her lips.

"This will hurt," she whispered....

....and then the lightning in her body converged violently into her hand, exploding outward in a storm of blinding sparks

Lightning ripped through her body, surging, converging into her fists until they glowed like miniature suns. Then—BOOOOM!

The explosion roared, deafening, a storm of sparks blasting outward. The walls of the chamber groaned under the impact, stone trembling, echoing with the force.

Elexa's body was flung back like a ragdoll. Before she could smash into the wall, a massive vine-hand stretched out and caught her midair.

She glanced at Aiden, her chest heaving. "I'll… rest. Just a few minutes."

Aiden nodded once, his voice low. "I'll take it from here."

Striker wasn't so lucky. He hit the wall with bone-crushing force, the stone caving in around him, leaving a massive dent. He staggered back to his feet, face twisted with rage. His eyes locked on Elexa.... her lashes lowered, her body humming with wild energy as she sat still, trying to bleed off the excess lightning threatening to tear her apart from the inside.

Striker smirked. "So that's it… she has to babysit her own power. Weak." His grin widened, crimson lightning crawling up his arms. "Unlike her, my lightning doesn't punish me. Red lightning isn't something you tame, it becomes you. Her strike hurt, sure, but me?" He cracked his neck. "I'm perfectly fine."

He stepped forward, intent clear. Take out the troublesome hero.

But before he could move another inch, the towering Emerald Vine Warrior stepped between him and Elexa. Aiden's voice rumbled, sharp and steady. "Where do you think you're going?"

Striker's smile turned pleasant, mocking. "Oh, about that… don't you think we should deal with her? She's a liability. A disturbance. If you won't do it, let me. I know how to kill pretty girls."

Aiden's vine-eyes flicked toward Elexa's face which was calm, beautiful even in her vulnerable state....then back to Striker. He shook his head slowly. "You're wrong. She's not troublesome. Well… maybe a little." His lips curved, faintly. "But she's pretty. That's enough for me."

Striker laughed, shameless. "I agree. She is pretty. But she'll just get in the way of our fight. Let me handle her..."

His words cut off. The spear in Aiden's hand shifted, twisting, reshaping. In its place: a massive warhammer, head gleaming with emerald fire. Aiden's grin stretched wide, strange, dangerous.

"You know," he said, voice low and cruel, "I also know how to crush annoying smiling men."

He swung. The warhammer came down like judgment.

But Striker vanished in a flash of red lightning, reappearing right in Aiden's face. A cocky grin still played on his lips until he realized too late.

The vine warrior's massive head twisted unnaturally to the side, eyes tracking him. The warhammer snapped around mid-swing and slammed into Striker's back with monstrous force.

CRACK—BOOOOM!

He shot across the room, a comet of flesh and red lightning, cratering the floor.

Striker dragged himself up almost instantly, sparks dancing off his frame, but Aiden was already moving. The warhammer fell again, then shifted mid-swing into a blade, then into a spear, then into a flail. Weapon after weapon, each perfect for the moment. His assault was relentless, merciless.

Striker was forced into a loop.... dodging, blocking, countering but every time he tore into the vine warrior's frame, more vines knit the wounds closed. And when Aiden's strikes did connect, they hurt. They really hurt.

Minutes blurred in the chaos of their clash. Striker's frustration boiled over, his red lightning flaring wilder, angrier.

And then, in the middle of their furious exchange, Aiden suddenly disengaged.

He stepped back. Calm. Measured.

Striker's gut twisted with a bad premonition.

Then he saw it, but it was too late.

The spear slammed into his chest, vines collapsing around his figure.

Striker's body convulsed. A deafening, gut-twisting pain ripped through him before he dropped to his knees. The red lightning sputtered and scattered around him, fading, leaving him slumped and broken.

Elexa's breath hitched. Is it… over?

Aiden's vine form peeled away, the Emerald Warrior collapsing back into roots and sinking into the ground. His body returned to normal, his chest rising and falling with exhaustion. It hadn't been easy, but they'd done it. Another Dark Emissary was taken down.

He stepped closer, eyes narrowing at Striker's trembling shoulders.

A strange thought slipped into his mind, absurd enough to make him almost laugh. Wait… is he sobbing?

But as he got closer, he saw the truth.

Striker wasn't crying. He was chuckling.

"…Wait. He's chuckling? Why?"

Striker's head tilted up. His smile spread wide, teeth bared, eyes gleaming with madness.

"You two… are really interesting. Really, really interesting. But that won't save you." His voice dropped low, harsh. "It can't."

He rose to his feet.

Red lightning exploded around him, violent and chaotic. No longer calm, no longer contained....this was destruction given form. Every crackle, every strike tore scars into the stone around them. Walls shook. The ground fractured. The air itself screamed.

Aiden's face darkened. His gut turned to ice. That easy grin Striker wore before? Gone. His expression now was sharp, cold, merciless.

Wait… he wasn't serious before?

A chill crawled down Aiden's spine, heavier than any wound. If Striker had been holding back this whole time, if this was him finally cutting loose then what kind of monster stood before them now?

His throat worked as he swallowed hard.

Beside him, Elexa's blue lightning flared again. Her fists clenched, body trembling not from exhaustion, but from the weight of what they faced. The situation had just skyrocketed beyond anything they'd imagined, but the choice was still the same.

Win or lose.

And losing meant death.

Her gaze snapped to the storm of red lightning ripping the room apart. Each strike carried raw, merciless destruction. Her heart pounded, her instincts screamed, every nerve in her body tingling with danger.

It's because of that… she realized, eyes locked on the storm. That red lightning… it's death itself.

Striker looked between them, smile fading into something grim, almost reverent.

"Your efforts are commendable," he said softly. "But let me show you… why red lightning is feared. Why it's called the most dangerous lightning in existence....because nothing rivals its destruction."

The storm built around him.

The chamber shook.

And then—

To be continued…

AUTHOR'S NOTE

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