Garron's bellow ripped through the fractured clearing like a warhorn from an age when gods still walked among mortal men. Yellow Shinrei twisted around him, coiling like a molten serpent that refused to die. His bare feet dug into the torn soil, cracking the ground with every tense breath he took. The fifth gate pulsed open within him an ancient furnace roaring back to life and the air thickened until it felt like the world could scarcely contain him.

Juno stood opposite him, chest rising and falling, sweat glimmering across his cheeks, but his eyes those steady, ironbound eyes did not waver. He had no affinity, no crafted Echo Arts, no history carved into prophecy. What he had was bone, muscle, discipline, and the unyielding resolve of a boy who had seen his master die in front of him and chose to stand instead of collapse.

Matthew and Andromeda closed in on Juno's flanks. Matthew's wind affinity spiraled around him, Harmonae his twin-figured Echo Spirit materializing as two ribbon-bound silhouettes hovering behind him, their soft hum weaving into his breath, stabilizing his pulse and sharpening his senses. At his feet, Sae, his small Echo pet shaped like a white-furred girl-dog with leaf-shaped ears, growled low, the air around her rippling.

Andromeda twirled his spear, electricity dancing from fingertip to shoulder. His beast affinity rippled through him, Junjun his hulking dog-familiar with jagged wind stripes—stomping the ground beside him, snarling with crackling fangs. Andromeda smirked, chest puffed.

"Alright old man prepare to be outclassed by youth, beauty, and overwhelming charisma!"

Matthew sighed without looking at him.

"You do not possess any of those traits."

"I possess all of them!" Andromeda snapped.

"Especially charisma! My jokes are legendary!"

Juno's thoughts burned beneath the steady front he maintained.

Stay focused…

Garron stomped forward, a shockwave exploding outward like a meteor strike. His voice rose, booming with reckless hunger, equal parts fury and unrestrained joy.

"COME, CHILDREN OF A WEAKENING ERA! LET ME SHOW YOU WHY THE VANGUARDS CARRIED NATIONS ON THEIR BACKS!"

Juno sprinted first.

There was no battle cry. No hesitation. Only sheer physical mastery driving his body to its absolute limits. His muscles twisted, ankles digging deep, his momentum snapping like a whip. He dove under Garron's first sweeping punch a blow heavy enough to displace the air into a visible shockwave and countered with a precise palm strike to Garron's ribs.

The impact rang like metal striking metal. Juno slid back three paces, arms trembling from the force.

Garron didn't budge.

He grinned, teeth flashing like broken ivory.

"GOOD! PAIN IS A LANGUAGE! SPEAK TO ME LOUDER, BOY!"

Matthew flew in from the right, ribbons of wind swirling from Harmonae's duet. He slashed downward with a wind-shaped blade, the air keening around the edge.

Garron's fist moved once.

The wind blast shattered like fragile glass.

Matthew barely managed to throw himself sideways before Garron's backhand nearly ripped his head clean off.

Andromeda launched from the left, spear electrified, Junjun bounding beside him, their wind tether sparking like a web between them. His voice burst out, triumphant.

"BEHOLD! THE GREAT ANDROMEDA BAN—MASTER OF THUNDER AND—"

Garron grabbed his face mid-air.

Just grabbed him.

Like swatting a fly.

He slammed Andromeda into the ground so hard the earth cratered. Junjun lunged in retaliation, jaws glowing, but Garron kicked the beast-familiar aside, sending it skidding through three uprooted tree trunks.

Sae barked furiously, tail glowing with emerald light, and fired a compressed bullet of wind at Garron's head. He tilted slightly; the blast carved a trench past him.

Juno saw an opening, darting in again.

Strike the tendons. Disable mobility. Use his age.

He ducked under Garron's elbow swing, swept his leg toward Garron's knee

Garron's laughter roared.

"THE FIFTH GATE NULLIFIES PAIN, BOY!"

His knee didn't even flinch.

Instead, Garron twisted, seized Juno by the wrist, and hurled him skyward like a stone fired from a siege engine.

Juno's vision spun.

The sky blurred.

The ground swelled up to meet him.

Matthew caught him mid-air with a burst of wind, landing both of them in a half-crouch. Sae leapt between them, growling protective circles, Harmonae's twin figures weaving ribbons of wind that softened their landing further.

Andromeda crawled out of the dirt, coughing, hair sticking out like he had been struck by a deity wielding a hairdryer.

"I'm… I'm fine… I meant to get thrown… dramatic effect…"

Juno wiped blood from his lip.

We cannot beat him with normal strikes.

We need technique. Precision. His weakness isn't physical he has none left while that gate is open.

We must break his balance… disrupt his rhythm… force him to close it.**

Garron cracked his neck, cracking the earth under his feet with the motion alone.

"THREE AGAINST ONE? GOOD. I GET BORED WITH SMALL NUMBERS."

He slammed both fists together.

The entire clearing vibrated.

And then he came at them.

He didn't run

he charged, each step a minor earthquake, each breath a gale, each punch a screaming comet.

Juno rolled aside, grabbing Garron's wrist and using his momentum to redirect him but Garron twisted mid-air, landing like a beast on all fours before leaping again, faster than before.

Matthew directed wind upward, spinning into the air as Harmonae guided him in a soaring spin-kick. Garron blocked it with the back of his forearm, the clash sending a ripple across the field. Matthew's bones rattled; he gritted his teeth through the pain.

Andromeda hurled his spear with a crack of thunder. Junjun surged behind him, wind pounding the ground in rapid bursts. The spear shot toward Garron's chest like a bolt

Garron caught it between two fingers.

He snapped it in half.

Andromeda wailed.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT WAS?!"

Garron hurled the broken spear shaft at him.

Matthew swept Andromeda aside with wind force, saving him by seconds.

But Juno had already closed the distance.

He was on Garron's blind side

fist chambered

breath steady

pulse slow

Every lesson from Vince echoing through him.

A Taishin does not fight with power.

A Taishin fights with perfection.

Juno struck.

Not at the ribs.

Not at the head.

Not at the arm.

He struck at the point just below Garron's shoulder

the precise spot where the Shinrei flow spiraled violently due to the fifth gate's forced overload.

The weak point in the Iron Nerve Gate cycle.

Garron froze.

His eyes widened.

For a fraction of a moment

just one fraction

the unstoppable gargantuan force slowed.

Then Juno whispered, breath steady:

"You are not invincible."

Garron's laugh vanished.

He attempted to swing.

The arm refused.

Sae howled, Matthew surged with wind behind Juno, Harmonae weaving resonance through the air, Andromeda leaping high with a wind-charged knee.

They hit Garron all at once.

The impact sent him flying.

A shockwave rippled, uprooting the remaining trees, turning the battlefield into a ring of shattered earth and swirling debris.

Garron crashed into a boulder with enough force to split it clean in half.

Silence fell.

Dust drifted.

Juno exhaled, sweat trailing down his jaw.

Andromeda collapsed backward, panting dramatically. Matthew steadied himself, Sae nuzzling his leg.

We stopped him…?

A low chuckle came from the dust.

Then a cough.

Then a rising, mounting roar of battle-mad laughter.

Garron stood, staggering slightly, blood dripping from his mouth.

His arm hung limp but the mad grin returned.

"GOOD. GOOD! YOU'RE LEARNING! BUT YOU THINK ONE GATE IS ALL I CAN OPEN?!"

Juno's eyes widened.

Matthew whispered,

"No… no, that would kill him—"

Andromeda yelped,

"OLD MAN STOP YOU'LL DIE I'M NOT READY TO SEE AN ELDER EXPLODE—"

Garron raised his good arm.

Shinrei spiraled around him, thicker, more violent, turning almost molten.

"SIXTH—"

A voice sliced the air cleanly.

"If you open that gate, you will die in eight seconds."

Garron paused.

K stood at the ridge above them, hands folded behind him, expression bored yet faintly amused. His cloak fluttered in the stormwinds created by the clashing Shinrei.

He didn't even look at Garron.

He was looking at someone else.

Khael.

Khael had stepped forward, Mari hidden behind his cloak, eyes burning with fury, grief, and something sharp and rising. The wind around him stirred in spirals, his dragon-bloodline veins shimmering faintly beneath his skin.

K tilted his head.

"Are you not going to help your friends?"

Khael's expression sharpened. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. The wind coiled around his ankles, rising like a sleeping serpent stirred awake.

He smiled small but resolute.

"I trust them."

His eyes lifted, fixed on K with unflinching resolve.

"The one I focus on right now… is how I defeat you."

K's smile widened, almost delighted.

"Good."

Their auras collided.

Garron roared behind them.

Juno took his stance.

Matthew and Andromeda braced.

The battlefield burned with four storms at once.

And the night trembled

because this war had only just begun.

To be continue

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.