Chapter 320: Eclipse

Rue and Sage descended—WHOOSH—landing on either side of Kael’s broken body. Their nine tails spread wide, fox fire radiating from their forms in waves of golden-white heat. The grass beneath them ignited—CRACKLE—turning to ash in a perfect circle.

Rue knelt first. Her hands hovered over Kael’s impaled body, her amber eyes wide with barely contained fury. Sage crouched on his other side, her violet eyes cold.

"Hold still," Sage said. Her fox fire concentrated in her palms—HUMMM—golden-white flames condensing to a focused point. She pressed her hands against the bone spike in Kael’s right thigh.

HISS.

The fox fire burned against the demonic bone—SIZZLE—purple-black flames from Kael’s Demonic Asura Fire mixing with golden-white fox fire. The bone spike dissolved—CRACKLE, MELT—disintegrating into dark vapor that evaporated on contact with the air.

Sage moved to the next spike. Each bone spike dissolved under the combined fire.

As the last spike was removed from Kael’s torso, his body went to work. His Void Body Refinement activated—HUMMM—Tier 5 cells regenerating at visible speed. Flesh knit—SQUISH—muscles reformed, blood vessels reconnected. The Demonic Asura Fire in his blood accelerated the process—WARMTH—the primordial fire energy cauterizing internal wounds and stimulating cell division.

The holes in his thighs, arms, and torso sealed shut. His ribs cracked back into alignment—CRACK, POP—the fractures mending. His mana pathways reopened—SURGE—energy flowing through his body once more.

Kael sat up, coughing residual blood—SPLAT—and immediately looked at both of them.

"He’s dangerous," Kael said, his voice urgent. "Don’t underestimate him."

Then Kael’s soul sense swept over both of them. He froze.

Spirit Soul Rank 4. Both of them.

His eyes widened. "How—"

Sage smirked, flipping her violet hair over her shoulder. "We’ll explain later."

Rue smiled, her amber eyes warm despite the battlefield. "During our time apart, we visited the Serpent Empress Najaha of the Abyssal Naga. One of the Nine Court Heads."

"Her remnant soul still lingered in her holy ground," Sage continued. "With her guidance, we improved our Royal Fox Bloodline, physical strength, and soul cultivation significantly."

Kael stared at them. Then a smile broke across his blood-stained face. "I thought I had finally caught up to you two. But once again, you surprise me."

Rue’s smile brightened.

Sage reached over and pinched his cheek—PINCH—hard. "How are we supposed to protect you if you keep getting stronger than us?" Her tone was light, but her eyes flicked toward Draxos with lethal seriousness.

Rue leaned closer, her voice carrying quiet determination. "I will never let Kael catch up to us."

Kael chuckled.

Draxos watched the reunion with growing impatience. His four arms were crossed, his dark red eyes boring into the three cultivators with mounting annoyance.

"Are you done?" Draxos asked, his deep voice cutting through the moment like a blade. "I don’t mean to interrupt your little family reunion, but I was in the middle of killing someone."

All three of them turned to face him.

Their auras blazed simultaneously—FWOOM, FWOOM, FWOOM—three pillars of power erupting skyward. Kael’s crimson-streaked golden aura with purple-black flames. Rue’s golden-white fox fire with Charm rule power woven through. Sage’s violet-tinged fox fire laced with reality bending energy.

The three pressures merged—HUMMM—creating a combined field that pushed back against Draxos’s Wrath Intent for the first time.

They attacked together.

Rue moved first—WHOOSH—her body blurring with fox-kin speed. Her lips parted, and Word Magic flowed—SING—ancient syllables that carried the weight of Royal Bloodline authority.

"Stagger."

The word hit Draxos like a physical force—BOOM—his true demon form stumbling, his balance disrupted for a fraction of a second. That fraction was all Sage needed.

Sage materialized behind Draxos—FLASH—her Special Grade scythe already swinging. The blade carved through the air—SHIIIING—aimed at Draxos’s wing joint. But Draxos’s Body Manipulation reacted instinctively—SHIFT—exoskeleton armor thickening at the point of impact. The scythe struck—CLANG—sparks flying, the armor holding.

But Sage wasn’t done. Her Perception Filter activated—HUMMM—a subtle manipulation of Draxos’s sensory input. To Draxos, Sage appeared three meters to the left of her actual position. His counter-slash—SWISH—cut through empty air.

Kael exploited the opening.

He appeared above Draxos—WHOOSH—Lightning Body carrying him skyward. His gauntlet-enhanced fist descended—BOOM—striking Draxos’s shoulder with the force of a meteor. The Impact Nullification absorbed the recoil while Aura Amplification boosted the strike’s raw power. Draxos’s exoskeleton cracked—CRACK—purple-black fire eating into the fracture.

Rue layered another Word Magic command—SING—"Confuse." Draxos’s vision swam, his senses scrambling as the Charm rule power interfered with his perception. Sage’s Perception Filter deepened the effect—HUMMM—creating phantom afterimages of all three attackers around Draxos.

Draxos swung blindly—SWISH, SWISH—his greatswords carving through illusions. Kael darted in—FLASH—Shadow Slayer blades slashing across Draxos’s exposed flank—SLASH—dark blood spraying. Sage followed—SPIN—her scythe hooking around Draxos’s ankle—PULL—yanking him off balance.

Rue’s Word Magic struck again—SING—"Heavy." Gravity compounded around Draxos’s body, his movements slowing by a fraction. Kael injected Demonic Asura Fire into the wound on Draxos’s flank—FWOOM—the primordial fire burning inside the cut, preventing regeneration.

Draxos roared—ROAR—his Wrath Intent exploding outward—BOOM—disrupting the combined perception manipulation. Sage’s Perception Filter shattered—CRACK—and Rue’s Word Magic was overwhelmed. The sheer force of his intent cleared the battlefield of illusions.

But the damage was done. Draxos bled from three wounds—flank, shoulder, and a cut across his chest. His regeneration worked to close them, but the Demonic Asura Fire prevented the flank wound from healing.

"Enough games," Draxos growled.

He moved—WHOOSH—appearing in front of Sage. His fist connected—BOOM—Sage’s defensive barrier shattering on impact. She was launched—WHOOSH—tumbling through the air before stabilizing with fox fire wings. Blood trickled from her lip.

He pivoted—SPIN—and caught Rue’s incoming attack. Her Word Magic—SING—"Burn"—was swallowed by his Wrath Intent. His backhand sent her skidding—SKRT—across the fractured ground.

Then he turned to Kael.

Their eyes met.

"Find me an opening," Kael said to Rue and Sage, his voice calm despite the blood running down his body.

Both women understood instantly.

Kael stood in place. He sheathed one Shadow Slayer blade—CLICK—and held only one in his right hand. His left hand hung at his side. He breathed deeply.

INHALE.

Mana gathered around him. Not just his own—ambient mana from the Void Realm itself, drawn by the gravity of his concentration. His Transcendent Core pulsed—HUMMM—pulling energy inward. The mana flowed into the single Shadow Slayer blade, the Blood-Iron Alloy drinking greedily—DRINK—the blade’s surface shimmering with layered energies.

He infused everything.

Slaughter Intent. The crimson will of a man who had committed thirty years of genocide in a past life poured into the blade.

Darkness. The primordial shadow that existed before creation wrapped around the blade.

Lightning. Blue-white electricity danced along the edge, each spark carrying the weight of a Thunder God’s wrath.

Gravity. Gravitational force condensed into the blade’s edge, creating a localized singularity.

Demonic Asura Flamee. Purple-black fire wrapped around the blade, the fire law fusing with every other element.

The air itself stilled. SILENCE. The wind stopped. The dust stopped. The ambient mana stopped flowing. Everything in the battlefield—Draxos, Rue, Sage, the ground, the sky—all of it became background noise to the singular point of focus that was Kael’s blade.

Rue and Sage attacked Draxos from both sides—FWOOM, SHIIIING—fox fire and scythe striking simultaneously. Draxos deflected both—CLANG, CLANG—but his attention was split for one second.

One second was all Kael needed.

He murmured, his voice barely a whisper.

"Sky Rending Technique, Sixth Form: Eclipse."

He stepped forward—STEP—and the world inverted.

The blade thrust forward with blinding speed—FWOOOM—faster than sight, faster than the gap between intention and action. The combined energies—Slaughter Intent, Darkness, Lightning, Gravity, Demonic Asura Flame—converged into a single point at the blade’s tip and erupted inward. The attack imploded through Draxos’s stomach—SHLURK—the concentrated energy tearing through his exoskeleton armor, through his flesh, through his abdominal cavity, and exiting through his back. Part of his hands were cleaved as he’d tried to block—SLICE—fingers separating, bone shattering.

Draxos’s dark red eyes widened.

His mouth opened. Purple-black fire burned inside the cavity, preventing regeneration. Lightning arced through his nervous system—ZAP—disrupting his Body Manipulation. Gravity compressed the wound—CRUSH—preventing his flesh from closing.

Blood poured. Draxos’s four arms dropped to his sides. His greatswords clattered to the ground—CLANG, CLANG. His wings folded, his massive frame swaying.