Immortal Anger

The silence still reigned in the sweat- and blood-soaked underground halls.Kai, dazed, stepped slowly toward the massive body lying on the ground. The last echoes of the fight still vibrated against the stone walls.

"Is he… dead?" he asked, almost whispering.

Kazan, still catching his breath, looked up at him. His hands were trembling slightly, his skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat.

"Yes !" ,he replied, stepping closer to the corpse. "I had to kill him. Otherwise, he would've warned the king… and everyone would've known I helped you."

Without waiting for a response, he stabbed the tip of one of his katanas into Taren's chest. A dull crack echoed as bone gave way. He then pushed the lifeless body into the black chasm behind them. The sound of the fall seemed to last forever.

Kai, still shaken, watched Kazan step back from the edge.

"But… what element do you control, Kazan ?" he murmured, fascinated.

The master turned, regaining his composure.

"Me ? I wield the Element of Sound. And him, Taren… he wielded Cactus."

"Sound ? Cactus ? Are those even real elements ? Like water, fire, earth, or light ?"

Kazan let out a small, joyless laugh.

"I'm surprised you don't know this. In this world, anything can become an element. Absolutely anything. The system changes over time. Every generation sees new elements, new classes, new skills emerge. Some vanish. Others become legends. But now's not the time for a history lesson. Come."

He began walking toward the way they had come.

Kai watched him, puzzled.

"Wait… the door's on the other side."

Kazan stopped for a second, without turning around.

"Don't you see ? We already got what we came for."

"What ? What do you mean ?"

Kazan slowly turned his head.

"Taren said it himself. The Yellow Calamity… the one of greed… is the one who stole the Heart."

He turned away. Kai, stunned, stood still for a moment… then silently followed.

As they climbed the stairs leading back to the temple, a strange feeling crept over them. Not a sound. The temple, usually filled with chants, prayers, and whispers, was utterly silent.

Even with his detection skill, Kai couldn't sense a single presence inside.

Kazan frowned.

They pushed open the great temple doors… and then, they understood.

All the priests, townsfolk, merchants, children, and guards still present… they were all outside, heads tilted to the sky. Frozen, stunned.

The massive luminous rectangle floated above the city, like a screen projecting a vision.

Kai and Kazan raised their eyes.

"What in the… ? Kazan muttered gravely.

At the center of the rectangle, Samuel — freed from his chains — was fighting fiercely against Relia, the Second of the Foundement of Protection.

Around the central image, smaller rectangles displayed Dante fighting Baldek, Canon against Seyra, and Helydia facing off with Vaekas.

Kai took a step back, eyes wide.

Kazan's gaze remained fixed on the sky, his mind racing.

"This… isn't how it was supposed to go. They must have… improvised."

He stood silent for a moment, then turned abruptly and rushed back inside the temple. Kai stayed behind, still entranced by the skyborne images.

Kazan soon returned, carrying a piece of paper, an envelope, and a pen. He walked up to Kai and motioned to him:

"Turn around."

Kai obeyed, and Kazan leaned on his back to write. Once done, he slid the paper into the envelope and handed it to the young man.

"Kai. Listen to me very carefully. Take this letter, and give it to Dante the moment you see him."

Kai took it without question.

"Now, go back to the inn. Grab everything you left behind. You won't be coming back here. Then wait for me there."

Then, Kazan gently pulled off the scarf Kai wore around his neck and wrapped it around his own face.

"I'll borrow this. No one must recognize me. Go."

Kai nodded and dashed off through the city streets. Kazan turned back toward the temple interior.

Panting, Kai arrived at the inn — The Split Shield. He climbed the stairs, entered the room they shared, and stuffed everything into their bags: clothes, rations, potions, healing slimes. Then he bolted back downstairs…

And there, at the inn's entrance, Kazan was already waiting — mounted on a massive saddle-furret. A creature with four eyes, fur-covered, swift, bearing an elegant yet fierce appearance. The same one they'd seen in the temple's monster vault.

Kazan dismounted, handed the reins to Kai, returned his scarf, and said simply:

"Go save them. Get everyone out of that castle."