The Lost Kingdom | Nova Terra Chronicles

As Rikushi took his first step into the direction of Zavren, his shoes kicked up waves of white-hot sand. His eyes were locked on one man--one nightmare made of flesh.

Zavren.

Clad in obsidian armor laced with molten veins, Zavren stood like a monolith under the sky. His glowing red eyes narrowed as he raised his arm in silence.

CLANG!

Rikushi's saber clashed with Zavren's armored fist--the force sent a ring through the arena--but instead of following through, Rikushi twisted his body mid-slash, redirecting his momentum and slashing under Zavren's arm.

A sharp hiss.

A clean gash split Zavren's armor, sparks flying. But no blood. Not yet at least.

Zavren snarled.

With one brutal stomp, the earth cracked open beneath them, magma erupting around Rikushi's feet. The heat distorted the air. Rikushi stumbled, losing his footing for a fraction of a second too long.

Zavren's fist crashed into Rikushi's chest, sending him flying back like a broken comet. He dug his saber into the ground, sparks trailing as he carved a path through the sand.

Breathing heavy, Rikushi rose again.

Zavren chuckled darkly.

"You? You rely too much on strength. Without it, you're just another broken weapon. Hoshina... now she would've made the perfect experiment."

Rikushi's grip tightened. His heart pounded with flames.

"All I need... is strength to beat you."

Zavren scoffed. "Then prepare to be disappointed. You're too slow--no resolve. You're even barely worth killing, as you're just another failed experiment."

Something clicked.

Rikushi's wings retracted tightly into his back.

Then... his eyes began to glow white.

"No more playing around," he whispered with a grin.

"Let me have my fun... demolishing you."

"CINDERBLOOM IMPACT!"

A spiraling ember exploded forward like a comet--

Zavren dodged, stepping just enough to clear it--

But Rikushi was already there, face-to-face, eyes burning with white fire.

The grin never left his face.

Zavren ducked--

But a fireball was already mid-cast, crashing into his vision. At the same moment, Rikushi's saber swung down, burning with a mix of deep-red and white Fire.

CLANG--

Zavren parried, but his arms trembled--his rhythm was cracking.

Rikushi whispered something so quick, that no mortal could fully comprehend;

"Let the Elements spiral, with this symphony as said by the Stars... NOVA BURST!"

A beam surged towards Zavren--Fire. Rock. Water. Air.

Four elemental forces in one symphonic blast.

It tore through Zavren's shoulder, sending fragments of armor flying.

Before Zavren could even scream--

"HELLFLARE SPIRAL!"

A second beam--of concentrated arcanic energy--punched through his other shoulder.

Zavren's roar echoed across Eagle City.

But Rikushi wasn't done.

He stood tall, his form glowing white--

Final Ascension... Touching-the-Arcane.

His body transformed--gleaming white with obsidian lines carved down his cheeks, twin halos glowing above his head, and behind him floated a massive Magic Circle, spinning with the ancient power of the ArchAngelics.

In one hand--White Fire ignited.

The fire dissipated, and in its place was a new weapon:

"Phoenix Rend."

Two more Magic Circles appeared under his feet, glowing with radiant fury.

Rikushi dashed forward.

CRRRRRRSH!

He sliced Zavren across the side--not a full cut, but deep enough that white flame trailed through the wound.

"BRANDED FLAME!"

The sigil left by the Apostle's Blade--being marked by his slice--ignited, consuming the wound with sacred fire. Zavren screamed, the fire clinging to his flesh, refusing to let go.

Rikushi's Ascended Blaze aura exploded around him, propelling him forward once again.

Zavren's red eyes began to dim, and his breath ragged, as the the truth was setting in.

He was losing, no... he had already lost the moment he trapped Para, Rumoto, and Rikushi in that cavern.

And Rikushi?

Rikushi stared at him--without pity and only focus and pure-determination.

"Oh flame of the void..."

"Oh arcane beyond the stars--guide my blade."

His sword starts unleashing a mix of Black and White flame.

"Let this final strike slice through flesh, through fate, through reality itself..."

"ARCANIC-BREAKING SLASH!"

SLASH!

Reality itself split and fractured.

A jagged tear of light erupted from Rikushi's blade, distorting the battlefield like shattered glass.

The cut did not simply wound Zavren.

It erased his presence from existence.

His armor shattered.

His voice silenced.

His very essence combusted into nothingness.

Zavren was gone.

The flames around Rikushi slowly dissipated.

The light faded from his body.

He breathed out, watching ash drift upward.

And behind him--

Valentine and Kaide stood over the smoldering corpse of Nexivoros.

Rikushi looked back and smiled.

"Right on time."

As Zavren and Nexivoros fell, the battlefield was not yet quiet.

Across the cracked and scorched arena, the remaining minions of DOMAIN still fought, vicious and relentless--but Rumoto and Para stood firm, backs against the flame-licked wind.

Rumoto wiped the blood off his chin, eyes locked on the agile Void-Archer who danced just beyond range.

"Back me up, Para."

Para gave a confident smirk, twin hands glowing with divine light.

"You call it, I fire it-"

Rumoto's axe came falling down.

But the archer slipped aside with unnatural speed.

Rumoto didn't flinch.

But before the Axe hit the ground, Rumoto put all of his might into pulling the Axe down heavier--

BOOM!--

a shockwave of sand exploded outward, cloaking the battlefield in a blinding cloud of smoke.

From within it, the shout echoed:

"Light's Fight!"

Dozens of radiant beams--sharp, swift, and searing--pierced through the smoke like divine arrows of judgment. Screams rang out.

The archer's body slumped to the ground with smoking holes through the chest.

Gone in an instant.

Before the dust could settle, Rumoto surged forward through the cloud, appearing behind another enemy--the Shadow-Brawler, cloaked in ink and hate.

Rumoto wrapped his axe handle across the foe's throat, holding them back and choking them with.

"Hold still, you freak," he muttered through gritted teeth.

At the same time, Para appeared in in front and above--hands glowing not just with light, but compressed, hardened light like divine gauntlets of stone.

BOOM--BOOM!

Both fists slammed into the enemy's gut--ribs cracked, spine shattered--the wind left the minion's lungs like a death rattle.

Rumoto spun violently, twisting the neck of the monster with a sickening snap.

Another one down.

The final minion, witnessing the carnage and realizing their doom, screamed and charged blindly.

Rumoto raised his axe again.

"Ha, too slow."

But ice exploded from the ground, locking the minion in place with black-frosted chains--Void-Ice, from a spell left behind by the last breath of their own ally.

Para reacted fast, switching his light into dual light-forged guns, firing beams to keep the frozen minion pinned down.

But the minion broke free and ran.

Only to be cut off but a massive Ring of Fire, conjured by Rikushi moments ago. The flames surged upward, trapping it.

"You're not going anywhere..." Para whispered.

Then--

Kaide fell from the sky, thrown by Valentine's last bit of strength.

His blades spun like the wrath of heaven itself.

"GUILLOTINE WALTZ, UNCHAINED!!"

SHLUNK--

The monster was split from skull to groin.

Silence followed.

It was over.

Rikushi collapsed to his knees, every ounce of mana gone. His body shook as his halos flickered out and the light of his final ascension faded.

Kaide landed beside Rumoto, barely upright, falling forward to one knee.

Para was the first to move, kicking off the broken ice and sprinting to Valentine, helping him to his feet.

"You good, Val?"

Valentine smirked through bloodied lips.

"Better than the freak we just erased."

Rumoto slung his axe over his shoulder and stepped toward Kaide, helping him up with one hand while Para and Valentine grabbed onto Rikushi, picking him up over their shoulders.

The arena stood silent.

Then came the roar.

The announcer's voice thundered across the walls of the stadium:

"Once again, the Arena Games deliver something more than competition... they deliver the battles of living legends! For the first time since the 776th Games five years ago--we have witnessed true power!"

And far above the sands, beyond the crowd and magic barriers--

In thrones made of cloud, gold, and starlight, the gods sat in stillness. Their expressions unreadable. But one leaned forward slightly.

Jupiter.

"Mortals..." he muttered. "...might actually be worth testing this year."