The tension at the shattered expanse of the Aqua Astro Station, though still thick as a storm-laden sky, seemed to ease slightly with the presence of an enigmatic force, an unseen pressure neither enemy nor ally could define. The injured subordinates were steadily being guided away, their weakened forms supported by Lunara's sisters and Karl's men, retreating from the battlefield like the tide receding from a forsaken shore.

A little further away, Lunara, Karl, Lumina, and Nyxander stood their ground, their unwavering gazes fixed on the primordial Rhino looming before them. The beast exuded a presence of sheer dominance, its massive frame radiating an aura of supreme confidence as if daring them to strike first. A deep, guttural growl rumbled from its chest, an unspoken command that they all attack at once.

Nyxander smirked, a knowing, almost playful expression that barely touched his lips. "Sure, we would," he murmured, his voice carrying the weight of certainty as if he had already glimpsed the end of this battle. His eyes, sharp and discerning, locked onto the beast's own. "But first, don't you think this fight is one-sided? Why don't we make it an even match?" His words slithered through the air like a quiet storm approaching, his shadowed smirk sending an eerie chill through the battlefield as the beast's fiery eyes locked onto his.

To those standing beside him, his words seemed nothing more than a fighter's pre-battle rhetoric, a meaningless flourish of confidence before the bloodshed began. But then, the impossible happened. The beast took three slow, deliberate steps backward. The very foundation of their reality seemed to tremble at the sight. Karl, Lunara, and Lumina stiffened, their widened eyes betraying their disbelief.

Lumina's gaze shifted from the beast to the man beside her. A question formed in the depths of her mind, unspoken but deafening in its weight, yet uncertainty clouded her thoughts. "Who are you... Nyxander?* Her breath hitched as Nyxander, as if sensing her thoughts, turned his gaze towards her, his catching her staring.

"Hum…" he hummed, his response neither an acknowledgment nor a dismissal. Lumina's eyes widened slightly before she turned away, feigning indifference, though the slight pink on her cheeks betrayed her.

"Alright, let's begin," Nyxander declared, his voice smooth yet edged with an undeniable sharpness. Without hesitation, he surged forward, Karl and Lunara following close behind, their movements a blur of practiced precision, leaving Lumina momentarily behind.

Sensing the shifting tides of battle, the primordial Rhino reacted, summoning a beam of condensed energy from the rear horn, channeling it forward to the front. But before it could release its devastating strike, Nyxander activated his ability, 'Aetherial Shroud Manipulation'. The very essence of the void twisted at his command, no longer an empty chasm but an undulating, transparent fluid, visible only to him yet altering the very nature of space itself.

As the beast unleashed its attack, the void expanded, stretching like the surface of a disturbed lake, carrying the beam along its rippling folds. The beam, now carried by the void, should have streaked toward Lumina at an unrelenting speed, But the nature of the void had already been transformed by Nyxander's influence. The beam, once a spear of light, now moved like a wave slowed by the drag of unseen forces.

The air crackled with raw energy as the slowed beam inched toward Lumina. With a calculated breath, she pivoted swiftly to her right, the radiant energy just missing her, humming past her like an echo of death unrealized.

The primordial rhino, its colossal frame quivering with raw energy, began gathering light once more, its horn pulsating like a dying star on the verge of explosion. But before the attack could be unleashed, Nyxander, moving with ghostly precision, propelled himself beneath the beast's massive jaw. His eyes burned with a quiet intensity.

"You will be the first to test my newest breakthrough," he murmured, his voice laced with both amusement and finality.

Raising his clenched fists, a swirling abyss-like energy wrapped around them, tendrils of lightning crackling from the void-infused aura. "Stormbreak Void Fist: Storm Barrage!" he roared, unleashing a relentless flurry of punches. Each strike birthed miniature void implosions wrapped in searing lightning. Each impact sent ripples through the beast's thick hide, warping the very air around it. The relentless barrage disrupted its attempt to fire the beam, forcing its head to jolt back in agonized resistance. Though Nyxander restrained his full strength, subtle but fatal sign of a faint crack formed deep within the beast's essence crystal, buried within its head.

The beast stumbled, reeling from the unseen wounds coursing through its body, its massive hooves stomping against the fractured ground, shaking its head violently as though trying to dispel the pain gnawing at its core.

Karl and Lunara seized the moment. Leaping high into the storm-filled air, Karl's battle-hardened arms swung his colossal axe downward, the weapon gleaming with immortal energy. Gravity itself seemed to resist his motion, dragging him earthward, but his strike landed true, his blade cleaved through the beast's reinforced hide, albeit barely, a testament to its unnatural resilience.

Lunara followed in a fluid motion, her twin daggers flashing like spectral fangs as she drove them into the newly torn wound before it could heal. She pressed her weight against the beast's toughened flesh, pushing deeper, aiming for its vulnerable tissues. The rhino thrashed in retaliation, its colossal body convulsing with frustration as it struggled to shake them off.

Above, an arrow cut through the chaos like a comet. Lumina's shot, perfectly timed, found its mark, piercing straight through the beast's gaping maw. A deafening bellow of agony tore through the battlefield, its voice thick with rage and anguish.

Then, something changed. The beast's horns, symbols of its terrifying might, began to retract, disappearing into its skull like a beast shedding its skin. A brief, unnerving silence followed before a new horn erupted from its head, massive and menacing, spiraling with twin streaks of ever-shifting energy.

Then, in a heartbeat, devastation was unleashed. A blinding spiral of condensed energy pulsed outward in an expanding circle, faster than the eye could track. The sheer force of its release sent Karl and Lunara flying through the air like fallen leaves caught in a storm, spared only by the split-second gap before the main explosion ignited.

Nyxander's gaze sharpened. With no time to hesitate, he pivoted, dashing toward Lumina. As the tidal wave of energy surged toward them, he leaped, grabbing her mid-motion. They tumbled across the shattered earth, rolling amidst the wreckage just as the cataclysmic beam ripped past them.

The beam carved through the ruins of the already dilapidated structures, consuming everything in its path. Entire buildings crumbled in an instant, disintegrated into mere echoes of their former existence. The battlefield, once a scene of intense struggle, now bore the scars of devastation, a silent testament to the raw, unrelenting force of their adversary.

The beast, now having fully merged its two abilities into one, unleashed a condensed beam of light into the sky. A luminous void unfurled around it like an ethereal canopy, its glow expanding with an ominous inevitability. The very fabric of space warped as the void devoured everything caught within its reach, leaving annihilation in its wake.

Nyxander rose to his feet, his decision weighing heavier than the battlefield itself. If he acted now, he risked revealing too much, his origins, his strength, his secrets. Yet hesitation was a luxury he could not afford. His fingers flexed, joints cracking like distant thunder, the void-like fluid coiling restlessly in his palms, eager to be unleashed.

Then, before he could move, the impossible happened.

The beast and its expanding void were abruptly wrenched downward, as if the very ground, long-suffering under its dominion, had declared vengeance. A force beyond reason shattered the void, its radiant light fracturing like brittle glass. The beast's massive frame followed, its lower abdomen slamming into the ground with a sickening thud.

Silence hung in the air, broken only by the rapid, uneven breaths of those who bore witness.

Karl, Lunara, Nyxander, and Lumina stared, their eyes wide, their minds racing to comprehend what had just transpired. The primordial beast, an entity of overwhelming power, was now being crushed under its own weight.

Lumina's gaze snapped toward Nyxander, her voice laced with something between disbelief and dread. "What did you do to it?"

Her tone held no sympathy for the beast, only fear of the force that had just unraveled it.

Nyxander turned to her, his expression unreadable. "That wasn't me," he said simply, his hands open in a gesture of honesty.

"What do you mean that wasn't you?!" Lumina's voice rose, her frustration spilling into accusation. It was as if she refused to believe there could be any other explanation.

Nyxander met her gaze, his sky blue eyes steady. "Trust me. I've never lied to you."

For a moment, the battlefield vanished between them, swallowed by the unspoken tension. But then Nyxander's expression shifted, his instincts flared. His head snapped toward the distance, past the lingering smoke and swirling dust, his senses picking up something beyond the ruin left in the beast's wake.

A figure, Indistinct, shrouded in the aftershocks of destruction, barely visible through the haze. Nyxander's breath hitched. His lips parted, forming a name like a whispered omen. "Hmph… Beorn." The name carried the weight of recognition, of something long buried clawing its way back into the present.

Lumina followed his gaze, her eyes flickering between him and the fading apparition. But before she could speak, the figure dissolved into nothing, swallowed by the settling dust and the silence that now ruled the battlefield. "What was that?" she asked, her voice quieter this time, uncertain.

Nyxander blinked, his focus snapping back to the present. He exhaled, turning to Lumina with a half-shrug, the ghost of something unreadable in his expression. "Nothing," he murmured. "Just… a familiar silhouette."

The battlefield fell into a strange, eerie stillness. Smoke drifted aimlessly, dust spiraled like lost spirits, as if the land itself was exhaling after enduring the devastation. The wind whistled softly, weaving through the broken ruins, whispering of freedom, of destruction, of an outcome it alone had witnessed.

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.