Chapter 84: Chalu’s Journey (60)  

The battlefield trembled under the clash of steel and fire.

Elara's flaming daggers left streaks of molten air as she lunged, her small frame a blur of speed. She didn't just fight—she hunted. Every step was calculated, every movement sharpened to a lethal edge.

Naga coiled her serpentine body, retreating slightly as her yellow eyes gleamed with malice. The burn on her side sizzled, but the pain only fueled her fury.

"Enough of your games!" she spat, her trident twisting in her grip.

With a burst of speed, Naga launched herself forward, the ground cracking beneath her powerful tail. Her trident lashed out in a speed of motion, aiming to impale Elara through the chest.

But Elara had already moved.

She twisted her body at the last second, the trident's deadly prongs grazing her shoulder instead of piercing her heart. Pain flared, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she used the momentum, spinning mid-air to bring her dagger down toward Naga's exposed throat.

Too slow.

Naga recoiled, snapping her massive tail in a vicious counterattack. Elara barely managed to twist her body in time, but the impact sent her flying. She crashed onto the bloodied battlefield, rolling through the dirt before flipping back onto her feet.

She wiped a smear of blood from her lip with the back of her hand, her dark eyes gleaming with a dangerous light.

"Tch. That actually hurt." she admitted, rolling her injured shoulder.

Naga grinned, slamming her trident into the ground. The battlefield quaked as black mist seeped from her wounds, her power surging.

"You rely on speed and tricks, little girl," Naga taunted. "But I am power. I am terror."

Elara sighed. "Gods, you talk too much."

Before Naga could react, Elara disappeared.

No flash of magic. No sound. Just gone.

Naga's forked tongue flicked out in alarm. She whipped her head from side to side, scanning the battlefield—nothing.

Then—

Shhhk!

A burning pain exploded across her back.

Naga shrieked, spinning just in time to see Elara materializing from the shadows, one flaming dagger slick with black blood.

"Shadow Step." Elara murmured, her smirk returning.

Naga's mind raced. That wasn't teleportation—it was pure skill. An assassin's technique of weaving through blind spots, vanishing from sight without magic.

Elara flicked her dagger, sending droplets of black blood onto the dirt. "Big and scary doesn't mean invincible," she teased. "You've got too many openings, fish."

Naga's rage boiled over. She let out a bloodcurdling screech, her tail whipping toward Elara with enough force to shatter stone.

But Elara didn't run.

She met the attack head-on.

In an instant, she jumped—not away, but forward, straight toward the incoming tail. At the last moment, she spun her body, her dagger slashing down in a perfect arc.

Schhhing!

The tip of Naga's tail flew through the air, severed cleanly.

Naga's scream tore through the battlefield, a mix of rage and pain. Her severed tail writhed on the ground, black blood hissing as it touched the scorched earth.

But Elara didn't hesitate.

She was already moving, her body a blur of speed and precision.

Naga's golden eyes widened as Elara closed the distance—too fast. Too sudden.

"You—"

She barely raised her trident in time. CLANG! Sparks erupted as steel clashed against steel, the force of Elara's dagger nearly knocking the weapon from Naga's grip.

The serpent queen snarled and lashed out with her tail—what remained of it.

Elara ducked.

The strike missed her by inches, slicing the air where her head had been a heartbeat ago. She twisted low, sliding beneath Naga's guard, her dagger flashing upward in a deadly arc.

Schhhk!

A deep gash split across Naga's arm. Black blood splattered the battlefield.

"You're bleeding too much," Elara said coldly, circling her prey. "Maybe you should surrender before you lose something else."

Naga let out a furious hiss. "I'll tear you apart!"

The ground trembled. The air thickened. A dark force erupted around Naga, her entire body pulsing with raw power. Her golden eyes turned slit-thin, glowing with fury.

Elara tensed. She's changing the flow of battle.

Before she could react, Naga struck.

Faster than before.

A blur of motion.

The trident came first, thrusting forward like a spear of pure death. Elara sidestepped, but the second attack was already in motion—a swipe from Naga's claws, sharp as razors.

She leaned back just in time, feeling the air slice across her cheek.

Then—

A third attack.

The tail.

Elara's eyes widened. (She's adapting.)

Naga's severed tail didn't make her weaker. It made her more vicious.

THWAM!

The impact sent Elara flying.

She flipped midair, twisting her body to absorb the shock, but the sheer force sent her skidding across the battlefield, her boots carving trenches into the dirt.

She stopped herself just before slamming into a jagged rock.

Her breathing was steady. Her grip on her daggers, unshaken.

She wiped a fresh streak of blood from her lips.

"Not bad," she admitted.

Naga loomed over her, trident crackling with black energy.

"I will break you," she growled, her voice raw with rage. "I will grind your bones into the dust and feast on your heart!"

Elara exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders.

Then—

She vanished.

Naga's forked tongue flicked in panic. Where—?!

SHHHK!

A flash of silver. A deep, brutal cut across her ribcage.

Elara reappeared behind her, dagger dripping with black blood.

"Your mouth moves faster than your hands.." she whispered.

Naga roared in fury, spinning with terrifying speed. Her trident lashed out—a strike meant to skewer Elara straight through.

But Elara was already gone.

A ghost. A shadow. A flicker of death.

Her master's technique had been honed for one purpose—to kill.

Elara reappeared again, this time above.

Her daggers gleamed.

The final strike was coming.

Naga knew it.

And for the first time—she felt something she had never known.

Fear.

Elara's voice was a whisper in the wind.

"Checkmate."

Elara's daggers gleamed under the battlefield's crimson sky. She struck with perfect precision, her blade slicing clean through Naga's neck.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—SPLURCH!

Naga's severed head fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Black blood gushed from the open wound, pooling beneath her body.

Elara exhaled, flipping her dagger between her fingers. It's over.

Or so she thought.

Then, something changed.

The battlefield shook.

Naga's body twitched.

Then—convulsed.

Elara's sharp eyes narrowed. What the hell?

Naga's form began to grow. Her muscles bulged, her scales darkened, and black mist spewed from the gaping wound where her head had been.

Then, a grotesque noise.

SCHHHHRRRRRK!

With a sickening squelch, another head began to form.

Elara's breath hitched. "What…?"

The watching Eldoans and beastfolk felt their stomachs drop. A wave of sheer, primal dread spread through the battlefield.

They had witnessed many horrors in war, but this—this was something unnatural.

Naga's body thrashed wildly, her golden eyes now burning with madness rather than intelligence. Her body doubled in size, her tail smashing the ground violently, splitting the earth apart.

Something was horribly wrong.

Then, a desperate voice rang out.

"RUN, MISS ELARA!!"

Elara barely had time to register the shout before a figure sprinted toward her—an Eldoan mage, his face pale with terror.

"She can't die that way! Her core! You have to destroy her core!"

Elara's eyes flicked toward Naga's chest. A core?

But before she could react, a shadow loomed over her.

THOOM!

Naga's tail crashed down, missing Elara by mere inches as she flipped backward, landing in a crouch. Dust and debris shot into the air.

An Eldoan knight rushed to her side, his armor dented and smeared with blood. He gripped his sword tightly, his face tense.

"Miss Elara.. That thing.. she's no longer thinking! She's a beast now! You can't fight her like before!"

Elara clenched her jaw. Her mind raced.

She had one chance to end this.

She had to find Naga's core—and destroy it.

Elara's grip on her daggers tightened as she locked eyes with the Eldoan mage. The battlefield around them trembled, filled with the monstrous roars of the ever-growing Naga.

"You mentioned a core… how do you know about it?" Elara asked, her voice sharp with urgency.

Venna, the Eldoan mage, hesitated. Her hands trembled slightly as she clutched her staff. "I heard about it…"

Elara frowned. "What?"

Venna's throat tightened, her gaze momentarily distant. "We fought a general before… twenty of us against one."

Elara's breath hitched. She understood immediately. Only one survived.

"What's your name?" Elara asked, her voice quieter now.

Venna exhaled slowly, steeling herself. "I am Venna. A 5th Circle Mage of Eldoa… Anyway, when we fought the general, we thought we had the advantage. We had numbers, coordination, and preparation. But…"

She swallowed hard, the memory still fresh in her mind.

"He was too strong."

Elara's eyes never left Venna's. "What happened?"

Venna's fingers tightened around her staff as she whispered, "As we fought him, we saw something on his body."

Elara's sharp instincts honed in. "On his body?"

Venna nodded. A cold sweat formed on her brow. "A core."

Elara's expression darkened. "He said that?"

Venna inhaled shakily before meeting Elara's gaze. "Before we managed to kill him with our combined attack… I heard his final words."

...

Flashback

The battlefield was a graveyard.

The once-mighty Eldoan forces had been reduced to corpses, their armor shattered, their weapons broken. The scent of blood, burnt flesh, and steel filled the air.

Venna's vision blurred from exhaustion, but she remained standing.

She was the last one left.

Across from her stood a towering figure—a behemoth clad in bloodstained obsidian armor. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, his veins pulsating with raw power.

Garuk, one of Athos' Generals.

His spear, still dripping with the blood of her comrades, dug into the cracked earth. His dark eyes gleamed with something primal—fury, madness… and desperation.

Venna could barely stand. Her mana was nearly depleted, her breath ragged.

But then, she saw it.

A dark crystal, embedded deep in Garuk's chest.

It pulsed.

It was alive.

It was his core.

Garuk suddenly staggered, gripping his chest as cracks began forming around the core. His body trembled, his breath growing labored.

Then—he screamed.

"NOT MY CORE!!!"

His voice was a monstrous roar, shaking the very air.

Venna watched, frozen in horror, as Garuk's body began to break apart—not from an external wound, but from within. His own power was consuming him.

The battlefield was filled with his agonized screams as his flesh crumbled away, his once-unstoppable body turning to ash.

And then—silence.

The only thing left was the shattered remains of the core, flickering weakly before fading into nothingness.

Venna collapsed, surrounded by the dead.

She was the only one who survived.

...

Present

Venna's voice trembled as she finished her story. "That's why we won. Because we destroyed his core."

Elara's jaw tightened. "So that's the only way."

Venna nodded. "If Naga has a core like Garuk… then just cutting her down won't work. You have to destroy the core, or she'll keep coming back."

Elara turned toward the monstrous form of Naga, who continued to grow and mutate, her body spiraling out of control.

Time was running out.

If she didn't find that core soon… they were all dead.

 To be continue