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Chapter 140 - Fireborn Wings

Chapter 140: Chapter 140 - Fireborn Wings

Tave and Panpan stood back-to-back, weapons drawn, every breath locked in synch with each other. They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. The tension in the air was enough to tell them everything.

Their hearts pounded. Their focus was razor-sharp.

All their senses, tuned only for survival.

The three demons surrounding them moved slowly, deliberately, circling like predators. They weren’t huge like the other elite demon Tave had seen. But they carried a different kind of power. A colder, sharper, more practiced presence.

And they opened their mouths with mockery.

"Well, look at this. You two rats actually made it this far. What a waste of effort."

"You think running matters? You’re still meat. Still prey. Just more annoying to kill."

"Keep struggling, it makes your death more entertaining."

Tave didn’t respond.

He was scanning, calculating, reading their stances, their movements, their flow of energy. These demons had to have taken the brew mixed with Lunaris Bloom. It wouldn’t take effect right away. But it would kick in. Eventually.

The question was: Could they survive long enough for it to matter?

His fingers twitched slightly. Then he whispered to himself.

"I know what to do."

A dark blur surged from the trees.

Fang.

His shadow streaked across the forest floor, merging instantly with Tave. The energy crawled up his legs, wrapped around his body, and climbed his back in a swift motion.

[ Fangbound Mantle activated. ]

Shadow melded with armor.

Then, click, a full-body second layer sealed across Tave’s form. His armor shone faintly with power, every joint pulsing with dark energy, and a helmet formed over his head.

This was Fang’s Sigil Form. Fully unlocked now that he’d reached Tier 4.

A living armor. A protector. A power booster.

Now, Tave was more than a shadow assassin. He was a walking fortress with speed, stealth, and raw burst damage.

Panpan’s bow creaked behind him, already drawn.

One of the demons laughed again, louder this time.

"Oh, this is rich. You brought shadow tricks and shiny armor? This a joke?"

"That armor’s not gonna save your guts when we rip them out."

"Nice helmet. Let’s see how loud you scream when I crush it around your skull."

Tave said nothing.

Because now. They would fight.

And Tave knew exactly what that meant. This wasn’t just a brawl. This was survival, against three Gaia Grand Master demons, with no tank, no shield, no fallback.

Panpan wasn’t built to take hits. If she got caught even once, it could be over. Tave had to hold the line. Distract all three. Buy her time. Buy her shots.

Good. Because whatever happened, it had to end tonight.

Tave clenched his teeth hard, the pressure cutting through the tension.

Then.

From the ground, from the dark around them, they came. Shapes blooming like smoke.

Shadow clones.

Dozens of them, all shaped like Tave, emerging from the void in every direction, swarming the trees, circling the demons, blurring the battlefield.

Fang’s ability. Disorient. Confuse. Divide attention.

Tave burst forward, his blade erupting in fire as he dashed. The flame coiled around his sword, howling like it was alive.

He let out a low growl and slashed, aiming high.

The first demon beat his wings, lifting off just in time.

Tave didn’t stop. Another swing. And another. He chased with a storm of fire and steel.

Meanwhile, Panpan moved. Quick. But the second demon noticed. He lunged toward her.

Panpan rolled, ducked low under a claw swipe, and darted toward cover.

Tch. Not easy.

The clones struck hard and fast, surrounding the demons with relentless pressure. They looked exactly like Tave, flaming sword, fiery aura, every movement copied perfectly.

Even if the attacks were fake, the distraction worked.

Fang controlled them, syncing their motion to Tave’s. When one was destroyed, another took its place. There weren’t many, just over a dozen, but they kept coming.

Tave pivoted, launching toward the second demon. His blade crashed down, blocked by razor-sharp claws.

Panpan ran again, skidding behind trees, nocking an arrow.

She fired. Straight at the third.

But the arrow was caught, midair by the demon’s wing.

Tave snarled and launched another brutal combo, fire burning in arcs around him. But every strike was blocked. The demon didn’t even flinch.

This isn’t working.

They weren’t winning. Not like this. Not head-on.

They needed an opening.

A single break.

A split-second gap. Just enough to run.

They kept fighting.

Tave struck with ruthless precision, blade flashing, movements tight and brutal. Every swing burned with fury, every attack meant to kill. Around him, the shadow clones danced, clashing with the demons, only to be shredded and shattered, vanishing into mist the moment they were hit.

Panpan moved in constant motion, sprinting, dodging, diving behind trees and brush as she fired arrow after arrow. She never stayed in one place, but even with her speed, even with her focus. It wasn’t enough.

Then it happened.

A heavy blow slammed into Tave’s side, like being hit by a falling boulder. He was sent flying, crashing through thick branches, hitting the forest floor with a thud that cracked the earth beneath him.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

His vision blurred, but he saw it. Panpan, struck too. Her body hit the ground hard.

Before she could recover, the first demon beat his massive wings and dove. His clawed feet clamped around Panpan’s arm like iron, lifting her violently into the air.

Wings surged, and they vanished upward, cutting through the canopy into the dark sky.

"PANPAN!" Tave screamed.

But he didn’t have time to move.

The second demon was already diving at him, claws extended, fangs bared.

Tave rolled, barely escaping. The tree behind him took the full force of the blow, the bark exploding in shards.

Panpan was gone.

They’d taken her.

Tave clenched his teeth so hard it felt like they’d crack.

Panpan was gone. Dragged into the sky, helpless, her arm trapped in that demon’s crushing grip.

And now. Two of them were left for him. Alone.

His heart pounded. Rage surged.

"Kaelira!" he shouted into the air.

"You see my level! You’ve seen what I can do! I’ve earned it. I need your help!"

The voice echoed back in his head, cold and furious.

"You bark like a child who wants fire without learning how to burn. Do you think your pain earns you my strength?"

Tave parried a strike, barely. The demon’s claw skidded across his blade, throwing sparks.

Another came at him from the side. Tave rolled, but the impact knocked the air from his lungs. He scrambled back to his feet.

They were toying with him.

Mocking him.

"KAELIRA!" Tave roared.

"Lend me your power! I’ll kill them! I will ascend to Gaia Master tonight! You’ve seen what I can do! You have no other choice!"

Fire still pulsed faintly in his veins. But Kaelira’s voice returned, bitter and cold.

"You think you deserve my power because you scream the loudest?"

"You’ve barely survived. You run. You bleed. You beg. You are not ready."

"You are not enough!"

Tave’s eyes flared with fury.

He stood tall, blood on his face, fists clenched.

"Then watch me!" he snapped.

"I faced death in that fortress! I stole from under a Named Demon’s nose! I bled for this! I endured everything the Gaia threw at me, and I’m still standing!"

He raised his burning sword toward the sky.

"You will give me your strength, Kaelira! Not because I begged!"

"—but because I’ve earned it!"

"Now submit to me! Or burn with me!"

He screamed, voice raw and wild.

And then. It snapped.

A fiery explosion detonated inside his chest, bursting through every fiber of his body. Heat poured out from his core, coiling around him like a living flame. It wrapped around his limbs, crawled up his arms, blistered his skin, roared in his ears.

"Then burn!"

"Burn until you win. Or burn until there’s nothing left."

In that instant, two massive wings of blazing fire erupted from Tave’s back, unfurling with a screech of heat and fury.

A glowing notification burned across his vision:

[ Your bond with Kaelira has deepened. Fireborn Wings unlocked. Temporary Ascension State: Gaia Flame Mode Activated. ]

Tave’s lips twisted into a snarl. His vision cleared, sharper, brighter, everything more alive than before.

With a roar, he beat his wings once.

WHOOSH.

He launched upward, flames trailing behind him as he tore through the canopy.

And then, the open sky. The cold wind hit his face.

Now he flies.

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