Bahamut was stark naked now. His body was rapidly changing, visible, as the strikes continued without pause. The sixtieth strike was so powerful that it pushed him down a bit, but the projection roared and hit the lightning with its body. Its horns glowed blindingly, and the sky cracked further.

A heavy pressure fell on those watching as the projection expanded, growing even bigger. The next strike that appeared was so huge that the earth shook. Some people even collapsed from the sheer magnitude of what they were experiencing. It was as if gods had descended into the world.

The lightning descended like an executioner’s sword, plunging straight at the head of the beast projection, but the projection wasn’t to be messed with either.

The sky split wider as the final strike tore downward, a colossal pillar of divine wrath that swallowed the heavens in blinding white. It carried no sound at first, only pressure, a suffocating force that crushed the air and bent the world.

CRAAAAACK! BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The sound came after.

The massive serpent reared back, its six horns blazing with unstable brilliance, each one pulsing with a different glow that clashed and harmonized all at once. Its body, once radiant and whole, now bore cracks, fractures of light running across its length like shattered glass held together by sheer will.

It was wounded, as funny as it sounded. It was wounded badly, but it did not retreat.

It roared. The roar clashed with the descending lightning, and for a single moment, everything stopped. Then they collided.

Light devoured everything as the sky disappeared. The ground trembled violently, splitting in jagged lines that spread outward like a spiderweb. Trees uprooted, stones shattered, and more disciples collapsed, their bodies unable to withstand the pressure.

At the center, the serpent took the blow head-on. Its body coiled tighter around Bahamut, every scale blazing as the lightning poured over it, through it, into it. The horns flared wildly, each one screaming under the strain as they tried to absorb, redirect, and dominate the divine energy crashing down upon them.

The cracks spread faster and deeper as it fought on. The horns on its head represented Bahamut’s elements. The fire horn dimmed slightly, its burning essence failing. The wind horn flickered, the earth horn trembled, and the water horn destabilized.

The light horn pulsed erratically, but the darkness horn held.

The lightning pushed harder, relentlessly, and mercilessly. The serpent’s body began to break. Chunks of its luminous form peeled away, dissolving into raw energy that scattered into the storm. Its coils loosened slightly, its massive frame shuddering under the overwhelming force.

But Bahamut did not fall. Inside the storm of destruction, his body remained suspended, trembling, broken, burning, yet still there. Still enduring.

"ROOOOOOOOOAR!!!"

The serpent surged forward. With a violent twist, it uncoiled partially and lunged upward into the lightning itself, its massive jaws opening as it bit into the descending pillar of divine power.

The sky cracked. The bite was not physical; it was conceptual. The lightning stuttered. For the first time, it resisted.

The serpent devoured.

Energy exploded outward in violent waves as the projection forced itself against the strike, consuming it piece by piece, its horns blazing brighter despite their instability.

Each second felt eternal, each moment stretched, and the serpent shrank rapidly.

Its massive form reduced as it absorbed the lightning, its body breaking, reforming, breaking again, its glow dimming even as its will intensified.

The final clash came suddenly, a violent implosion of light.

And silence.

The sky cleared. The storm vanished as if it had never existed. The clouds parted, and the sunlight returned, and in the empty sky, only one figure remained.

Bahamut.

His body hovered for a moment longer, charred, broken, and barely holding together. The remnants of the serpent moved, what was left of it, now small, fractured, barely maintaining its shape, drifted downward slowly and sank into him.

The moment it disappeared into his body, everything changed. His wounds began to close. His skin regenerated, his muscles knitting back together, his aura stabilizing into something far deeper, far heavier than before.

His body tilted, and he fell from the sky, but before he could hit the ground, a figure appeared.

Elder Silvia.

She caught him effortlessly, her wings fluttering softly as she absorbed the impact, her expression finally breaking as she looked down at him.

"You insane child..."

Her voice was quiet, but her eyes held something far more complicated than anger. In the next instant, her presence shifted. Her mind expanded outward.

Exildra. Lily. Alana.

Her voice echoed directly within their minds.

Come to my residence. Now.

She didn’t wait for a response. With Bahamut in her arms, she vanished.

Back at the ruined field, silence reigned. Disciples slowly stood, some trembling, some speechless, and some still trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

Far above, on the distant balcony, the man with golden eyes smiled faintly.

"Tier 2..."

He turned away.

"No... something beyond that has begun."

And within the quiet that followed, a truth settled into the world.

Bahamut had ascended. Tier 2: Blessed.

But what answered the heavens... was anything but.

...

The air inside Elder Silvia’s residence was calm. It contrasted violently with the chaos that had just torn through the sky.

At the center of the room, a sphere of water floated gently. It was clear and pure, glowing faintly with a soft blue light.

And inside it was Bahamut. His body drifted weightlessly, suspended in the liquid like something being reborn. His hair was completely gone. What remained of his skin was blackened, cracked, and peeling away in slow, unsettling strips, revealing faintly glowing flesh beneath. The remnants of the lightning’s wrath clung to him like scars of divinity, refusing to disappear all at once.

Each time a piece of charred skin slipped off, the water shimmered, and something new replaced it, cleaner and stronger.

Exildra, Lily, and Alana stood a short distance away, watching silently. Elder Silvia stood beside the sphere, her expression composed as always, but her eyes lingered on Bahamut longer than necessary.

"This is the price of ascension," she said calmly, her voice breaking the silence without effort. The girls didn’t respond immediately. They couldn’t.

"He succeeded," she continued, her tone even. "That alone is enough to defy reason. But what he did during it..." She paused slightly, her gaze narrowing just a fraction. "...is something else entirely."

Lily swallowed, her hands clenched tightly at her sides as her eyes refused to leave Bahamut’s body.

"Is he... okay?" she asked softly, her voice betraying her.

"He will live."

That was the answer.

Exildra crossed her arms, though the tension in her shoulders betrayed her usual composure. "That didn’t look like something someone just... walks away from."

"He won’t walk away the same," Elder Silvia replied.

Alana stepped closer to the sphere, her reflection faintly visible on its surface. Her eyes were still red, but steady.

"Master is strong," she said quietly. "Master will wake up."

Elder Silvia glanced at her and gave a small nod.

"Yes. He will."

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the faint movement of water.

Then Elder Silvia turned.

"I will leave him in your care."

All three girls looked at her.

"This process will take time," she continued. "His body is restructuring itself. Interfering may disrupt it." Her gaze softened just slightly. "But... being here is fine." That was as close to permission as she would ever give. She walked toward the exit, stopped, and without turning back, she added.

"When he wakes up, inform me." She left.

Silence returned, but this time, it was softer and warmer.

Lily was the first to move. She stepped closer to the floating sphere, her eyes scanning Bahamut’s body with worry and something deeper.

"He looks terrible," she muttered, her lips pressing into a thin line.

Exildra let out a quiet breath behind her. "That’s your takeaway?"

"What? He does!" Lily snapped lightly, though her voice lacked its usual bite. "Look at him! He’s... peeling!"

"That’s called not dying," Exildra replied dryly.

Alana tilted her head slightly, still staring at Bahamut.

"He looks different."

Both girls glanced at her.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

Alana took a small step closer.

"Before... Master felt like a storm," she said slowly. "Now..." She paused, as if searching for the right words.

"Now he feels like... everything."

Exildra’s gaze softened as she looked at Bahamut again, her arms slowly uncrossing.

"Yeah..." she murmured. "I get what you mean."

Lily didn’t say anything. She just stared. Her reflection trembled slightly on the surface of the water sphere.

"Idiot," she whispered under her breath.

Her hand lifted unconsciously, pressing lightly against the sphere.

"Why do you always have to go this far..." The water rippled gently at her touch. Exildra walked up beside her, glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

"You’re crying again."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I said I’m not!"

Alana blinked.

"You are."

"Alana!"

Exildra chuckled softly. Lily scoffed, wiping her face quickly and looking away. Alana tilted her head again, confused but calm.

"When he wakes up," Exildra said after a moment, her voice quieter now, "I’m hitting him."

Lily snorted. "Get in line."

Alana nodded seriously. "I will also hit Master."

"Gently," she added.

Lily laughed. Exildra shook her head with a faint smile. And for the first time since the sky had split apart, the room felt...

Normal.

...

And this is the end of Volume 1: Brutality of the Beast

Volume 2: The Elemental Beast will begin right away. Thanks for the support so far!!!