The wind whispered over scorched hills and broken trees, carrying with it the scent of soot and something fouler—darkness itself. Rylan and his friends walked in silence, the path to VritraMaho Academy stretched ahead of them like a road stitched with uncertainty. Behind them lay the ruins of elemental chaos, the ashes of Mystics defeated, and a bond between them stronger than ever.
Their boots crunched over gravel, the sun barely casting warmth through clouds that churned unnaturally above. Even Taiyo, usually steady as steel, kept glancing toward the horizon, his golden cuffs glinting as if warning of something more to come.
"I don't like this silence," Blaze muttered, gripping the handle of his battle axe. "It's... forced. Like the world's holding its breath."
Suddenly, the air shifted.
A wave of dark pressure surged from the direction of the academy, thick and overwhelming like a storm breaking through the seams of the world.
Rylan froze mid-step. "Did you feel that?"
They all did. Even without speaking, their expressions mirrored the same fear.
They ran.
Through dried grasslands and cracked terrain, their strides grew desperate. The academy's outer walls appeared in the distance—yet they weren't alone.
Monolithic black statues loomed like grotesque guardians across the landscape. Each towered at nearly thirty feet high, carved from stone so dark it drank the light around them. Spikes jutted from their spines, and claws pressed into the earth like they'd risen straight from the underworld.
Joy suddenly stumbled, collapsing to her knees. Her eyes widened in horror, lips quivering as her gaze locked on the nearest statue.
"STOP!" she screamed. "Don't take another step!"
The group halted instantly, startled.
"These..." Her voice cracked. "These things aren't statues. They're alive. If we get any closer—we're dead."
James stepped forward, his hand shaking as he reached for his blade. "These are the... Dark Mystics, aren't they?"
His voice failed him.
Taiyo's voice came next, low and grim. "You are right, my friend. These are no ordinary Mystics. These are Dark Mystics, forged to protect the corrupted petals. Each one is three times stronger than the natural Mystics. Their presence here means only one thing—"
He looked at the sky, sorrow behind his eyes.
"—The Vessel is awakening."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by Rylan's calm exhale. He knelt beside Joy and helped her up, brushing dust from her shoulders before stepping forward.
"Then I guess we get a warm-up," Rylan said, drawing his twin katanas with a flash of silver light. The blades shimmered with ethereal patterns, responding to the evolving power of their wielder. "Let's see if our new weapons are good enough for gods."
Blaze strode up beside him, his twin dragons circling overhead as his phoenix-like beast descended from the clouds, wings glowing gold. He rested his battle axe on his shoulder and grinned.
"Come on, gang," Blaze said, "Let's fight in a fiery way."
The rest lined up—Grace with her storm-charged alicorn and Sphinx, Riley with her radiant wyvern and light griffin, Joy and her pure dark gargoyle and cerberus, Frost with his ice phoenix and winged wolf—now named Cryowind—Rant with his leviathan and water golem, and James, cloaked in the shadows of his void Oni and minotaur.
They charged.
But just as they neared the statues, the creatures' eyes opened—bright, pure, and unearthly. Light seared from their sockets, and a pulse of purple energy exploded outward like a bomb. Rylan and his friends were thrown back, slamming against the ground and sliding across the terrain.
Groaning, Rylan opened his eyes. The wind had stopped. The world had changed.
The Dark Mystics now pulsed with power, their bodies alive with deep purple veins of magic. Their auras slithered across the battlefield like sentient fog, and all four beasts locked their glowing gazes on the young tamers.
Frost stood, bleeding slightly from his lip, and shouted, "Attack!"
Cryowind let out a roar, his icy breath freezing the ground beneath him as Frost's ice phoenix soared into the sky. The others responded—Riley's beasts took to the air in a spiral of light, Grace's Sphinx released bolts of storm energy, and Joy's dark creatures circled with menace, teeth bared and claws ready.
A cacophony of power erupted.
Rylan and Blaze led the offensive, weaving between the towering monsters with speed and force, their Soul Bound beasts unleashing blazing arcs of draconic fury. Blaze's serpentine beast twisted through the air, dual heads of Yin and Yang releasing simultaneous beams of harmony and chaos. Taiyo fought beside James, his movements fluid despite the weight of his robes, guiding the younger tamers between strikes.
The battle roared across the plains.
But the Dark Mystics coordinated like predators—they unleashed a devastating combo attack. Shadow spikes erupted from the earth, waves of cursed flame followed, and a final surge of concussive energy sent all eight tamers flying.
Then something unexpected happened.
The Soul Bound beasts surged together.
With an unspoken bond, they gathered around their tamers, shielding them from the finishing blow. Rylan's silver dragon-like Soul Bound released a radiant pulse of silver energy, reinforcing a barrier around the group.
The beasts turned toward the Mystics, growling, howling, and roaring in defiance. It was as if they were saying: Go. This battle is ours.
Rylan slowly stood. "They're giving us a chance..."
Blaze nodded. "Then let's not waste it."
The group broke through the chaos and sprinted toward the academy, ducking rubble and spells as their beasts engaged the Mystics with newfound ferocity. Riley looked back, her griffin holding back a Mystic's claw with a flash of holy light. "Be safe," she whispered.
As they neared the academy's outer hall, the air changed.
A dome of swirling darkness covered the north wing, and at the center of the ruined courtyard lay a crater—black petals scattered like ash around a boy's still body.
The Vessel.
They slowed. Riley's eyes filled with tears. "He's... he's not moving."
Rylan stepped forward, approaching the body cautiously. "Is it over?"
But just then, the boy's chest arched upward, and his eyes snapped open—one black, one red.
The petals on his chest ignited.
A second explosion of darkness surged from his body, knocking everyone backward again. The earth cracked beneath him, and his aura exploded in a spiral of red and black fire. Horns formed on his head, his once neutral robes becoming tattered black and crimson armor.
The boy—The Vessel—hovered now, power radiating like a dark sun.
Taiyo gasped. "No... This isn't just an awakening... This is a rebirth."
From the swirling vortex behind the boy stepped a man.
The cloaked figure.
The one they had seen when they first summoned their Soul Bounds—tall, hooded, with crimson patterns running down his sleeves. His presence alone made the world feel smaller, as though space bent around his form.
"I told you," the man said, his voice echoing like a thousand whispers. "The seal was temporary. Now behold—"
He lifted his arm, pointing directly at the boy.
"—The Vessel of Destruction has risen."
Lightning cracked across the skies, and the earth trembled.
And Rylan, gripping his blades tightly, could only stare into the glowing eyes of the boy they had tried so desperately to save