MY FRIENDS ARRIVE.

They surround the natural disasters. The tremor, the storm, the deluge, and the inferno are locked in place, held back by our combined powers.

I nod at Nindran as she draws power from the remaining Lifeblood I have gathered earlier with my Feat. Kalmat raises his blade, striking for the deluge once more. His Aura slashes through the water and keeps it from escaping the enchanted wooden bindings.

I clap my hands together, calling forth an iridescent flame that takes the form of a phoenix.

“Liufan Sacred Technique: The Wrath of the Heavens!”

I send the attack right after Kalmat’s own barrage of strikes. His Aura coalesces into a giant blade— the strongest his Aspect has ever been. It is a sword that can tear even the sky asunder. It accompanies by phoenix, clashing into the deluge. The water sizzles— evaporates, sending a plume of steam into the air.

The deluge seems to shrink in size, growing smaller and smaller as Keshiy adds her own flames to the mix.

“We just need to take one down!” Kalmat calls out. “Then we can deal with the rest, after!”

I narrow my eyes. It looks like it is working. The deluge looks like it is being reduced to nothing more than a small stream exuding hot mist. But I notice something. The deluge seems to seep towards the inferno, still being suppressed. Even through the heat, it reaches out and touches the fire.

Then, suddenly, the deluge is sucked into the inferno. It pours its way out of the bindings and the barrage of attacks from myself and the Keepers of the Grove. Kalmat pulls back, frowning.

“What is going on?”

We watch as the inferno and the deluge combine, mixing the water and the flames, spiraling around each other to form a single entity. Nindran curses.

“Is that a fire tsunami? Pishitim bleed on me— they’re mergin’ together!”

“Stop stating the obvious and stop it!” Seiled shouts, raising his lightshooter and desperately unloading blasts at the fire tsunami.

I clap my hands together, focusing more of my Qi into forming something that can contain it, but from below, the earth rises up. My gaze snaps down to the tremor being tugged out of the ground, splitting rocks and tearing apart the grass to join its companions. However, before I can stop it, I hear Beihal swearing up a storm from behind me.

“By the Grovetender, those damn clouds are joining it too!”

And sure enough, I look up to see the storm circling into the other disasters. They amalgamate into a single catastrophe. One that incorporates all the elements from the others. The ground shakes as the wind blows with a fiery heat and water droplets sting my skin. I brace myself as I am nearly knocked off my feet. Nindran is sent flying, but I catch her out of the air.

Beihal holds Seiled down, while Keshiy grabs onto Kalmat. We watch as this catastrophe formed through the Void Pirates fusing with each other. It regenerates the water lost from the deluge, becoming larger than ever.

“How are we going to take that down?” Nindran asks as I cling onto her.

“It is only a single target now,” I say, spreading my arms wide. “It will be easier to restrain and destroy.”

She nods, turning to Kalmat. “What about a combined attack, then? Like against Galgom.”

The man’s Aura coalesces around him. “That would work. But we need to make sure our attack works. Tian, can you restrain it?”

I assess the power of the catastrophe. It looks like it will be a tougher fight than against each of the natural disasters individually. Shaking my head, I turn to Kalmat.

“Only for a moment. However, I can distract it until you are ready to attack.”

“Alright, everyone!” Kalmat calls out, drawing the attention of the others.

They gather together to pool their magic into a single blast of Lifeblood. Meanwhile, I leap out like a shooting star, headed straight for the catastrophe. I can feel its heat burning my skin even from afar, and the rain slows me like hail from the sky. Lightning thunders down, cracking the sky open, but I block it with a simple palm covered in Violet Essence.

I counter with a flurry of flames, using it to assail the catastrophe and redirect my movements. My Aspect— the feathered wings behind my back— carry me around this mixture of flames, stone, water, and wind. Electricity crackled around me, wearing down at my defenses.

My elements clash with the catastrophe. Metal picks away at stone, and wood wrap around the water. My fire causes the water to evaporate, and I freeze the wind as it tries to cut through me. I continue my lone battle for a few more moments before finally I hear Kalmat’s voice.

“Ready!” he bellows.

“Good.” A smile slips into my face as I point at the catastrophe. “Liufan Sacred Technique: Mountain’s Fall!”

The debris that makes up a chunk of the catastrophe suddenly begins to gravitate into each other. Then it pulls everything else into it like a vortex. It prevents the catastrophe from moving, and the Keepers of the Grove act.

I fly back and watch as a black light overwhelms the catastrophe. It rips it apart, destroying it almost entirely. The surrounding trees and forest is also disintegrated from the explosion. It is one that shakes the world entirely.

I pant as the smoke clears up, descending before my allies.

“Is it over?”

“Hopefully,” Nindran says, sighing. “I’m exhausted.”

“Don’t let your guard down.” Kalmat steps forward. His eyes flicker, and I look up.

I click my tongue. “It’s still alive.”

Seiled steps back. “How…? We destroyed everything.”

“But it is… regenerating.”

I watch bits of the catastrophe pick itself up, rebuilding itself with the surroundings. The ground shakes as dirt and lifts into the air and the wind blows strongly to gather dark clouds above. I cross my arms, carefully taking note of what is going on.

Beihal screams and launches his magic at the catastrophe. “Why won’t you die you monster?”

“Wait,” I say, stopping him.

I create a large globule of water and release it, letting it be carried by the wind and to the catastrophe. The water joins the deluge as it is slowly filled back to its fullness. I close my eyes, placing a hand on my chin.

“I see now.”

“What is it, Tian?” Keshiy turns to me, curious.

“Ah,” Kalmat makes a sound of understanding.

I smiled at him. “You see it too, don’t you? It’s taking from nature itself to grow stronger and more powerful. That is why it never reduces. It only replenishes. It only grows. If left unchecked, it could have become so much more. Perhaps we were lucky it did not land in the Flourishing Flatlands, but rather it landed at the Desolate Caverns where the elements are scarce.”

“Wait, so this thing is just gonna get stronger and stronger?” Nindran asks, wide-eyed.

I nod. “It is, if we do not stop it here and now.”

“But how are we going to stop it?” She is confused, not sure what course of action to take.

I glance at her, then at Kalmat. My lips purse. “Perhaps the only way we can win is by… destroying everything in the area.”

Nindran pauses, and Kalmat’s face darkens. Keshiy sputters, trying to protest, and Beihal joins her. Seiled still does not get it, but I turn to the catastrophe, facing it down.

“We have to lay waste to the Flourishing Flatlands.”