Chapter 408: Chapter 408: Noir’s Run

The tunnels groaned with distant thunder.

Noir darted between the walls like a streak of shadow, her paws never touching the same surface twice. Every breath came out as a low growl, echoing faintly against the stone. The mana in the air was suffocating—thick, distorted, burning the inside of her throat.

’Dad!!!’ her voice burst through Noel’s mind, sharp and urgent. ’Something’s heading toward you—fast! It’s the same energy I felt before, when I was watching them. It’s the sister…’

Sparks flared somewhere ahead. Noel stood in the middle of chaos—hundreds of monsters pressing in from every side. Revenant Fang blazed with Ignition Surge, its edge glowing in molten orange as he carved through a lunging beast. The shockwave split the creature in two, scattering embers across the corridor.

He didn’t stop moving. “Good work, Noir,” he said between breaths, parrying another strike and shoving the blade forward through thick flesh. ’How’s the situation up there?’

Noir leapt over a fallen corpse, her body half-melting into the darkness as she ran. ’Bad. The soldiers of your family are fighting outside with Elena, Elyra, and Charlotte. There are hundreds of monsters heading for the mansion. But just when I passed the outer ridge, the Third Pillar’s energy changed direction—it’s coming straight to you!’

A flash of light filled Noel’s vision as he slashed another monster in half. ’So the attack outside is just a distraction,’ he thought, his tone tightening. ’They’re after the crystal.’

Another wave came. Noel spun in place, blade trailing fire in a perfect arc. The air roared as five more creatures burst apart, melting under the pressure of his swing. Frost crystals glittered behind him—Selene’s magic weaving through the smoke.

She stood a step behind him, wand raised, her eyes locked on the corridor ahead. “Keep them off me,” she said, voice calm but strained.

“Already on it,” Noel replied. He raised his hand, mana pulsing through his arm. “Glacialis!”

A burst of ice shot forward, piercing through a charging brute’s chest. The beast froze mid-roar, its body collapsing into shards that scattered across the blood-stained floor.

Every step he took was measured, precise. Every motion burned hotter. The Traits of Revenant Fang made time slow for him—the rush of battle fading into crystal clarity. He could see every drop of blood in the air, every twitch before an attack.

Selene pressed closer, her wand glowing faintly blue, channeling a spell that kept the corridor sealed with frost. The two of them moved like clockwork—one carving, the other freezing.

’I’m almost there,’ Noir said, her voice trembling with the weight of the mana storm ahead. ’Hold on a little longer, Dad.’

Noel exhaled, cutting through another monster without looking. ’We’ll be ready.’

The tunnel around him pulsed once—like a living vein. The walls cracked. The mana ahead twisted into something deeper, darker.

He felt it—the approach of another power. Not just raw energy, but intent.

The Third Pillar was coming.

The tunnel had become a furnace of chaos.

Every breath Noel drew tasted like ash and iron; every movement sent shockwaves of fire, frost, and lightning down the narrow corridor. Monsters poured endlessly from the shadows—blades, claws, and screams clashing in one maddening rhythm.

Selene stood behind him, wand raised, her ice magic weaving through the heat like silk.

“Cryo Grasp!”

Dozens of translucent hands erupted from the floor, clutching at the legs of charging beasts. They froze in place, snapping and snarling as the frost climbed their limbs.

Noel moved before they could break free.

“Fire Arc!”

A burning crescent slashed forward, carving through the frozen line. The explosion of heat and ice painted the tunnel in steam.

Another creature lunged from the side—fangs wide, dripping black venom.

“Voltage Needle!”

A bolt of lightning pierced its skull before it reached him, the impact throwing sparks across the walls.

Selene’s voice came through the smoke, steady but strained. “Zero Point Burst!”

A sphere of gravity collapsed ahead, pulling in half the horde before detonating outward. The shockwave sent a wave of molten stone flying, but Noel was already moving through it. His body glowed faintly red from the mana pressure—every muscle tense, every swing perfect.

Time bent around him.

The Traits of Revenant Fang pulsed—Harrowed Focus sharpening his vision, Will of the Forgotten feeding his strength. Every heartbeat stretched into clarity. He saw the next attack before it came.

He ducked, turned, and drove his sword straight through a monster’s chest, the blade bursting out its back in a trail of flame.

Behind him, Selene’s magic continued to bloom. “Permafrost Halo!”

The air turned frigid, a shimmering ring of cold forming around her. The monsters slowed, their movements sluggish under the frost. Noel used that moment, charging forward with blinding speed.

“Stormpiercer!”

The corridor lit up with blue-white lightning as he became a streak of pure energy, tearing through five beasts in one burst. When he stopped, the ground behind him was littered with scorched remains.

Steam hissed, blood boiled, ice cracked. The tunnel trembled under the combined force of their spells. Yet the monsters didn’t stop—they came crawling over their dead, eyes glowing red, drawn by something deeper in the dark.

Selene’s breath came heavy. “There’s no end to them.”

Noel didn’t answer immediately. His grip tightened on Revenant Fang, the blade humming as if alive.

He felt it again—that pressure. A pulse of mana far stronger than anything here.

’That’s her,’ he thought grimly. ’The Third Pillar.’

A tremor ran through the floor.

Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling, and a wave of mana pushed through the corridor like a storm front. It wasn’t just heat—it was presence, heavy and unmistakable.

From within his mind, Noir’s voice cut through the noise: ’Dad! I can see the glow ahead—it’s her. Just a few seconds more!’

The chamber ahead roared like a living storm.

No words could survive the noise—only steel, fire, and the thunder of magic colliding.

Albrecht and the Fourth Pillar were already locked in a deadly rhythm. Each strike shattered air and stone alike, their auras colliding in golden and crimson flashes.

When Albrecht swung Solar Divide, the world itself seemed to bend—light bursting outward like the dawn. The Fourth Pillar met it with a scarlet wave, Crimson Reversal, turning flame into pressure and hurling molten shards through the air.

Every exchange left new scars on the ground. Each step they took fractured the chamber more.

At the entrance, Noel and Selene emerged from the tunnel, blood-stained and breathing hard.

The moment they entered, a fresh swarm of monsters poured from the side passages—grotesque, twisted things crawling from the mana veins in the walls.

Noel didn’t hesitate. He shot forward, flames and lightning wreathing his form.

“Chain Flash!”

A streak of light burst from Revenant Fang, splitting into arcs that danced across the battlefield, frying anything they touched.

Selene extended her arm, voice barely a whisper—”Gravition Hold.”

Gravity crashed down on the horde like a mountain. Bones cracked under the unseen weight, and those that tried to move found their limbs bound by invisible chains.

Noel leapt over a falling corpse, eyes locked on the next wave. His boots hit the ground in a shower of sparks.

“Flare Trap!”

A glyph ignited under a cluster of beasts, erupting in pillars of fire that seared through their armor and skin.

He followed instantly—

“Stormpiercer!”

He became lightning. The ground exploded beneath him as he flashed forward, the streak of blue tearing straight through the line. The echo of thunder lingered as his silhouette reformed behind them, smoke curling around his shoulders.

Selene’s wand glowed a deep azure. “Zero Point Burst!”

The floor trembled as a gravitational sphere expanded and collapsed again, devouring anything caught inside.

Ice and ash replaced the front line in seconds.

But there was no relief.

Behind the blinding storm of spells, the crystal stood untouched in the center of the chamber.

Its surface reflected fire, frost, and bloodlight like a mirror of all the chaos around it.

Noel’s gaze flicked toward it for an instant, then to his father. Neither of them knew what the crystal was, only that it could not be destroyed or taken. That was their single purpose here—to protect it at any cost.

He saw Albrecht holding the line, golden flames tearing through the scarlet haze as the Fourth Pillar advanced. The man looked unshakable, even as blood ran down his cheek.

For a brief moment, their eyes met through the smoke.

No words. No orders. Just the same understanding that had carried the Thorne name for generations—

Protect the crystal.

The Fourth Pillar lunged, blade wreathed in blood-red light.

Albrecht answered splitting the attack in two. The impact shook the floor, cracks webbing across the chamber walls.

Noel and Selene braced themselves against the shockwave, grit and embers raining over them. The temperature dropped sharply; the sound of mana ripping through air drowned out everything else.

And then, through the haze of fire and frost, Noel felt it—another mana signature, colder, sharper, heavier than the rest.

The Third Pillar was almost there.

The chamber was fire and frost—every breath, a storm.

No one spoke; there was only the thunder of blades and the echo of mana tearing stone apart.

Albrecht met the Fourth Pillar once again.

“Solar Divide!”

A golden arc split the air, searing the floor in two. The Fourth Pillar countered instantly, raising his hand.

“Crimson Reversal!”

The collision painted the chamber in red and gold, shockwaves shredding the walls until cracks bled molten light.

Noel burst from the tunnel’s edge, his body a blur of motion and flame.

“Fire Arc!”

A crescent of fire ripped through a charging monster.

“Chain Flash!”

Lightning erupted from Revenant Fang, splitting into multiple bolts that struck through the survivors.

“Ice Spike!”

Sharp pillars of frozen mana burst from the floor, skewering the fallen and sealing the narrow passage behind him.

Selene appeared at his back, her wand glowing pale blue.

“Frost Wall!”

A solid barrier of ice rose behind them, cutting off the tunnel completely. The remaining creatures slammed against it, claws breaking under the pressure.

She raised her wand again, voice steady through the chaos.

“Permafrost Halo!”

A wave of cold spiraled outward, slowing everything that moved. The heat of the chamber twisted into white mist, and every exhale turned to frost.

The air quivered. Sparks and snowflakes floated together—fire, lightning, and ice colliding in rhythm.

Noel moved forward, Revenant Fang humming with a deep, crimson glow. Every swing of his blade carved through air like thunder.

The sound of Albrecht’s duel rumbled ahead, each impact cracking the stone floor.

Then—shadows rippled.

Noir burst out of the ground, expanding in mid-stride until her body towered nearly five meters tall. Her fur shimmered black with faint violet edges; her eyes burned with ethereal light. The moment she appeared, the temperature dropped even further.

Every remaining monster froze in place. Their bodies stiffened, their instincts screaming louder than their rage.

Noel exhaled, a faint grin touching his lips.

“Glad you made it, Noir.”

The giant wolf’s head lowered slightly. ’Always, Dad.’

Before either could move again, a distant screech cut through the chamber—sharp, feminine, and laced with mana so dense it warped the air.

The far tunnel exploded inward, rock fragments scattering like shrapnel.

Out of the smoke stepped a girl, her silhouette framed in red light.

Her presence made the flames dim and the frost retreat; her aura alone was heavier than the battle itself.

The Third Pillar had arrived.

Beside her, the Fourth Pillar lowered his stance slightly, crimson energy swirling around his sword.

A thin smile curved. “Took you long enough, sister.”

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