The air inside the cavern ignited as Regulus surged toward Chaos, the massive molten blade swinging upward in a blazing arc of pure destructive energy. Fire roared along its edge, carving through the darkness and scattering shadows like frightened birds. Chaos, standing impassive as a monolith of living nightmare, stretched out his chains, their black coils twisting hungrily toward the flames, poised to devour them whole.

  Regulus spun mid-stride, shifting the weight of his molten sword to cleave upward through the incoming darkness, the blade slicing the shadows with a violent hiss of flame and sparks. The collision sent waves of fiery brilliance cascading outward, illuminating the darkened cavern walls in flashes of molten gold and crimson.

  "You believe your shadows can quench my flame?" Regulus snarled, pivoting and striking again with relentless force, his flaming cape billowing behind him like wings of living fire.

  Chaos laughed mockingly, chains dancing around him like living serpents, writhing and snapping toward Regulus from all sides. The flames crashed into them, dissolving their darkness even as new chains birthed themselves from the shadows. "Your flames feed my darkness, Phoenix! Your struggle is pointless!"

  Yet Regulus moved faster still, a blur of gold and flame, dancing around Chaos, his blade carving arcs of incandescent heat, turning sand into glass with every strike. Chaos's chains lashed around him in furious, hungry coils, each moment devouring more flames, each shadow growing stronger. The monster laughed, absorbing Regulus’s fury, eyes blazing with growing power.

  "Enough!" Regulus roared, his voice echoing through the cavern with thunderous command. Gathering flames around him in a fierce, spiraling tempest, he surged forward with a mighty thrust. The molten blade plunged into Chaos’s center, light exploding in every direction. The shadows screamed, twisting violently, and for a brief, radiant second, it seemed the darkness had finally shattered.

  Then, with horrifying resilience, Chaos laughed, louder, deeper, darker. His monstrous maw opened wide again, swallowing the piercing flames, leaving only oppressive shadow in their wake. Chains lunged from every shadowed crevice, striking Regulus from all sides, slicing through his armor, tearing into molten metal and flesh. Regulus staggered, armor melting and splintering, shards of molten steel raining around him as he stumbled to one knee.

  "You are nothing but smoke—I am fire!" Regulus roared, bloodied but defiant, forcing himself upright with an explosive burst of flames. His armor glowed brighter, white-hot in places, molten metal dripping down his form, pooling at his feet. Yet his resolve burned brighter still.

  Chaos pressed his assault mercilessly, sending chains spearing from shadows, striking again and again, forcing Regulus into a defensive dance, flame and metal clashing violently against shadow and darkness. Chaos's chains seized Regulus’s blade, trying to wrench it away, but Regulus held fast, roaring with exertion, his flames crackling with renewed fury.

  Summoning every ounce of strength, Regulus ripped free, leaping high, bringing the molten blade crashing down in a devastating overhead blow. The flames carved through shadow and stone alike, forcing Chaos backward. Even as he stumbled, Chaos regained his footing, shadows swirling protectively around him, absorbing the flames, healing his form.

  Yet Regulus refused to relent, pushing his battered body further, his flames intensifying to a white-hot fury. Each swing, each fiery arc grew more desperate, more fierce, forcing Chaos further back. Chaos, for the first time, appeared unsettled, his monstrous form flickering uncertainly beneath the relentless onslaught.

  But soon after, Chaos regained his resolve, roaring back in dark defiance, the chains solidifying, striking Regulus with brutal, precise blows. The darkness consumed more flames, empowered by each clash, and gradually, it forced Regulus into retreat. Armor splintered, shards of molten steel shattered onto the cavern floor, leaving him exposed and bleeding.

  Regulus, breathing heavily, armor torn and partially melted, looked defiantly toward Chaos, flames dimming but not extinguished. He raised his battered blade once more, his voice raw with determination, ringing through the cavern like a clarion call.

  "Come then, coward. Let’s see which of us the stars still favor!"

  Chaos lunged forward with a terrible grace, the shadows around him collapsing inward before exploding out in violent black tendrils. Regulus did not flinch. His body, broken as it was, moved with that same stubborn, reckless speed, his molten blade a streak of searing gold as it met the first chain head-on. The impact sounded like the cracking of a dying star, a shockwave of heat and darkness splitting the cavern apart.

  The second chain came from the left, low and fast, aimed to cripple. Regulus shifted his stance, letting the chain tear through the scorched remnants of his shoulder plate, feeling the impact rattle his bones but refusing to give ground. With a roar, he swung low, the tip of his blade slicing through the sand and glass, sending a wave of molten earth washing over Chaos's legs.

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  Chaos snarled and leapt back, smoke and ash wreathing his monstrous form, the tips of his chains hissing where they touched the liquefied ground. For a breath, the cavern trembled, as if the earth itself recoiled from the clash of fire and shadow.

  Regulus pressed forward, relentless, his entire being narrowing into the next strike. His blade sang through the darkness, a sweeping arc aimed to cleave Chaos in two. But Chaos was faster this time, his chains snapping outward to bind the sword mid-swing. The molten weapon seared the chains, blackening them, but the dark metal held firm, and with a vicious yank, Chaos tried to rip the weapon from Regulus’s grasp.

  Regulus roared, dug his heels into the melting ground, and refused to let go.

  Instead, he shifted his grip and let the momentum carry him forward, slamming his armored shoulder into Chaos’s chest with a force that cracked the very air. The impact sent shockwaves blasting outward, tossing molten debris and shattered stone like confetti across the battlefield. Both “men” staggered, and in that fleeting moment of imbalance, Regulus spun low and drove his fist into the earth, calling forth a geyser of fire that erupted beneath Chaos, hurling him upward like a puppet severed from its strings.

  But Chaos was no easy prey. In midair, he twisted, dark chains whipping around him like wings, catching the cavern’s walls and hurling him back to the ground in a controlled, graceful landing. His monstrous eyes flared hotter, a feral grin splitting his jagged teeth.

  "You burn bright, Phoenix," Chaos growled, voice echoing in the broken cavern, "But hope burns the brightest when it turns to ash."

  Regulus did not answer with words. He answered with action.

  He charged, flames wreathing his form, each step vaporizing the ground beneath him. His blade rose high, catching the dim light, and as Chaos sent another salvo of chains surging toward him, Regulus twisted mid-run, rolling under them and launching himself skyward in a spiraling arc of fire.

  From above, he descended like a falling star, his sword crashing downward with the fury of a dying sun. Chaos crossed his chains defensively, absorbing the worst of the blow, but the sheer force sent him skidding backward, gouging deep scars into the floor.

  Still, the dark being laughed, the shadows closing hungrily around him, healing, restoring. Regulus landed heavily, his armor cracking under the strain, and staggered forward, chest heaving, flames sputtering wildly along his ruined body. Yet in his eyes there burned a light that not even darkness could touch.

  It was not the fire of his Sol. It was the fire of his spirit.

  He raised his sword again, molten and half-shattered, and took another trembling step forward.

  Chaos pointed a clawed hand at him, almost mockingly, as if inviting Regulus to try again.

  Regulus grinned, blood dripping from his lips, and whispered so only the stones might hear him:

  "I was born to burn."

  And then, without fear, without hesitation, he charged once more into the dark.

  Meanwhile, behind the barrier of half-melted ice, Celestine bit down so hard on her lower lip that fresh blood spilled forth, staining her chin in a rainbow-white line. She shook, her hands balled into trembling fists against the cold stone, frustration and helplessness boiling inside her brighter than any flame. With a sudden, ferocious strength, she tore Elsie from her shoulder, holding the little green snake carefully in her palms. Her voice, when it came, was a ragged whisper drenched in desperate gratitude.

  “Thank you,” she breathed, golden eyes fierce with unshed tears. “I do not know who you are, but from the bottom of my soul, I thank you... And I will have to be selfish enough to beg for your strength once more.”

  Elsie, coiled delicately in Celestine’s hands, gave an eager nod, her emerald body quivering with excitement. Celestine’s lips twitched in the ghost of a smile as she wiped her blood away, then turned her gaze toward the frozen knight beside her, the one who had shielded her even when he was barely conscious.

  Without hesitation, Celestine drew back her arm and drove a vicious strike into his frozen form. A crack of shattering ice echoed through the artificial barrier like a gunshot. Crystalline shards flew everywhere, and with a second, more deliberate blow, she smashed his helmet clean off, revealing the knight beneath. His skin was a deep, rich brown, his hair a stark white, spiked and defiant even under the ravages of battle and frost. He was beautiful and broken, and Celestine wasted no time.

  Her hand glowed with searing light, and she pressed it against his fast, burning away the last stubborn tendrils of ice that clung to him. His body twitched and his breath rasped in his throat. Carefully, Celestine placed Elsie atop him. The little snake wasted no time, biting gently into his exposed cheek and flooding him with that same healing power that had restored her own strength.

  “Please, heal him,” Celestine whispered, her voice trembling with hope. Elsie, her tiny green head bobbing once again, set to work, her body glowing faintly under the effort.

  Celestine turned away, but not before she heard the knight’s voice rasping behind her, weak but urgent. “Your Highness… you must flee. Save yourself. Our lives are nothing compared to yours.”

  She froze for a moment, shoulders tensing, then slowly turned her head, her golden eyes burning with the fire of a star.

  “My life is only worth something because of yours,” she said fiercely. “Without you, without him, without all those who stand and fall for peace... my life is empty. I would rather die standing beside you than live a coward’s life running away.”

  “Forgive me, Your Highness...” he rasped, his hand trembling weakly as it tried to reach for her. “I... I have failed you.”

  She looked at him, the weight of his words freezing her his frost could not. “There is no shame in falling,” she said fiercely, her voice carrying like a vow through the battered cavern. “Only in forgetting why we stood.”

  For a heartbeat, the world stood still, and even the roaring flames of Regulus’s battle seemed distant against the power of those simple words.

  Then, a moment later, a pulse of radiant light erupted from her clenched fists, golden-white and blinding. She whirled around, facing the barrier that shielded her, and in one fluid motion, smashed her glowing hands into it. The frozen wall splintered and exploded outward, shards of ice glittering like stars across the dark cavern as she broke free.

  She stood tall, blood still trickling down her lip, her battered armor flashing with pride in the firelight, and without another word she launched herself forward into the chaos, her form almost dissolving into pure light as she moved to join Regulus on the front line.

  Every victory counts! Whenever any of these milestones is reached, I’ll drop a Bonus Chapter as a reward! Hit them all, and you get even more!

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