Chapter 59 – Collapse of the Crystal and Final Confrontation
**[CAVERN TUNNEL – PURSUIT ]**
**Julia** and **San** ran — at maximum speed through the dark tunnel, boots striking basaltic stone creating a rhythmic echo, breaths controlled despite the effort, torches left behind by Garrett intermittently illuminating the path.
**San** — glancing sideways at Julia while running, voice coming out between breaths:
"Why didn't you… let us take those potions **earlier**?!" — Tone not accusatory but genuinely **confused**. — "After the bat-humans… we were **injured**… exhausted… If we had taken them then… maybe we'd have had a **real** chance against Garrett and his group!"
**Julia** — not slowing down, eyes fixed ahead:
"It's **complicated**!" — Tense voice. — "Those potions were… they were from my **family** in the real world! A gift from my little sister before I… before all of this happened! I was saving them for an **absolute** emergency! And now…"
Heavy breathing pause:
"Now **is** the absolute emergency! Three hundred lives in Kend depend on us stopping Garrett!"
---
They continued running — two more minutes.
And **stopped** abruptly — not by choice but because of an **obstacle**.
---
The **tunnel** forked — the right path continued (toward the dragon/Garrett), the **left** path opened into a side chamber glowing intensely with **purple** light.
**Julia** — recognized it immediately:
"That's the chamber with the **magical crystal** Garrett mentioned!" — She pointed. — "The one sucking energy and dispersing it into the forest, causing mutations!"
Instant decision:
"We have to **end** it first! If we destroy the energy source… the dragon might calm down! Monsters stop evolving! And Garrett loses his main weapon!"
---
**San** — nodding:
"Makes **tactical** sense. Cut the root of the problem."
---
They entered — the side chamber, ten square meters, perfectly circular.
And in the **center**, floating two meters above the ground —
---
**CRYSTAL**.
Not four meters tall as Julia had estimated from afar.
**Five** meters tall fully, **three** meters wide at the base (not two), irregular conical shape tapering to a sharp point, deep **purple** translucent coloration pulsing with electric-blue veins running through the internal structure like a living circulatory system, emitting light so **intense** it hurt to look directly at, deep subsonic **sound** making the air **vibrate** physically, teeth involuntarily grinding, bones **resonating** uncomfortably.
And dense magical mist — not just surrounding it but literally being **sucked** through the crystal's base in visible vortices, then **expelled** through the tip in concentrated jets directed toward the main tunnel like an invisible energy cannon.
---
**Julia** — seeing it up close, voice **trembling** slightly not from fear but from awe at the absolute power:
"It's even **bigger** than I imagined…" — Whispered. — "The amount of energy it's processing is… absurd. Enough to power an entire city for years."
---
**San** — not intimidated, confident smile curling his lips:
**Leave it to me**. Big rock or small rock… everything breaks if you hit the right spot.
---
He **disappeared** — not running but teleporting via *Shadow Step*, body dissolving into black shadows.
**Reappeared** — beside the crystal five meters away, dual daggers **drawn** gleaming faintly under the purple light.
And **attacked** — no hesitation, movement a **blur** of speed.
---
**FIRST** slash — downward diagonal targeting the top of the crystal, dagger **clashing** against the surface with a sharp metallic **CLANG**, spark **leaping**, zero visible damage.
**SECOND** slash — horizontal mid-level, same force, same result.
**THIRD** — thrust at the base, dagger tip **sliding** across the polished-ice-smooth surface without penetrating.
San didn't stop — **accelerated**.
*Shadow Step* activated repeatedly — teleporting around the crystal in a circle, appearing at different angles, attacking from all directions: top, sides, base, middle, dozens of slashes in **three** seconds, each producing a spark but **zero** structural damage.
Speed increasing — movement turning into a continuous **blur**, sound of metal striking crystal creating an incessant rhythmic cacophony **CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG**.
**Ten seconds** of continuous attack.
---
He **stopped** — reappearing beside Julia, breathing **panting**, sweat dripping from his temple, daggers **intact** but wrists aching from impact vibration.
Voice **frustrated**:
"It **doesn't** work at all! This crystal is **completely indestructible**! The surface is harder than enchanted steel! I tried fifty different cuts in three seconds and couldn't even **scratch** it!"
---
**Julia** — didn't answer immediately.
She was **staring** at the crystal with extreme focus — not at the surface but at the **interior**, eyes narrowed focusing through the purple translucency, processing the patterns of electric-blue veins pulsing.
And she **saw** — something small.
In the **absolute center** of the crystal — exactly halfway up, halfway across, estimated two meters deep inside the solid structure — a **blue** point of light the size of a fist, more intense than the surrounding veins, pulsing at a different rhythm (faster, erratic), radiating light that seemed to **feed** the surrounding veins like a heart pumping blood.
---
**Julia** — pointed:
**San**! — Urgent voice. — Try attacking with **all** your strength **only** at that specific blue point in the center! Do you see it?
---
**San** — eyes focusing, seeing the point, smile **returning**:
**Got it** perfectly! — Confident tone. — That has to be the **energy core**! The heart of the crystal! Destroy the core… destroy everything!
---
He backed up — ten meters, breathing **regulating**, eyes **locked** on the central blue point calculating trajectory, hands **moving** to inventory summoning a specific item.
**Shuriken** — not ordinary but special: plate-sized, six razor-sharp points, black metal engraved with faintly glowing silver runes, **Rank C** classification (superior to normal Rank D daggers), perfectly balanced weight for long-range throwing, unique in inventory (expensive, saved for emergency).
Held it — right hand, fingers positioned through the central hole, arm **drawing** back preparing the throw.
---
He **leapt** — not small but **giant**, legs propelling his body five meters vertically reaching the height of the crystal's top, body **spinning** in mid-air one hundred eighty degrees gaining rotational momentum, right arm **extending** back preparing release.
And at the **apex** of the jump — gravity momentarily ceasing, body suspended — he **threw**.
---
**SHURIKEN** launched — not normal speed but supersonic amplified by active skill *Lethal Throw* (cost: 50 stamina, +200% projectile velocity, +150% penetration), spinning body creating a sharp air-cutting **WHOOOOSH**, trajectory **perfect** straight line targeting the central blue point.
**IMPACT** — not on the outer surface but **penetration**.
Shuriken **pierced** the outer layer of the crystal — initial resistance but sufficient momentum to **penetrate**, creating a five-centimeter diameter circular hole, continuing trajectory through the translucent interior, crystal fragments **exploding** backward in a spray of brilliant purple.
And **hit** — the central blue core.
---
**SOUND** — not an explosion but a sharp **crack** like glass breaking, blue point **splintering** into radiating webs of fissures, internal light **flickering** erratically, pulse **accelerating** before **stopping** completely.
**Core** — went dark.
---
**San** — landed on the ground, knees **absorbing** impact, looked at Julia:
"So?! **Did it work**?!"
---
**Julia** — saw a **small** crack appear on the crystal's outer surface around the entry hole, thin fissure propagating slowly upward and downward.
Tense voice:
**Yes**… it worked… but…
The crack **accelerated** — no longer slow but fast, multiplying into dozens of radiating lines, sound of breaking glass **intensifying**, purple light **flickering** chaotically.
"We'd better **get out** of here RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY!"
---
They **ran** — at maximum speed exiting the side chamber, reaching the main tunnel, continuing toward the exit twenty meters ahead visible as a circular opening illuminated by the forest's ghostly green light.
Behind them — sound **intensifying**: continuous **CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK**, purple light glowing so intensely it illuminated the entire tunnel, turning black basaltic stone into brilliant purple.
---
**Julia** — shouting without stopping:
**SAN**! THE EXIT! RUN!
---
**Ten meters** from the exit.
**Five meters**.
**Three meters**.
---
**CRYSTAL** — **EXPLODED**.
Not fire or physical fragments.
**Pure ENERGY** released instantaneously.
---
**MAGICAL SHOCKWAVE** — not visible as light but felt as absolute **physical pressure**, an invisible wall of force expanding in a perfect sphere at the speed of sound (340 m/s), carrying concentrated mana equivalent to a thousand mages casting spells simultaneously, distorting air in visible waves like extreme heat but cold instead of hot.
---
**Julia** and **San** — three meters from the exit when the wave **reached** them.
**Impact** — not gradual but instantaneous.
Bodies **hurled** — not falling but **flying** horizontally through the cavern exit like cannon projectiles, estimated speed eighty kilometers per hour, air **roaring** around them, unable to control trajectory, arms and legs **flailing** uselessly.
---
**FOREST** — shockwave expanding through the giant trees.
**Trunks** — ten to fifteen meters in diameter, dense magic-saturated wood, deep roots — **tilted** violently like grass in a hurricane, bark **cracking** audibly, branches **snapping** raining wood fragments, leaves **torn** away creating a chaotic green cloud.
**Animals** — hundreds of creatures (snakes, birds, insects, normal non-mutated bats) **exposed** to the concentrated mana wave — bodies **glowing** purple momentarily, cellular structures **forcibly reorganizing**, sizes **increasing** (snakes from two meters → four meters, pigeon-sized birds → eagle-sized), random mutations appearing (scales turning metallic, feathers gaining magical shine, eyes duplicating).
Already-mutated **bat-humans** — re-exposed to mana — evolving **again**: bodies growing from two meters → three meters tall, wings expanding, claws elongating, intelligence in their eyes **visibly increasing**.
---
And the wave **continued** — not stopping but expanding through the entire forest, reaching the edges in **thirty** seconds, total radius ten kilometers.
---
**KEND** — mountain city three kilometers from the forest edge.
**Wind** arrived — not the full wave but a **residual fraction**, perhaps five percent of original force, but still enough to cause chaos.
**Streets** — people walking peacefully, children playing, merchants selling — suddenly **pulled** sideways by invisible horizontal wind, bodies **dragged** two meters before stabilizing, market stalls **toppling**, goods **scattering**, children's fire balloons **extinguishing** under pressure.
**Buildings** — solid stone but glass windows **cracking**, wooden doors **slamming** violently, tile roofs **shaking**.
**Governor's Palace** — sturdiest structure but still affected.
---
**Governor Heldfin** — sixty-eight years old, gray hair, dark-blue tunic, was in his office reviewing documents when wind **blew** through an open window, scattering papers, spilling ink.
He stood — walking quickly to the window, looking west (toward the forest), seeing treetops **swaying** violently even kilometers away, a cloud of dust and leaves rising like smoke.
Voice **trembling** slightly:
"What is **happening** exactly over there?!" — Tone worried, not merely curious. — "The knights from Ellis went to investigate hours ago… could this be related?!"
---
**[FOREST – NEAR EPICENTER]**
**Garrett**, **Marcus**, **Cassandra**, **Jessica** — running through dense undergrowth, dodging roots and rocks, Cassandra and Jessica **flying** three meters above ground (collaborative levitation spell), the giant egg **floating** between them magically controlled, Garrett and Marcus running at maximum human speed below.
**Above** — twenty meters up in the treetops — the **dragon** pursuing.
Not flying low but **galloping** across thick branches like natural bridges, massive twenty-meter body navigating the forest with impossible agility for its size, head **lowering** periodically, throat **glowing** blue, spitting **flames** — not long jets but controlled short bursts aimed **around** the group not directly at them (protecting the egg), creating walls of fire blocking escape routes, trees **carbonizing**, smoke **rising**.
---
**Garrett** — felt the **pressure** change abruptly, air becoming **dense**, ambient magic **increasing** exponentially.
Looked back — saw through distant trees intense **purple** light glowing from the direction of the cavern three kilometers behind.
Realization crossed his mind:
"Don't **tell** me those **idiots** destroyed that giant crystal?!" — Voice **shouting** a mix of disbelief and rage. — "Are they **COMPLETELY INSANE**?! Releasing all that energy at once is going to…"
---
**Wave** reached — invisible wall of pressure **striking** the group like a tsunami.
**Garrett** — shouted:
**CASSANDRA**! **JESSICA**! PROTECTIVE SHIELD **NOW**!
---
**Cassandra** — staff **glowing**, voice **reciting** quickly:
**AEGIS… BARRIER… MAXIMA**!
**Jessica** — grimoire **opening** to page 15, mana (600/600) **draining** massively, voice **reciting** simultaneously:
**PROTEGO… CLIPEUS… FORTIS**!
---
Two shields **materialized** — not separate but **fusing** into one single translucent sky-blue hemisphere six-meter radius centered on the group, five centimeters thick, glowing blinding intensity, structure **trembling** already under strain to maintain integrity against the increasing ambient magical pressure.
---
**Energy wave** **impacted** — not gently but like a **hammer**.
**Shield** **held** — but **cracking** visible, fissures appearing in a web across the surface, Cassandra and Jessica **screaming** with mental effort, mana **draining** rapidly (Cassandra 400 → 200, Jessica 600 → 300 in two seconds).
**Outside** the shield — devastation:
Trees **tilting** sixty degrees, branches **snapping** raining wood, leaves **torn** away creating a swirling green cloud, small rocks **lifted** from the ground floating momentarily before being hurled like projectiles.
**Mutating creatures** — energy being **drained** from bodies before completing transformation, half-evolved bats **partially reverting** (dog size → cat size), snakes **shrinking** slightly (six meters → four meters), mutation process **interrupted** leaving unstable hybrid forms.
---
**Inside** the shield — apparently safe.
BUT —
Jessica's **HUD** — began to **glitch**.
```
╔════════════════════════════════╗
║ JÉSSICA ║
║ SYSTEM: STABILIZING... ║
║ MANA: 300/600 → ER̴R̷O̶ → 150 ║
║ ER̷R̸O̴ ̶E̵R̴R̶O̷ ̸E̴R̷R̵O̶ ║
║ SYSTEM C͟O͟R͟R͟O͟M͟P͟I͟D͟O͟ ║
║ MANA DRAINING: -50/sec ║
╚════════════════════════════════╝
```
**Jessica** — eyes **widening** seeing the digital interface **distorting**, numbers **scrambling**, voice **trembling**:
"My system is… it's **CORRUPTING**!" — She screamed. — "Uncontrolled magical energy is interfering with the game code! Mana draining fifty per second! I'll be **empty** in three seconds!"
---
**Cassandra** — traditional magic not system-based but also **failing**, shield **weakening** visibly, glow **dimming**, voice **strained**:
"I can't… hold… much longer…"
---
**Garrett** — seeing the shield about to **collapse**, wave of energy still not passed (estimated total duration ten seconds, only three elapsed), understanding imminent death:
**Damn it**… — Low, resigned voice. — "This really is our **end**… Twenty years for **nothing**…"
---
**ROAR** — from above.
Not rage.
**Determination**.
---
**Dragon** — twenty meters up in the treetops, seeing the group about to be consumed by the wave, seeing the **egg** floating between them in danger.
Instant decision: **protect**.
---
**Mouth** opened — not to spit fire but to **suck**.
Throat **glowed** — not blue (fire) but **purple** (magical absorption), unique ability of ancient dragons: *Mana Devourer*, capacity to **consume** ambient magical energy directly converting it into personal power.
And it **sucked** — not air but **energy**.
---
**Uncontrolled mana wave** — literally **pulled** upward through the dragon's open mouth like liquid being sucked through a giant pipe, visible purple mist flowing in ascending spirals converging into the open throat, speed increasing creating partial vacuum making atmospheric pressure **drop** drastically, everyone's ears **popping** painfully.
**Mutating creatures** — energy being **drained** from bodies before completing transformation, half-evolved bats **partially reverting** (dog size → cat size), snakes **shrinking** slightly (six meters → four meters), mutation process **interrupted** leaving unstable hybrid forms.
**Trees** — stopped tilting, gradually returning to vertical as pressure **diminished**.
**Cassandra/Jessica's shield** — **stabilized**, cracking stopped propagating, glow **returning**.
---
Jessica's **HUD**:
```
╔════════════════════════════════╗
║ JÉSSICA ║
║ SYSTEM: STABILIZING... ║
║ MANA: 150 → 180 [RECOVERING] ║
║ CORRUPTION: REMOVED ║
╚════════════════════════════════╝
```
---
**Ten seconds** of continuous absorption.
**Dragon** — closed its mouth, consumed energy processed internally, white/black scales **glowing** faintly with excess power, electric-blue eyes **intensifying**.
**Wave** — completely dissipated, forest returning to relative silence (only sounds of adjusting mutated animals and creaking trees).
---
**Julia** and **San** — forty meters above ground, having been hurled by the initial wave and **landed** on a thick branch of a giant tree before the wave fully passed, system glitching during but **stabilized** now.
**Julia** — looking down through foliage, seeing the devastation:
"I think it was a **terrible** idea to destroy the crystal without thinking about the consequences…" — Voice **trembling** slightly.
Looked **up** — saw the dragon perched on a treetop a hundred meters away, still **sucking** the final residues of magical energy through its open mouth.
Eyes **widening**:
"San… look…"
---
**San** — followed her gaze, saw the dragon, realization crossing:
"It's… **absorbing** all the energy? Saving the entire forest from magical collapse?" — Tone mixing admiration and fear.
**Chapter 58 – Collapse of the Crystal and Final Confrontation** (continued)
**Julia** nodded, decision forming:
"This is our chance!" — Voice gaining determination. — "Let's take advantage now while the magical pressure is low and being sucked away! We need to reach Garrett before Cassandra gets to Kend with the egg!"
She looked at San:
"I'll go on the ground through the underbrush! You go above, jumping branches using your speed! We'll flank them from both sides simultaneously!"
**San** — confident smile:
"Understood perfectly!"
**Julia** — leapt — forty meters free fall, body spinning in the air, legs absorbing impact as she landed on a thick root ten meters below, rolling to dissipate momentum, rising in continuous motion, running toward where she last saw Garrett.
**San** — leapt sideways — not downward but horizontally reaching an adjacent branch fifteen meters away, using it as a trampoline for the next jump, fluid parkour movement through the treetops, speed increasing.
**[GARRETT'S GROUP – INSIDE THE SHIELD]**
Garrett, Marcus, Cassandra, Jessica — seeing the magic stabilize, Jessica's system returning to normal, ambient magical pressure dropping to safe levels.
**Garrett** — looking up through the translucent shield, seeing the dragon sucking the residual energy:
"It looks like the magical pressure suddenly stopped completely…" — Confused tone. — "How is that possible?"
He looked above — saw the dragon twenty meters up.
Realization:
"That dragon really is far more powerful than we can comprehend…" — Reverent voice. — "Only ancient dragons over a thousand years old are capable of directly absorbing ambient mana. That means…"
Pause processing implications:
"That means we're dealing with a legendary creature, not just a powerful one. If it decides to seriously attack us instead of just protecting the egg… we have no chance at all."
He shook his head — refocusing:
"Doesn't matter now." — Voice hardening. — "Let's go! We have important business to finish! Cassandra, take the egg and fly to Kend! Use the dragon to destroy the city! This is our last chance for freedom!"
Before he could move —
**RAIN** of shurikens — a dozen of them coming from above, parallel trajectories targeting the group, high speed creating air-cutting sounds.
**Garrett** — reflexes activating, body dodging sideways, shurikens passing centimeters from his head, embedding in the ground behind him with **THUNK-THUNK-THUNK** sounds.
He looked up:
"Who the hell?!"
Voice — male, sarcastic, coming from the treetops:
"Why the rush, Garrett? Did you forget something?"
**San** — landed on the ground twenty meters ahead, perfect silent landing, dual daggers drawn, relaxed but ready combat stance, confident smile curling his lips.
**Jessica** — seeing San, eyes widening, voice escaping involuntarily:
"My… my favorite employee…" — Tone mixing relief and confusion.
**San** — completely ignored the comment, eyes locked on Garrett.
**Garrett** — processing the impossibility:
"You?!" — Voice a mix of rage and disbelief. — "How did you survive the crystal explosion AND catch up to us so fast?! You should be…"
He stopped — saw movement behind.
**Julia** — emerging from the underbrush, sword drawn gleaming faintly, sky-blue armor stained with dirt and dried blood but intact, determined eyes fixed on Garrett, walking until she stood beside San forming a front line, combat stance ready.
**Jessica** — seeing Julia too:
"The… the CEO too…" — Voice almost crying with genuine relief.
**Julia** — looked directly at Garrett, voice emerging firm, authoritative:
"End of the line for you, Garrett." — Not an empty threat but a statement of fact. — "We won't let Kend be destroyed. We won't allow three hundred innocent lives to be massacred for freedom bought with the blood of children."
**Garrett** — face twisting into an expression of pure uncontained rage, twenty years of frustration, hatred, and despair exploding:
**CASSANDRA**! — He shouted. — "Our freedom is now completely in your hands! Don't fail!"
Hand dove into his pouch, pulled out an electric-blue potion (Rank A Arcane Restoration, last one in inventory), threw it to Cassandra:
"Take this! Fully restore your mana! Grab the egg and fly to Kend! Use the dragon to destroy the city! Complete the mission alone if necessary!"
Looked at Julia and San — eyes burning with hatred:
"As for these irritating pieces of shit here… let me and Marcus take care of them personally and permanently!"
**Cassandra** — caught the potion, nodded silently, grabbed the egg (still floating between her and Jessica), body rising through flight spell, accelerating upward through the treetops toward Kend.
Leaving only — Jessica (no mana, exhausted) five meters behind Garrett and Marcus.
And ahead — Garrett and Marcus versus Julia and San.
Four combatants — ten meters separating them, palpable tension in the air.
**Garrett** — hand pulling a longsword from the sheath on his back, blade emerging with metallic **SHING**, dark-gray steel engraved with faintly glowing red runes, **Rank B** classification (superior to Julia's Rank C sword), one hundred twenty centimeters long, grip of well-worn black leather from two decades of use, perfectly balanced weight for heavy cuts.
Pointed the blade at Julia and San — not dramatic threat but pragmatic gesture:
"Time to end this nonsense once and for all."
**Marcus** — bloodied mace rising from dragging position on the ground to combat-ready over his right shoulder, muscles rippling under armor, expression remaining blank but eyes focusing on targets, posture shifting from relaxed to lethal.
**San** — daggers spinning in hands warming wrists, body lowering slightly preparing *Shadow Step*, confident smile disappearing replaced by absolute concentration.
**Julia** — sword rising to high guard in Wushu style, legs spreading shoulder-width, breathing regulating, eyes never leaving Garrett.
Four warriors — motionless for three heartbeats.
Wind blowing through the devastated forest carrying the smell of burnt wood and residual magic ozone.
Dragon above — silently watching, absorption of energy complete, electric-blue eyes fixed on the group below.
Tension — reaching breaking point.
And they **exploded** into simultaneous movement — four bodies launching in opposite directions initiating the final confrontation.