Shadows of Ascension

88. The Desert's Final Trial

Weeks passed. The unrelenting heat of the lawless sands bore down on Aiden, Luca, and Riona. What had once been blistering days blurred into one another—days spent trudging through an endless desert, where the dunes rose like frozen waves and the sky seemed to hang lower with every step they took. The landscape was dry, cracked, and broken, its silence interrupted only by the wind that whispered through scorched bones half-buried in sand. The sun loomed like a merciless overseer, and mirages danced mockingly in the distance.

In that cruel heat, the trio pushed forward. They had traveled far—fighting off ambushes, raiders, and hunter patrols. Riona and Luca had grown stronger, faster. They trained with desperation and intensity, knowing each fight could be their last.

But Aiden…
He remained distant.

He answered questions in fragments. He never spoke of the future. Not even when Riona had tried, late one night, voice trembling with hope.

All he said was:

"I won’t continue with you two after we find the Celestial Blades."

That was the end of it. It had been over a month since their battle with Kylian Montgomery. The landscape had slowly begun to change—less sand, more bones.

At first, small—fox-like creatures, lizards, birds.
But now?

Titanic skeletons.

Bones larger than buildings, buried in the sands like forgotten gods. The deeper they went, the more monstrous the remains. Some bones looked ancient, others still had bits of dried flesh clinging to them.

And with each step, Aiden’s power stirred. He could feel it surging inside, stronger than before, more focused. Something was drawing it out.

They were close. The Celestial Blades were near. Maybe just a few kilometers away.

As they climbed a dune, the dense fog of sand began to part.

What lay ahead stole their breath.

A colossal skull, cracked and sun-bleached, jutted from the ground. Large enough to fit all three of them inside with space to spare.

“Okay, guys,” Luca said, breathing hard, “that’s a Karsghaan skull. We fought one of those a week ago, right after the sandstorms stopped.”

Riona stepped forward, placing her hand on the weathered bone.

“The one we fought was smaller than this,” she noted. “Judging by the skull… it’s not even close.”

“The one you fought was a B-rank,” Aiden added, kneeling beside the skull. “This one’s different… It’s 2.3 times larger, with a rust-colored hue and deep cracks from age. That means it’s hundreds of years old.”

“A different breed,” Aiden continued. “Not just a monster… a dominator of its time. A High A-rank Karsghaan. Still within the A-tier, technically—but ferocious enough to rip apart entire teams. Even the best B-rank hunters wouldn’t stand a chance. Not even me.”

His voice held no arrogance. Just quiet certainty.

Luca blinked. “You’re saying you can sense all that from just the shadow of a skull?”

Aiden didn’t answer.

He stood up, his eyes hard. “Let’s move.”

“…Yeah, sure,” Luca muttered.

He pulled the map out of his pack. “We’re about 5 to 8 kilometers away. Maybe less.”

“Shadowbane’s still out there,” Riona said, walking beside them. “He hasn’t made a move since Sylvester told us about the alliance…”

“Yeah,” Luca nodded. “All we’ve fought since are bandits, bounty hunters, and that Karsghaan. No sign of him, no whispers.” Luca turned toward Aiden. “You haven’t fought at all. Not even trained. Since the fight with Sylvester… nothing.”

Aiden didn’t stop walking.

“When we reach the Celestial Blades,” Luca continued, “Shadowbane will strike. You know that. You need to fight him.”

Aiden’s voice was calm. But there was a storm behind it.

“I will.”

He looked out across the bones and sand.

“I’ll end this threat. And then I’ll disappear… along with my catastrophic power.”

Silence followed.

No one argued.
No one could.

They just walked. Toward the end. Toward the beginning. Toward the blades.