The storm arrived before sunset.

Black clouds swallowed the skies above Ashkar.

Thunder rolled across the kingdom.

Cold rain hammered rooftops and flooded stone streets.

Citizens hurried indoors.

Merchants abandoned their stalls.

Even soldiers preferred shelter beneath fortress walls.

Yet atop the highest tower in the city—

one man welcomed the storm.

His name was Darius Blackthorn.

The greatest monster hunter alive.

For twenty years he had hunted creatures across the continent.

Dragons.

Giants.

Wyverns.

Sea serpents.

Nothing escaped him.

Nothing survived him.

His face was covered in scars earned through countless battles.

His black cloak whipped violently in the wind.

And beside him stood his masterpiece.

The Titanbreaker.

A colossal siege crossbow.

Large enough to destroy castle gates.

Powerful enough to pierce dragon scales.

A weapon feared throughout the kingdom.

Tonight it was aimed at a child.

Far across the rooftops—

a fifteen-year-old boy stood alone.

Barefoot.

Wearing torn clothes soaked by rain.

Mud and dust stained his face.

He looked harmless.

Weak.

Ordinary.

Yet Darius knew better.

Because he had spent six months searching for him.

Six months following rumors.

Stories.

Whispers.

A boy who survived impossible falls.

A boy who walked away from battles.

A boy who appeared wherever monsters vanished.

At first Darius dismissed the tales.

Until he discovered something hidden within ancient royal archives.

A prophecy.

A warning.

A name.

The Last Beast.

A creature that would appear wearing human skin.

A being capable of destroying kingdoms.

A monster more dangerous than dragons.

And every description matched the boy.

Darius tightened his grip.

The king himself had ordered the execution.

The kingdom could not risk waiting.

The monster had to die.

Now.

Lightning flashed.

The hunter pulled the trigger.

THOOOOOM.

The entire tower shook.

The Titanbreaker unleashed its fury.

A gigantic steel bolt exploded through the storm.

The projectile screamed across the city.

Roof tiles shattered.

Chimneys exploded.

Stone walls cracked.

Citizens below screamed and ran.

The bolt raced directly toward the boy.

Certain death.

Unavoidable death.

The hunter smiled grimly.

Then the impossible happened.

The boy ran toward it.

Not away.

Toward it.

Darius frowned.

“What?”

The steel projectile closed the distance.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then—

the boy jumped.

Higher than any human should.

For a heartbeat the entire city seemed frozen.

The bolt passed beneath him.

Missing by inches.

Rain hung suspended in the air.

Lightning illuminated the impossible sight.

The boy wasn’t escaping.

He was using the projectile.

Using its momentum.

Using its path.

Launching himself toward the tower.

Toward Darius.

Toward the Titanbreaker.

The hunter’s confidence shattered instantly.

“No…”

The boy crashed onto the siege weapon.

BOOOOOM.

Wood exploded.

Metal twisted.

The massive structure groaned.

Then came a kick.

One kick.

Nothing more.

Yet it struck the main support beam with terrifying force.

CRAAAAACK.

The beam shattered.

Then another.

Then another.

The Titanbreaker collapsed.

The legendary weapon disintegrated beneath the storm.

Splinters flew across the rooftop.

Iron braces snapped.

The firing platform crumbled.

Darius barely avoided falling from the tower.

When the dust cleared—

the greatest anti-monster weapon in the kingdom no longer existed.

Only ruins remained.

And standing atop them—

was the boy.

Rain streamed down his face.

His expression remained calm.

Almost disappointed.

The hunter stared.

Unable to comprehend what he had witnessed.

No human could do that.

No human.

Slowly Darius rose.

Drawing the twin swords at his waist.

“If you’re not human…”

The boy sighed.

“I hear that often.”

Thunder rolled overhead.

The hunter attacked.

Years of experience exploded into motion.

His blades flashed through the rain.

Fast enough to kill dragons.

Fast enough to decapitate armored knights.

The first strike missed.

The second missed.

The third missed.

The boy avoided each attack with minimal movement.

A step.

A turn.

A shift.

Nothing wasted.

Nothing unnecessary.

Darius attacked harder.

Faster.

Deadlier.

Yet every strike failed.

The hunter’s frustration grew.

“What are you?”

The boy finally answered.

“A person.”

“You’re lying!”

Steel flashed again.

The boy sidestepped.

“You fired a dragon-killing weapon at me.”

Darius growled.

“Because I know what you are.”

The boy’s eyes narrowed.

“And what am I?”

The hunter hesitated.

Then spoke the words he had repeated for months.

“The Last Beast.”

Silence.

The storm seemed quieter somehow.

The boy looked genuinely confused.

“The Last Beast?”

“The destroyer from the prophecy.”

The boy laughed.

Actually laughed.

Darius froze.

The reaction wasn’t arrogance.

It was disbelief.

“That’s what they told you?”

The hunter frowned.

“What do you mean?”

The boy slowly walked toward him.

For the first time—

Darius felt fear.

Real fear.

Not because the boy looked threatening.

Because he looked sad.

“Did the king tell you where the prophecy came from?”

“No.”

“Did he show you the complete text?”

The hunter remained silent.

The boy nodded.

“I thought so.”

Lightning flashed again.

The boy reached into his torn coat.

Darius immediately raised his swords.

Instead of a weapon—

the boy produced a small book.

Ancient.

Weathered.

Burned along the edges.

The hunter stared.

“The original prophecy.”

Darius blinked.

Impossible.

“The king destroyed every copy.”

“Almost every copy.”

The boy tossed it toward him.

Instinctively Darius caught it.

Rain soaked the pages.

The hunter opened the book.

His eyes moved across the ancient writing.

Then widened.

The color drained from his face.

Because the prophecy was completely different.

Terrifyingly different.

The Last Beast wasn’t the destroyer.

The Last Beast was the protector.

The final guardian created to stop a disaster.

The prophecy never warned about the beast.

It warned about the king.

Darius slowly lowered the book.

His hands trembled.

“No…”

The boy nodded sadly.

“The royal family changed the story centuries ago.”

The hunter remembered every mission.

Every order.

Every creature he had hunted.

Every monster he had killed.

A horrible realization began forming.

“What disaster?”

The boy looked toward the horizon.

Beyond the city walls.

Beyond the mountains.

Toward something only he could sense.

Then the ground trembled.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The entire city froze.

Citizens looked around in confusion.

The tremors grew stronger.

Tower bells rang.

Walls cracked.

And from beyond the mountains—

a roar echoed across the kingdom.

Not a dragon.

Something older.

Something far worse.

The boy closed his eyes.

“That disaster.”

The horizon suddenly split open.

A massive line of golden light appeared beyond the mountains.

Like a wound across the world itself.

The sky darkened.

Thunder vanished.

Even the storm seemed afraid.

Darius stared in horror.

“What is that?”

“The prison.”

“What prison?”

The boy looked at him.

“The prison that has held the real monster for a thousand years.”

The hunter’s heart stopped.

Then he understood.

The prophecy.

The lies.

The altered history.

The king.

Everything.

The Last Beast wasn’t the enemy.

The Last Beast was the jailer.

The guardian.

The lock.

And somehow—

the king had just destroyed the prison.

Far away, something enormous began emerging from the glowing fracture.

Mountains moved.

Forests disappeared.

Entire valleys shook.

Citizens screamed.

The apocalypse had arrived.

Darius looked toward the boy.

For the first time he saw him clearly.

Not as a monster.

Not as a target.

But as a child carrying a burden nobody else understood.

A burden he had carried alone.

Then Darius did something nobody expected.

He dropped both swords.

They clattered across the ruined tower.

The hunter knelt.

Rain poured over him.

“I was wrong.”

The boy stared silently.

Darius lowered his head.

“I spent my life hunting monsters.”

His voice cracked.

“And I became a weapon for one.”

For several seconds neither spoke.

Then the boy offered his hand.

Darius looked up.

Surprised.

“Why?”

The boy smiled faintly.

“Because if I held grudges against everyone who tried to kill me…”

He glanced toward the glowing horizon.

“…I’d have no time left to save the world.”

The hunter laughed.

A broken laugh.

Then accepted the hand.

The boy pulled him to his feet.

Together they stood atop the ruined tower.

Watching the end approach.

Watching darkness rise beyond the mountains.

Watching destiny awaken.

Darius looked toward him.

“What do I call you?”

The boy remained silent for a moment.

Then answered.

“My name is Elias.”

The hunter nodded.

“Elias.”

The boy turned toward the horizon.

Golden light began shining beneath his skin.

Ancient symbols awakened across his arms.

The storm itself started circling around him.

Power gathered.

The city watched in stunned silence.

Then Elias stepped to the edge of the tower.

The wind exploded around him.

And for the first time—

massive spectral wings unfolded behind his back.

Not dragon wings.

Not angel wings.

Something older.

The crowd gasped.

The hunter smiled.

Now he finally understood.

The prophecy had never been warning humanity about a monster.

It had been warning humanity not to destroy its last protector.

The Monster Hunter had spent months hunting the wrong creature.

And now—

he would spend the rest of his life helping save it.

As Elias launched himself into the storm and flew toward the awakening darkness, every citizen in Ashkar watched the same impossible sight.

Not a monster.

Not a king.

Not a god.

Just a boy.

A boy willing to stand alone against the end of the world.

And somehow—

that made him more terrifying than any monster ever could.