August struggled to his feet and took a look around.
The nearby trees blazed with blue flames, the blaze was spreading fast through the trees and ground shrubbery. Small creatures scurried to look for safety amidst the scalding hell.
He saw flying creatures, small ravens with four wings, large dragonfly wasp hybrids, and of course, hundreds if not thousands of reptilian birds.
There were also larger creatures dashing past him— though none seemed interested in making a meal of him at the moment. August was quite gleeful at that.
Suddenly he noticed something odd, all the creatures were fleeing in the same direction.
Now this wouldn't have been as perplexing if it wasn't for a single fact.
They were fleeing into the flames.
August dodged, rolled and did everything in his power to avoid being trampled in the stampede of monsters, barely managing to keep an eye on the armored rhinoceros as he did.
The behemoth did not tremble nor sway anymore. The red glowing lines that adorned it— tracing an intricate swirling pattern between muscles and skin, had disappeared.
If August had to guess what had happened, he'd assume the heavy armor was weighing the beast down in exchange for the outrageous durability that the plates provided. When these plates had been burned away, the creature was no longer weighed down and was able to exert extraordinary speed and strength.
August had long since known the behemoth was an Apex predator, existing far out of reach of both he and the creatures of the forest alike. But now he viewed the beast as more of a demon than anything else.
A vicious, immortal demon. The kind of foul beast that only heroes could slay.
Within minutes, the stampede of the dark forest had ended, and the only creatures left in this region of the blazing forest were the rhinoceros and himself, along with those who had failed to escape and were trampled or burning away.
The behemoth had not noticed him, thankfully. And it soon turned away, wandering straight through the flames and into the burning, collapsing forest.
August walked up to the white lion's corpse. He had nothing to worry about, he was sure. The explosion had erupted from the beast's head, blowing it to smithereens.
However, that did not stop the fear from bubbling into his throat as he approached.
The white lion had been an amazing creature, an almost unrivaled existence. It was nothing more than a shame that the only rival it faced was the armored rhinoceros.
If the white lion had ran, it surely would have lived to fight another day, yet it didn't.
August wondered if the beast had felt fear during this fight, if it had felt hopeless or outmatched. If it had, it did not show it. He wanted to know if creatures with such enormous power, could freeze in fear like him.
There was no definitive way to tell, but if he had to say. August believed the white lion was much more exhausted than it's opponent.
The beast had not even managed to digest the silver bear fully. Which surely would have taken even a miniscule amount of energy away from it.
Speaking of energy, the beast's flames surely burnt a lot of it. Considering how sparingly it used them. That definitely hindered how much of its potential was shown.
And to pin the final nail in the coffin of the glorious beast, the injuries it had suffered merely hours prior, had been much more severe than anything the armored behemoth could possibly experience. Maybe in its entire lifespan.
Fighting another of equal status after all that must have been a grueling experience even for the white lion.
Maybe he was just searching for justification, something to make himself feel better about what he had done. Maybe he was just too set in his ways to admit that overcoming his own fear was impossible.
But no matter how he tried to justify it, in the end only one thing was true. The white lion had not faltered nor backed down, even if it was drowning in fear.
'Is that what it means to be an Apex predator?'
August found himself staring at the body of the beast in total and complete awe, wondering if he would ever get to bear witness to such a magnificent battle again.
He did not have much time to spend on the topic, sadly. He reached out his arm, this time placing it on the back of the prideful beast.
Within seconds, yellow mist consolidated into an orb in his hands.
This time however, it was different.
The orb in his hands– instead of the typical black steel look, was a semi transparent white, and deep inside there was a single blue flame, illuminating the area with a soft, glowing light.
August didn't know how to describe it exactly, but the orb felt, bittersweet, like the warm memory of an old friend.
He stared at it for far longer than he intended, the beauty of the orb captivating him. Taking the entirety of his attention.
He couldn't pull his eyes away from it, questions flurried through his mind, flooding it with thoughts. Yet only one was asked at the same time.
'What is this?' August asked himself, or maybe the question was directed at the organizer.
Regardless of if it was, the organizer gave him an answer.
A swirl of lavender emerged from the orb, turning into a screen.
—-----
"White lion's legacy(Aura mold)"
"A piece is only as valuable as the story behind it, and the world will forever remember your story. The collector has placed great value upon this piece, as as such, it carries the legacy of the peaceful soul inside."
_____
August read the description of the Aura mold in his palm, before promptly storing it and dismissing the lavender organizer once more.
He then looked down at the white lion, nodding at the headless corpse.
"You fought valiantly, the world will remember you."
There was one more thing he needed to do.
Taking a few seconds to ready himself, he took a deep breath, then called upon the sword that had dislodged from the rhinoceros' eye.
In a quick flash of yellow light, a single bloodied sword was floating before him.
Wasting no time, he quickly willed it to be stored, not wanting to look at it for any longer than he had to.
Then he called for the sword he had summoned for Alia moments before he had left her.
There was another flash of light, however, this time, the flash was purple.
"ERROR: The weapon you requested is in use, please request a return from the gifted user. "