The Face of Betrayal

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Orion fixed his eyes on the pile of rubble blocking the way before them. His brow furrowed in concentration. "Stand back," he said low and quiet, low but commanding.

Mona complied, instinctively backing away with her eyes nailed to him as she tracked his movements. Orion lifted his hand, palm out to the debris, and for an instant the air around him seemed to vibrate with energy. The dim light in the cave sputtered as the temperature in the cave rose; heat was gathering inside him.

A stream of fire burst in an explosive manner from his hand. The fire raged and belched forth, a wave of burning fire that caught the rocks and stones. The explosion was heard and shook the cave as the noise rattled along the walls like a rumbling thunderclap. The flames lapped at the sides of the cavern and showed it in a bright, molten brilliance.

It suddenly flared and danced higher, embracing the rubble in its swath of destructive power. The boulders crackled and burst in the intense heat, breaking down into liquid embers that flew across the floor. So strong was the blast of flame that the whole mound fell in upon itself, leaving a smoldering path ahead.

The display of raw power made her eyes go wide and her breath catch in her throat. Intense, Orion's flames had her hypnotized; though words were left unsaid, her expression said it all. Awe and admiration were etched on her face, even a hint of disbelief, as she watched the dance of the fire develop before her.

Orion let his hand fall, and the flames died out as quickly as they flared up. Turning to Mona, his yellow eyes shone faintly in the dying light of the embers. "Let's move," he said simply-and his tone was composed, as if he did nothing out of the ordinary.

Without saying another word, they stepped over what was left of the charred remains of the rubble, as the path was clear now. As they emerged from the cave, the sudden burst of sunlight made them both squint; the brightness was near blinding after the darkness of the cavern.

Mona's eyes darted around, her gaze scanning in all directions. "We're… on Starsnatch Cliff!" she exclaimed, the tone of her voice filled with surprise. "The Falcon Coast cave led all the way here?

Orion didn't answer immediately, his eyes focusing intently as he scanned the horizon. His mind had still been on the trail, his thoughts grouped together in an effort to compile all they had found. Then, something ahead caught his attention: a group of adventurers, running in frantic panic across the open plains, their shouts of panic carried by the wind.

His eyes slitted, his heart racing as he saw what they were running from. Behind them, a great mechanical beast lurched forward, its hulking form casting a long shadow across the grass. The ground shuddered beneath its weight as it stomped after the adventurers, a glowing red eye locked on targets.

Orion's lips curled into a grim smile. "That's our Ruin Grader."

It was a colossal creature: its arms and legs made from metal that had been rusted through ages, and with each step its gears ground and whirred. Its massive stone fists came down into the ground with every step as if it were trying to crush the earth to dust, leaving deep craters in the earth. The adventurers were doing all they could to get as far away as possible, but it was fast gaining on them.

Orion stepped forward, instinctively clenching his hand onto his polearm, as the wind started to howl around him. "Looks like we've got a fight on our hands."

The chaotic scene unfolded before their eyes. The Ruin Grader loomed large, its metal limbs whirring as it chased after the fleeing adventurers. Then Mona's sharp eyes caught the faint glow which had begun to build in the core of the machine, and her heart gave a little flutter.

"No!" she exclaimed, her voice laced in panic. "It's going to launch rockets at them!"

Orion's eyes sprang to the Ruin Grader, its arms slowly rising as the compartments in its shoulders opened, revealing the deadly missiles inside. The adventurers were still scrambling for their bearings, and no amount of preparation could let them outrun the barrage that would rain down upon them. For one short, breathless instant, Time froze. Orion knew he didn't have much time to act.

He thrust his hand forward without thinking, and his mind flew to summon Cryo energy. Freeze the machine in its tracks, stop the attack before it could begin; that was his intention. Something felt off, though. Instead of the cold bite of ice, a sudden surge of wind roared from his hand.

A strong gust of air exploded forward, swirling into a powerful vortex. The wind slammed into the adventurers, not with the force of harm but like a barrier of protection. It lifted them off the ground, sending them tumbling backward-away from the Ruin Grader's deadly reach. The missiles fired, but the gust of wind had pushed the adventurers just far enough for the rockets to miss, exploding harmlessly into the ground.

Mona's eyes burrowed into the ground with incredulity. She turned to Orion, her mouth open in disbelief. "Was that... Anemo? You can use Anemo as well?!"

Orion blinked, staring at his hand as the residual wind dissipated around him. His brow furrowed, clearly puzzled. "that's... not what I was trying to do."

He had looked utterly perplexed-anticipated Cryo but something potent in Anemo called instead. He flexed his fingers with which the strange energy still hummed in his veins. "I was going for Cryo," he grumbled, apparently taken aback.

Mona couldn't get over her amazement and took a step forward. "Whatever it was that you were trying for, you just saved them! That was amazing!" she said to him, her tone full of incredulity and admiration, as though she was trying to grasp that Orion had just tapped into a new element without even realizing.

Orion shook his head, a tenuous smile pulling on his lips as he was much puzzled. His vibrant yellow eyes fluttered between amusement and curiosity. "Still, not what I expected."

Mona's astonishment moved onto a smirk. "well let's go destroy it shall we?"

Orion nodded at Mona, still focused on the hulking Ruin Grader looming before them, while stating in an intent but smooth voice, "I have an idea. Can you envelop it in a huge Hydro bubble?"

Mona stood beside him and nodded firmly. "Roger." The haughtiness was all gone, replaced with focus. Moving forward like a tide, her footsteps danced light and soft, as if flying over the water. The solid ground beneath her feet wavered like the waves on the water's surface; it seemed the world of earth had melted, shaping itself at her will. Her movements were like those of the river.

As she approached the giant machine, Mona raised her hands, her voice firm and commanding. "Let's see you try to break out of this!" With a swift motion, the air around the Ruin Grader started to swirl, and water welled up from nowhere, creating a huge sphere that engulfed the machine completely. The Ruin Grader struggled inside, its heavy motions slow in the dense prison of hydro binding it.

Orion grinned as he watched her work, genuinely impressed. "Nice," he muttered to himself. The Adept launched himself into the air, his body twisting as he went high up above the battlefield. With a flick of his wrist, his polearm promptly began to glow with bright, icy blue Cryo energy swirling in a frosty storm around it. The chill crawled up the spear, turning it into a weapon of pure Cryo power.

He fixed his gaze on the Ruin Grader below now, hanging in Mona's prison of water, Orion launched his polearm at the machine with all his might. The polearm sliced through the air like a shimmering dance of frosty mist until it struck dead center into the core of Ruin Grader.

In that instant, as the polearm impaled the machine, a surge of Cryo energy exploded outward. Water around the Ruin Grader started freezing instantly and took the shape of a dazzling prison of ice. The whole machinery was sheathed in frozen water and came into complete stillness-the once-violent movements were suddenly stopped in an instant.

Orion touched down lightly to the ground, and a thin layer of frost burst from his point of contact. He straightened up, turning his gaze to the frozen Ruin Grader with satisfaction. His gold eyes darted to Mona, flashing a delighted smile. "Nice teamwork," he said, beaming, twisting his smile into an even more playful grin.

Mona crossed her arms over her chest, a smirk tugging at the edges of her lips. "Of course. You're not too bad yourself."

Orion's smile turned in a little and his eyes came back to the Ruin Grader. "But one thing more," he said, pressing ahead purposefully. "It is active still."

Flames began to lick at his hand, the bright orange glow contrasting sharply against the icy landscape they had just created. His eyes narrowed, and his footsteps were deliberate as he approached the frozen machine. The fire grew hotter, swirling around his fist, casting a fierce light as he drew closer to the Ruin Grader's frozen form.

Orion stepped closer clenching his fist tighter, and the roar from those flames became almost too intense. Drawing back his arm in one smooth motion, Orion let loose a mighty punch against the frozen Ruin Grader. The collision was loud. Fire against ice-the steam explosion was full of streaming molten metal. Blindingly bright, the ice shattered in an instant and melted away from the flames that finally devoured the machine.

There was never a chance for the Ruin Grader. Orion's fire-filled fist melted the metal plates, changing what once was an intimidating machine into a pile of cinders and molten scrap. Most of the remains steamed down as the last smolders of the fire died out.

Orion stood over the ruin, He turned to Mona, the flames still licking slightly from his hand. "That should do it," he said-the old playful smirk that kinked his lips now curling once more.

The crowd of adventurers they had just saved began to close in, their faces mixture of gratitude and awe. Some muttered quick words of thanks, while others simply stared on at the remains of the Ruin Grader, disbelief evident in their wide eyes.

She stood tall, her eyes scanning the faces of the adventurers. Then, her gaze seemed to narrow, as if something-or rather, someone-had caught her attention. "Wait. is that. Kitzler?" she murmured in disbelief.

Orion's head jerked toward her then, his eyes following where she was looking. Amongst a sea of people, one man stood out-the man whose face brought a flush of cold anger within him. It was him. Kitzler, the man who had deserted them in the Temple of the Falcon, sealing the doors, dooming those inside to their deaths. It hit Orion like a wave-the memory was upon him in an instant, every detail of that harrowing moment leaping into his mind. His blood boiled.

Orions fists clenched at his sides, and his muscled arms tensed as his mind replayed the moment of betrayal. His hand instinctively gripped his polearm, his knuckles whitening as the veins in his arm began to pulse with restrained fury. He squeezed the weapon so tightly, it was as if his grip alone might shatter it. His eyes, normally calm and golden, blazed with anger now, locking onto Kitzler with a deadly focus, like a predator sizing up its prey.

The air around him seemed to shift, a small but fierce change in the air as his anger boiled just below the surface. Orion's breathing turned heavier, slower, his chest rising and falling with tightly restrained violence. He could feel it well up inside him, the animalistic urge to act, to make Kitzler pay for what he had done. His fingers twitched, the urge to summon his polearm growing stronger by the second.

It was just as he took a step forward, now quite eager to go and confront the man, that Mona's voice finally cut through his anger. "Wait, Orion—don't!"