In that instant, a barrage of devastating skills from the three 15-Tier SS-ranked Dungeon Heroes came crashing down—

—and Ethan and Feylora's expressions instantly darkened.

"Shit!" Ethan cursed, his body flickering as he narrowly dodged the incoming attacks. But before they could catch their breath, the three Dungeon Heroes lunged at them, locking them into a fierce melee.

All of them were 15-Tier SS-ranked.

But it was three against two.

The odds were obvious—and not in their favor.

There was no way they were coming out of this unscathed…

Hell, they might not even make it out alive.

"My Lord, there are too many of them…" Feylora said grimly, standing protectively at Ethan's side. "If this keeps up, you could be in serious danger!"

But just then—

Something unexpected happened.

BOOOOM!

"My Lord!"

Out of nowhere, Andona—who should've still been locked in battle with the Dungeon Overlord Olyan—swooped down from the sky, wings spread wide, landing right in front of Ethan. But what shocked him even more was the overwhelming surge of power radiating from her—

She'd broken through to 15-Tier SSS-rank?!

"Andona?! You broke through? What about that bastard Olyan?" Ethan asked, stunned but thrilled.

"My Lord," Andona said, her voice steady and resolute, "I used the Angelic Rebirth—our race's ultimate ability. I traded my life for his. It was a one-for-one, but I got lucky and used the opportunity to ascend to SSS-rank."

As she spoke, she raised her Angelic Sword and slashed forward, forcing the three SS-ranked Dungeon Heroes to retreat under the sheer pressure of her newfound power.

"Angelic Rebirth, huh? So that's what happened…" Ethan's eyes narrowed. Of course he knew about that ability—it was a unique racial trait of the Angel race, giving them a chance to resurrect after death. But what were Andona's odds?

He quickly pulled up her status panel.

[Andona]

...

Resurrection Chance: 99.99%

...

"99.99%?!" Ethan gasped.

That changed everything.

In a battle where both sides were evenly matched, she could trade her life for an enemy's without hesitation—and then just come back.

And more importantly, every time she did that, it would reduce the enemy's numbers while keeping theirs intact.

It was a game-changer.

Finally, they had some breathing room.

"Alright then… time to start wiping out those Dungeon Heroes."

That was the only viable strategy now—take out as many of the enemy's Hero Units as possible, and free up their own forces from Emerald Castle.

Only then could the rest of their heroes rush to support Elira and Ataneya.

But just as that thought crossed Ethan's mind—

The battlefield on the other side, where The Bone Sovereign was clashing with Elira and Ataneya, suddenly erupted with a shocking new development.

In that moment—

BOOM!

BOOMBOOMBOOM—

A terrifying surge of dark purple magic exploded around Elira.

The energy was so intense, it instantly boosted her aura by an entire Tier. And then, without warning, a massive phantom of a Demon Moth materialized behind her, hovering in the air like a nightmare made flesh.

At that moment—

A sharp chime rang in Ethan's ears.

Ding!

"Player Valkarion, attention!"

"Your Hero Unit, Elira, is undergoing a mutation in her Bloodline Power! Repeat: Elira's Bloodline Power is mutating!"

"…Bloodline mutation? What the hell does that mean? Evolution? Or something else?" Ethan muttered, stunned, his mind racing.

But then—he felt it.

A shift in the air. A chance.

An opportunity.

Without hesitation, he reached into his inventory and pulled out every single Primordial Core he'd collected from fallen 15-Tier SSS-ranked enemies. He shoved them all into Andona's hands and barked, "Andona! Go—take these to Elira, now!"

"Yes, My Lord!" Andona didn't waste a second. She knew exactly how urgent this was.

With a powerful beat of her wings, she shot into the sky—

—and streaked toward Elira, who was now surrounded by a storm of chaotic, mutating energy.

At the same time, The Bone Sovereign—towering, monstrous, and radiating death—sensed something was wrong. He let out a furious roar and raised his massive skeletal arm, slamming it down toward Elira like a falling mountain.

But—

Ataneya was already there.

She threw herself into the path of the attack, eyes blazing, and shouted, "Bag of Bones! Your fight is with me!"

"Foxfire Burst!"

ROOOAAARRR!

In an instant, a torrent of soul energy erupted from Ataneya's body. The swirling spirits merged into a massive, spectral Nine-Tailed Fox, its tails lashing out like whips of pure destruction, hammering The Bone Sovereign with relentless fury.

Meanwhile—

Andona reached Elira and thrust the Primordial Cores into her hands.

The moment the cores touched her skin, they were absorbed into her body like drops of water into a flame.

And then—

BOOOOM!

A shockwave exploded outward.

The entire battlefield trembled.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A blinding pillar of light shot into the sky as Elira's Bloodline Power went completely berserk.

CRACK!

Behind her, the air itself split open—and from the rift emerged a massive, hyper-realistic Demon Moth, its wings pulsing with dark, ancient energy.

The Bone Sovereign's eyes widened in disbelief. His voice trembled.

"De… Demon Moth?! That's impossible!"

But it was real.

Elira's Bloodline Power had reversed course—no longer mutating, but evolving.

Her energy exploded outward, surging like a tidal wave.

WHRRRRMMM!

The light of evolution wrapped around her, glowing brighter and brighter until—

DING!

"Player Valkarion, congratulations! Your Hero Unit, Elira, has successfully evolved to Tier 16!"

BOOOOM!

A colossal beam of magical energy erupted from her body, shaking the heavens.

The battlefield—just moments ago a chaotic warzone—fell into stunned silence.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh…

Every single gaze turned toward Elira.

And then—

A wave of terrifying, godlike pressure rippled out from her.

In that instant, every enemy who wasn't strong enough—anyone below a certain threshold—was obliterated on the spot. Their bodies exploded into clouds of blood mist, as if they'd never existed.

The sheer force of it—

It was suffocating.

Hair-raising.

Unreal.

...

Elira's Bloodline Power mutation—no, evolution—had flipped the entire battlefield on its head.

BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOOOOOM!

The shockwaves of her power kept rolling out in waves, rippling across the battlefield like a living storm. Every pulse of energy from her body sent tremors through the ground, through the air—through the hearts of everyone present.

The Dungeon forces were frozen in place, their eyes locked on the figure floating in the sky.

Elira.

Radiant. Terrifying. Unstoppable.

The aura pouring off her was suffocating—like staring into the sun and knowing it could burn you out of existence at any second.

They stared up at her, jaws slack, faces pale, eyes wide with disbelief.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

This couldn't happen.

"Th-That's… Tier 16…"

"She actually… she really did it?"

...