Ethan collapsed to his knees, body convulsing violently.

The golden light pouring from the energy sphere seared his vision, blinding him with its intensity. Every breath felt like fire in his lungs.

So this was it…

The source of the High Lord's power?

He was seconds from blacking out when—

A streak of green light shot past him.

Feylora.

"No—!"

He reached out instinctively, but she was already gone, hurling herself toward the golden core.

She didn't hesitate.

She pressed her palm straight into the sphere.

VMMMM—!!!

And then—something impossible happened.

That world-shredding, god-scorching energy—

Didn't explode.

It responded.

The power twisted inward, forming a vortex around her hand, as if recognizing her. As if obeying.

It began to pour into her body like a spring bursting open.

Ethan's eyes went wide.

She could absorb it?

This kind of power?

But the cost was immediate.

Feylora's voice cracked, trembling with agony. "Master… I—I can't hold it…!"

Ethan surged forward, grabbing her shoulders before she collapsed.

BOOM—!!

The moment he touched her, the energy she'd begun to filter—refined, condensed, no longer raw chaos—rushed into him like a flood.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Power detonated through his limbs, his bones, his blood.

It burned. It tore. It rebuilt.

But this time—he held.

The emptiness inside him was gone, replaced by a roaring tide of strength.

Even Auri and Idra, who had been on the brink of unconsciousness, were jolted awake by the surge. Their forms stabilized, their Tiers climbing visibly as golden energy flooded them.

Feylora's body trembled, but the vortex inside her began to settle, shifting into a steady, self-sustaining flow.

Her expression eased, the pain fading from her face.

She had become a conduit.

And the power—limitless, divine—was now flowing straight into Ethan.

He could feel it.

His entire body thrummed with energy, every cell lit up like a star.

And then, a thought struck him—sharp, electric.

No wonder the High Lord never ran dry.

This is it. This is the core of the Sky Citadel.

He opened his system interface.

The scan confirmed it instantly:

Golden Energy Sphere (Floor 99) = Primary Power Core of Sky Citadel.

If destroyed, entire structure will collapse.

Ethan's heart pounded.

But then—

A wilder idea took hold.

If the High Lord had bound himself to the Sky Citadel's power…

Then what if I took control of the core?

What if I stole it from him?

He didn't hesitate.

He leapt forward and thrust his hand into the golden sphere.

VMMMM—!!

VMMMM—!!

VMMMM—!!

The light surged into him like a tidal wave.

Ethan's entire body convulsed as the golden energy surged into him—

But this time, something changed.

The core didn't just pour power into him.

It resonated.

The energy didn't fight him. It responded.

It recognized him.

The golden current roared through his veins, not as a flood to drown him, but as a force to wield.

He wasn't just absorbing it anymore.

He was becoming—

The core's master.

Ethan steadied his breath, heart pounding like a war drum. He focused, forcing his will into the torrent.

"Open—!"

With a roar, he unleashed it.

The golden energy, now bound to his command, exploded outward like a sunburst.

...

At that same moment—

The battle on the 98th floor had reached its breaking point.

The Emerald Castle forces were barely holding on, their lines collapsing, their strength nearly spent.

Defeat was seconds away.

And then—

The sky tore open.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of golden energy strands rained down from above, weaving through the air like divine threads.

They wrapped around the Emerald Castle warriors, one by one, like blessings from the heavens.

And then—

Power surged into them.

Wave after wave of pure, radiant energy flowed through the golden cords and into their bodies.

"What… what is this?!"

"This aura—it's like the High Lord's!"

"No… it's purer. Stronger!"

The soldiers stared at each other, stunned—then elated.

For the first time, the High Lord's expression cracked.

His face went pale.

"No… impossible. That power—it's coming from the 99th floor?!"

And worse—

It was stronger than his own.

The Emerald Castle army's strength skyrocketed. Their Tiers surged. Their battle cries rose like thunder.

They went from the edge of death—

To unstoppable.

The entire 98th floor of the Sky Citadel began to tremble under the weight of their resurgence.

The Sky Citadel soldiers froze.

Just moments ago, the Emerald Castle warriors had been on the brink of annihilation.

Now they were blazing like falling stars reborn—

Power erupting, auras flaring, every one of them breaking through the chains of death.

The High Lord finally understood something was very, very wrong.

He snapped his head upward, staring at the golden light boiling across the ceiling.

And for the first time—

Fear flickered in his eyes.

"No… without a conversion device, no one can absorb the 99th floor's energy. That boy—how is he doing it?!"

The Sky Citadel soldiers didn't understand what he meant by "conversion device."

But they understood one thing:

That power—

Was supposed to be his alone.

Before they could react—

The High Lord vanished in a streak of golden light, drawn by the pull of the core.

He could still access the 99th floor—briefly—thanks to his binding with the Citadel's power.

But the moment he crossed the threshold—

He froze.

Ethan stood beneath the golden core, bathed in its light.

Feylora knelt before it, her hand pressed to its surface, channeling the energy that once belonged to him.

"STOP!!"

The High Lord's roar shook the entire floor.

"That's mine! Do you hear me?! Get away from it!"

Blinded by rage, he summoned his holy sword and hurled himself forward, slashing down at Ethan with all his might.

But—

BOOM—!

The golden core pulsed.

A shockwave burst outward, swatting the High Lord from the air like a fly.

He was hurled backward, flung out of the 99th floor entirely—

Without even grazing Ethan.

He hadn't even touched the blade to the air around them.

The reason was simple.

Feylora's body was a natural energy converter.

No matter how wild or violent the golden energy was, once it passed through her, it was purified—refined into something Ethan could absorb without harm.

That was the key.

The High Lord, by contrast, relied on a mechanical conversion device—complex, artificial, and ultimately flawed.

It could draw power, yes.

But it couldn't tame it.

He could only survive brief exposure to the 99th floor's core before being forced to retreat.

He could never resonate with it.

Never command it.

So when he tried to reclaim it—

The core rejected him.

Violently.

Because now, it had a new master.

...