Ethan was practically screaming inside.

This was it. The moment. He felt it in his bones—even as his body trembled, hollowed out like a dry well.

He could barely stay on his feet, let alone summon another Energy Disc.

But he wasn't fighting alone.

"Kaelira—!"

He barely got the name out before a streak of pink light flashed past him.

She didn't need the call.

FWIP!

Kaelira shot forward like a thunderbolt, zeroing in on the Butcher King before he could recover.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

Each punch landed with the full weight of her remaining strength, pink energy bursting in the air like a storm of blades.

Then—

BOOOOOOM.

The entire cavern shook.

Kaelira's power condensed into a razor-sharp blade of light, and with one clean arc, she severed the Butcher King's arm at the shoulder.

A heartbeat later, a tidal wave of pink energy crashed down, engulfing him completely.

The light splintered into thousands of needle-thin spikes, driving in from every direction, piercing deep into his flesh.

The Butcher King's scream tore through the cavern.

"AAARGH—!!"

It was raw, furious, terrified.

His flesh sizzled under the corrosive energy, melting away in chunks. His bones cracked and splintered, like they were being crushed by invisible hands.

Kaelira gritted her teeth, voice rising in a furious cry:

"I told you—you're nothing but a crawling worm in the dark!"

"And you thought you could kill us?"

Her power surged, blooming into full force. The pink light became a divine execution, ripping through the Butcher King's core, shredding every last thread of life inside him.

Then—

BOOM.

A deafening blast.

The energy detonated from within, tearing his body apart from the chest outward.

Flesh, blood, and shards of frost exploded in every direction.

The Butcher King was gone.

Ethan finally let out a breath.

"He's… dead?"

His voice was hoarse, laced with exhaustion, relief—and awe.

That monster had been just one of Vaedoroth's generals.

And he'd been that strong.

Kaelira collapsed to her knees, gasping for air.

Her face was pale, her energy spent down to the marrow.

But before her breath could even steady—

VMMM… VMMM… VMMM…

From the Butcher King's ruined remains, a tide of black and ice-blue energy began to rise.

It pulsed, ancient and wild—pure, primal slaughter.

But it didn't dissipate.

Instead, it flowed through the air like smoke with purpose, splitting into two streams—

One into Ethan.

One into Kaelira.

Ethan felt like lightning had struck him.

The energy tore through his limbs, his veins, his bones—raging, relentless.

His power surged in seconds, blasting past mid-25 Tier and racing toward the peak.

Inside him, Auri and Idra stirred—two hungry beasts latching onto the incoming force, drinking it in like starving predators.

With every pulse, Ethan's strength climbed higher.

Pink energy. Slaughter energy. The echo of something ancient.

They twisted together inside him, fusing into something new.

The air in the cavern began to vibrate violently—

VMMM.

VMMM.

VMMM.

The lingering echoes of slaughter energy still coiled through the air, refusing to fade.

Ethan was riding the surge of power tearing through his body when he felt it—a strange, wrong vibration beside him.

He spun around.

Kaelira was on her hands and knees, trembling violently. Pale pink energy flickered across her shoulders, but it was being eaten away by something colder, sharper—a deep, unnatural white.

Slaughter energy.

It was turning on her.

Thin, pale cracks bloomed across her skin like withering petals, curling inward. She clenched her teeth, but the pain broke through anyway.

"Ah—!"

Ethan's heart seized. He lunged toward her.

"Your Majesty—what's happening?!"

He didn't dare touch her directly. Instead, he called up the system scan.

The moment the diagnostic screen flared to life, his breath caught.

—The pink energy inside Kaelira was violently rejecting the invading slaughter force.

—The two were tearing each other apart.

—Her body was being used as a vessel—and it was breaking.

If this kept up, the slaughter energy would rip her apart from the inside.

No time to think.

Ethan grabbed her shoulders, his palm pressing against her ice-cold skin.

"Hold on—I've got you!"

His power surged.

VMMM. VMMM. VMMM—

The divine energies of Dragon God and Fairy God burst from him like twin beams of light, flooding into Kaelira's body. The slaughter energy recoiled, driven back by their purity.

At the same time, Auri and Idra stirred.

The two spirits slipped from Ethan's core like whispers of wind, their presence light but hungry.

They latched onto the slaughter energy like it was made for them—drinking it in with greedy, instinctive ease.

Ethan winced. You two little monsters… you're insatiable.

But thanks to their ravenous appetite, the hostile energy inside Kaelira was rapidly drained, broken down, and converted.

The pink glow returned beneath her skin.

The pale, cracked lines faded.

Her skin smoothed, glowing faintly, like it had been carved from rose quartz.

Ethan finally exhaled.

The cavern around them was already in ruins. The walls, once etched with glowing runes, were now warped and broken—dead symbols on a corpse of stone.

He stood, scanning the wreckage with a frown.

"This place won't hold much longer."

He raised his hand, gathering power.

A golden blaze erupted from his palm, blasting straight through the floor beneath them.

BOOM.

The ground split open, revealing a yawning black chasm that seemed to stretch endlessly downward.

According to what Kaelira had told him—

Vaedoroth was down there.

This was the only way in.

Behind him, Kaelira stirred.

She blinked awake as the tremors shook the ground, her breath still ragged, her strength clearly drained—but her aura had stabilized.

Ethan caught her before she could fall again, helping her sit upright.

"You okay?"

Kaelira looked up at him, her pink eyes fluttering.

For once, the queenly fire was gone. In its place was something softer—like a girl waking from a nightmare.

She nodded faintly, her voice barely above a whisper. "You… saved me?"

There was a rare, almost bashful lilt to her tone—so out of place in this dark, broken world that it caught Ethan completely off guard.

He looked away, flustered. "Yeah."

Then, without another word, he turned back to the chasm and resumed blasting at the ground—like if he looked at her a second longer, he might actually blush.

Kaelira, still shaky, forced herself upright. Her legs wobbled, but she managed to stay standing. Step by step, she made her way to the edge of the massive rift.

From below, a storm of energy surged upward—hot and cold all at once, twisting the air like invisible claws.

It was a force so pure, so warped, it felt like it was unraveling reality itself.

Kaelira stared into the abyss, her expression darkening.

"This is it," she said quietly, her voice heavy with years of memory and warning.

"That's Vaedoroth's power. It corrupts everything it touches. If we can destroy it… maybe Sol'Rakka has a chance to be reborn."

Ethan stood beside her, silent.

The energy rising from the pit was overwhelming—like something ancient had cracked open and was bleeding into the world. It was evil, yes, but also… familiar.

Slaughter energy.

The same kind that had poured from the Butcher King—but now magnified a thousandfold.

Inside him, Auri and Idra stirred again.

This time, they didn't just react—they surged.

Their hunger flared so violently it felt like they might tear out of his chest.

Ethan winced, frowning. "Not now, you two…"

But before he could finish the thought—

Something pulled him.

His foot moved forward, unbidden.

And in the next instant—

He stepped off the edge and plunged into the darkness below.

...