Ethan didn't answer.

His silence landed heavier than any insult—more like a sentence passed.

He raised his hand. Power surged again, coalescing in his palm—

A second Energy Disc snapped into form, white light blooming outward like an avalanche.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!!

Vaedoroth didn't dare hesitate. He threw everything he had into a massive energy shield, conjuring it in front of him with frantic speed.

That shield had once withstood landslides, tidal waves—

But the moment the Energy Disc touched it—

Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.

Fractures spiderwebbed across the surface.

Then it shattered.

"What—?!"

Vaedoroth's eyes went wide. For a second, he was too stunned to even think about countering.

And in that heartbeat—

A streak of violet-pink light flashed behind him.

Kaelira.

She tore through the air like she'd ripped a seam in reality itself. Her power flared, forming a towering figure of light behind her—massive, radiant, and merciless.

BOOM!!

It slammed straight through Vaedoroth's body.

"You filthy bastard—!" Kaelira roared, her voice raw with years of buried fury. "I've hated your face for a long damn time. Today, I'm sending you straight to hell!"

Her violet-pink energy poured out of her like a flood of blades, slicing into Vaedoroth from every angle, tearing through him with savage precision.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Ethan stood at the heart of the shattered abyss, power churning in the air around him.

He raised his hands again—and again—

VMMM.

SHHH—!

THUD!!!

Energy Discs rained down like a storm of snow-white sawblades, each one slamming into Vaedoroth with the force to rend space itself.

Flesh, bone, and raw energy exploded in bursts of blinding light.

He didn't stop until Vaedoroth's body was nothing but fragments—until not even a trace of his killing intent remained.

Only then did Ethan lower his hands.

The silence that followed was so complete, you could hear the stone bridge cracking beneath them.

Kaelira hovered nearby, exhaling a long, shuddering breath.

Vaedoroth was finally—

Truly gone.

As Vaedoroth fell, a massive surge of power erupted from the depths of the world.

It came rushing up like a tide, and both Ethan and Kaelira absorbed it instinctively.

Light flared around them, their auras rising sharply—

Ethan's strength, now fused with the powers of Auri and Idra, climbed fast, surging to the peak of Tier 26.

His own internal Tier stabilized at the early stage of Tier 26.

Within him, fleeting images of Auri and Idra shimmered into view—two small figures, like spirits basking in the first light of dawn. Their strength, too, broke through, reaching the mid-stage of Tier 26.

And Kaelira—

Having absorbed the full force of the violet-pink magma—

Still wore the rune-etched armor that clung to her like a second skin, glowing faintly. She looked like a war goddess awakened from the heart of the abyss.

Her power had also stepped into the mid-stage of Tier 26.

The pressure rolling off her was so intense, even the air seemed to hum in response.

"Your Majesty, Desert Queen," Ethan said, drawing his power back in with a quiet breath. "Vaedoroth is gone. Sol'Rakka should finally know peace. There's no reason for us to stay here. Let's go."

He turned to leave—

But a cold, strong hand clamped around his arm.

Kaelira.

There was no anger in her eyes.

Only shock—raw, unfiltered—and a confusion she couldn't hide.

"What… are you?" she asked, voice low but unyielding.

"Just now," she said, staring at him, her violet-pink eyes lit with disbelief, "I saw them. Two figures, rising from inside you—Fairy God and Dragon God. Those aren't just names. They're legends. Myths. No one should be able to contain them. So tell me—what are you, really?"

Ethan paused.

He'd known this moment would come.

Someone like Kaelira—sharp, powerful, impossible to fool forever—was bound to notice the cracks in his story.

Still, he kept his voice steady.

"Your Majesty," he said, calm but sincere, "there are things I truly can't explain to you yet."

Kaelira's gaze flickered.

"But please believe me," Ethan went on, "I'm not your enemy. I came here to help Sol'Rakka… and to help you."

She didn't answer.

Logic told her to press him, to demand the truth, to find out what kind of being stood before her.

But something deeper—something quieter—held her back.

She was a queen.

But standing in front of Ethan, for the first time, she felt a flicker of something that had nothing to do with power.

Something that made her heart skip.

She opened her mouth to speak—

But only managed a breath.

Because Ethan suddenly reached out—

And took her hand.

Warm. Steady.

"Now's not the time for this," he said, closing the subject like shutting a heavy door. "We need to get out of here. Now."

The cave around them groaned and cracked, the sound of collapse growing louder by the second.

He pulled her with him, ready to launch them both into the air—

and out of the crumbling dark.

Kaelira was just about to yank her hand free when she felt Ethan suddenly freeze.

His grip tightened—not in panic, but with sharp, focused tension. His eyes narrowed, as if he'd just heard something no one else could.

—Ding!

—Ding!

—Ding!

The system alerts rang out in his mind like hammer strikes.

Then, without warning, a forced projection flared across his consciousness:

The sky above Sol'Rakka—blotted out by a colossal shadow.

Not a cloud.

A fortress.

A Sky Fortress.

It hovered like a warship from beyond the stars, its underbelly etched with glowing metal runes that pulsed with violent energy.

Massive bay doors opened—

BOOM!!!

Hundreds—no, thousands—of armored soldiers poured out like a flood, plummeting from the fortress and slamming into Sol'Rakka's surface with bone-rattling force.

Kaelira caught a glimpse of the projection and went pale.

"Whose army is that?!"

Ethan gripped her wrist, his voice low and urgent.

"Your Majesty, Sol'Rakka is under attack. We have to move. Now."

The moment she heard "Sol'Rakka in danger," every trace of hesitation vanished.

She bolted for the exit without another word.

…

When they burst out of the dungeon and onto the surface—

The world had already become a battlefield.

Sol'Rakka was burning.

The sky was on fire.

The ground had split open.

The city looked like someone had peeled back its skin.

Screams, beastly howls, the crash of collapsing buildings—all of it blended into a deafening, suffocating roar.

The invaders swarmed in waves. Their bodies were grotesque, unnatural—

Some had mismatched limbs. Some had skin that gleamed like molten metal. Others looked like armored beasts, snarling beneath heavy plating.

But the one who stood out—

Was their leader.

He had the head of a wolf, but the body of a man.

In his hand, he held a staff etched with pulsing, sinister runes—each one flickering like it was alive, like it was feeding commands to the soldiers around him.

He stood atop a crumbled tower, surveying the chaos below with a grin that made Kaelira's teeth clench.

"Well, well… Who would've thought such fertile land was hiding in the middle of this dusty wasteland?"

He raised the staff. Energy cracked through the air.

"No need to keep searching for a new home…"

His voice dropped, thick with hunger.

"Take it all."

And with that—

"RAAAHHH!!!

RAAAHHH!!!

RAAAHHH!!!"

The soldiers erupted into a frenzy, as if some dark magic had ignited their blood.

They went berserk—bloodthirsty, unhinged, fearless.

The runes on their bodies flared white-hot.

Their strength surged.

And the ordinary people of Sol'Rakka—

Didn't stand a chance.

...