The sky split open with a jagged tear of darkness.

From the rift, a massive shadow rose slowly, hulking and deliberate.

It wore a heavy exo-tactical suit, its armor layered like slabs of stone across the shoulders, chestplate pulsing with flickering energy veins. The sheer bulk of it radiated menace.

But what emerged from the helmet—

Was a rabbit's head.

Long ears upright. Fangs bared. A twisted snarl frozen on its face.

Grotesque. Surreal. And deeply, viscerally wrong.

Ethan's system scan flared red with a warning:

—[Tier 26: Early Stage]

—[Exosuit Amplification: +1 Sub-Tier → Tier 26 Mid-Stage]

Ethan's stomach dropped.

"Shit…" he muttered. "That thing's real combat level is boosted past Tier 26…"

Even for him, taking on something like that solo would be a gamble—and not one he liked.

He was still calculating options when a familiar surge of energy exploded to his right.

"Elira?!"

The girl's silver-white hair whipped loose in the wind as she rose into the air, power crackling around her.

Behind her, the spectral wings of the Skytear Demon Moth unfurled—vast, jagged, and gleaming like blades carved from midnight. The air warped around her as if reality itself were being crushed.

BOOM—!!!

The Demon Moth's phantom form dove like a meteor, slamming into the Rabbitfolk with a thunderclap of force.

"What—?!"

The Rabbitfolk's eyes went wide, panic flooding his face.

He scrambled to activate his exosuit's defense systems. A shimmering energy shield burst outward in concentric waves.

But—

It didn't matter.

CRACK!!!

The Demon Moth's strike tore through the shield like it was paper.

The force seeped into the cracks of his armor like venom, bypassing the tech entirely and sinking straight into flesh.

The Rabbitfolk's scream shattered the air.

And in the next instant—

His body exploded from the inside out.

Blood vaporized into black mist. Armor twisted into useless shards. What was left scattered like ash on the wind.

Three seconds.

That's all it took.

A Tier 26 mid-stage combatant—

An apex warrior by any standard—

Annihilated by Elira's most basic technique.

Ethan stood frozen.

"What the hell…?"

His brow furrowed, disbelief tightening in his chest.

By all logic, that Rabbitfolk—with his exosuit enhancements—should've been a nightmare to kill.

But then it clicked.

He remembered the Lizardfolk and Wolfkin he'd fought back in Sol'Rakka—high-tier enemies on paper, but in practice? They'd gone down too easily.

Too soft. Too hollow.

"I get it now…" Ethan's eyes narrowed, his voice cooling to steel. "Kormaldor's species… their base combat ability is pathetic."

Everything they had—every ounce of power—was tech.

Exosuits boosted strength—

But they couldn't reinforce life force.

Energy systems added firepower—

But they didn't toughen the body.

So when someone hit them hard enough to bypass the armor?

They crumpled. Worse than untrained soldiers.

At their core—

They were paper tigers in metal shells.

And now that Ethan understood that—

All hesitation vanished.

He slammed his fist down on the command console.

"All units—full assault!"

BOOM!!!

The allied army surged forward like a tidal wave, roaring into the breach.

Ethan piloted the main Sky Fortress forward, its cannons roaring to life. Energy beams, plasma shells, and massive blade-like strikes powered by force drives rained down in a synchronized barrage.

The battlefield split open in dozens of searing, molten rifts.

He tapped into the Fortress's control interface, fingers flying across the console, trying to repeat the earlier trick—hijacking nearby light-class Sky Fortresses.

But the system kept flashing the same cold responses:

—[No Link Nodes Detected]

—[Independent AI Operating System]

—[Comms Link: Disconnected]

Ethan's brow furrowed.

"They're all running on independent AI this time?"

Clearly, this fleet wasn't like the first wave. These Kormaldor fortresses weren't tethered to a central command system—they were autonomous, isolated, and far harder to crack.

"Fine," he muttered, gripping the control sticks tighter. "Then we break them the old-fashioned way."

The entire allied force surged forward, the main Sky Fortress at its heart like the head of a warhammer, driving down from the sky toward Kormaldor's floating city.

The city itself was barely tethered to the ground. Most of its infrastructure floated in the air—massive residential towers, weapons depots, military bases, energy spires, and research platforms all linked together in a vertical sprawl.

A steel forest suspended in the clouds.

From every direction, Kormaldor's soldiers poured out of their own Sky Fortresses, swarming toward the front lines like a tide of armored insects.

As Ethan's forces pushed deeper—

They drew close to the heart of Kormaldor.

Not just a fortress.

A citadel.

A floating city-state suspended in the sky, its scale dwarfing anything Ethan had seen. Layer upon layer of metal platforms, towers, energy conduits, and anti-gravity arrays wove together into a monstrous construct.

It was at least sixty times the size of Ethan's own Sky Fortress.

A steel leviathan built in the clouds.

And the moment they approached—

BOOM.

A deep, resonant pulse echoed through the air.

Then—

RUMMMMMMBLE—

The entire Sky Citadel lit up with blinding blue-white light. A wave of energy surged outward from its hull, forming a shimmering shield that rippled like an ocean of glass.

The air pressure snapped. Wind screamed. The atmosphere itself seemed to recoil.

Ethan's Sky Fortress slammed into the barrier—and was shoved back.

The entire ship groaned as if caught in the grip of an invisible giant, forced to retreat inch by inch.

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Even my main ship can't punch through?"

This shield wasn't just strong—it was on a completely different level. The energy density was far beyond what standard Sky Fortress weaponry could breach.

And then—

Whoosh.

A figure rose from the heart of the Sky Citadel.

Tall. Lean. Clad in layered rune-etched armor that shimmered with metallic light. A pulsing blue energy core glowed in his chest, beating like a second heart.

His presence was overwhelming—like the entire city's power was flowing through him.

He hovered high above, looking down on Ethan's army with cold, detached eyes.

"You outsiders," he said, voice sharp and metallic, like steel scraping glass, "have invaded Kormaldor without cause. What is it you seek?"

The words had barely left his mouth before the armies of Sol'Rakka and Emerald Castle erupted in fury.

They hadn't forgotten.

Kormaldor had been the one to invade first—bombing cities, slaughtering civilians, tearing through Sol'Rakka without warning.

And now this bastard had the gall to play the victim?

The outrage rippled through the ranks like wildfire. Weapons were raised. Teeth clenched. The air itself seemed to bristle with fury.

...