Ethan's voice thundered across the battlefield, sharp and commanding:

"All units—channel your power into the Sky Citadel. Now. We end this!"

There was no hesitation.

Every soldier, every mage, every war-forged knight on the field moved at once. They'd all seen what the ultimate annihilation cannon could do. And now, facing the strongest of the Elderwood Colossi, they knew—only that weapon had a chance of breaking through its monstrous defenses.

Streams of energy surged toward the Citadel, pouring in from every corner of the allied forces. The cannon's charge time plummeted.

But so did the integrity of the shield.

The once-impenetrable barrier was fracturing—hairline cracks spiderwebbing outward, spreading faster with every second. The dome trembled under the weight of the enemy's assault. One more hit, maybe two, and it would shatter.

There was no time left.

Ethan didn't wait.

He slammed the firing lever down.

A beam of pure destruction erupted from the Citadel's core—so fast, so blinding, it seemed to tear a hole straight through reality itself.

It struck the strongest Elderwood Colossus dead center in the chest.

The giant gasped, a sound like a hurricane inhaling.

Its eyes widened in disbelief.

Its body—so dense, so impossibly durable it had shrugged off entire bombardments—was now pierced clean through. A massive hole opened in its chest, as if a star had detonated inside it.

And before it could even react—

A figure shot through the gaping wound.

Feylora.

She'd been waiting for this moment.

Her eyes were sharp, locked onto the giant like a predator that had finally cornered its prey. She'd been tracking this one across multiple battles, studying it, planning. Waiting for the perfect opening.

Now it was here.

She didn't hesitate.

She dove through the breach, and the moment she crossed into the giant's core, her absorption magic flared to life.

Raw, ancient energy flooded into her.

Even at the peak of Tier 26, Feylora's body swelled with the sheer volume of power. Her limbs trembled, her skin shimmered with overcharged light. If she didn't release some of it soon, she'd rupture from the inside out.

But she held on.

She endured.

And she wasn't alone.

Other Emerald Castle commanders surged in behind her, following her lead. They latched onto the dying colossus like wolves on a fallen titan, siphoning its power with practiced precision.

The Elderwood Colossus began to wither.

Its bark dulled, its limbs sagged, its towering form shrank as its life-force was drained dry. In moments, it was little more than a husk—an empty shell of what had once been a god of the forest.

Ethan didn't wait for the dust to settle.

He raised his arm and gave the final order.

"Now! All forces—wipe them out! Attack!"

"Go!"

"Kill them!"

"Charge!"

The armies of Emerald Castle, Sol'Rakka, and Kormaldor surged forward as one, a tidal wave of steel, magic, and fury crashing down on the remaining Elderwood Colossi.

Their leader was dead.

Their strongest had fallen.

The rest, though still formidable, were too few—and now, outmatched.

With the combined might of the three factions, and Ethan's command of Kormaldor's devastating technology, the outcome was no longer in question.

It was only a matter of time.

One by one, the remaining Elderwood Colossi fell.

Each collapse shook the earth, their massive bodies crashing down like ancient trees felled in a storm. Their forms splintered, cracked, and finally disintegrated—scattering into fragments that vanished into the wind.

Ethan finally exhaled, the taut wire of tension in his chest loosening just a little.

"Continue clearing out the stragglers," he said quietly, his voice edged with fatigue.

But the real challenge was only just beginning.

Alone, he stepped toward the strange spatial vortex ahead.

This one was unlike any he'd encountered before.

Its center wasn't just a swirl of warped space—it pulsed with a deep, unfathomable energy, like a heartbeat echoing through dimensions.

As he drew closer, his senses flared in warning.

This wasn't just spatial force. There was something else woven into it—something that amplified the reach and elasticity of space itself. A power that could stretch the fabric of reality, maybe even pierce through it.

Ethan's eyes lit up.

This… this was worth studying.

He reached out, fingers steady, ready to siphon a sample for analysis.

But the moment his hand brushed the edge of the vortex—

Boom.

A violent force slammed into him, hurling him backward like a ragdoll. He tumbled through the air, barely managing to right himself before crashing into the ground.

Before he could even catch his breath, the vortex began to churn violently.

A high-pitched screech split the air as the portal twisted open—and something shot out.

Ethan's eyes widened.

It wasn't another Elderwood Colossus.

It was… a little girl.

Petite, almost unremarkable at first glance. But the moment she appeared, a storm of raw energy erupted from her body, rippling outward like a shockwave.

Above her, the sky twisted. A monstrous, distorted silhouette began to form—an enormous phantom that loomed over the battlefield, its shape flickering like a nightmare trying to take form.

"You bastards," the girl snarled, her voice sharp and commanding, echoing through the air like a thunderclap. "You actually dared to wipe out the entire leadership of the Elderwood Dominion? Today, you're going to pay for that."

Ethan's pulse skipped.

That presence—he could feel it pressing down on him, heavy and suffocating. He frowned, instinctively stepping back.

The energy radiating from her was immense. With just a flick of her hand, the space around her began to warp, the air itself groaning under the strain.

Then—crack.

A rift tore open in the sky, and energy poured out like a flood, feeding the phantom above until it blotted out Ethan's view entirely.

He retreated a few more steps, eyes narrowing. This wasn't just power—it was precision, control. Dangerous control.

He activated his system scan.

In less than a second, the data panel blinked to life.

And what it showed made his stomach drop.

She wielded pure spatial force—not just the ability to bend space, but to stretch it, reshape it, even fuse it into new constructs. She could open pathways, collapse them, and weaponize the very fabric of reality.

But the real kicker?

She was Tier 27, mid-stage.

Nearly at the peak.

"Die," she said coldly.

A blade of pure energy formed in her hand, glowing with a blinding brilliance. It spun once, then twice, faster and faster—

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The air screamed as the blade sliced through it, the sound sharp enough to make Ethan flinch.

He couldn't even look directly at it.

...