CHAPTER 359: THE SPIRAL RIFT

At this moment, the battlefield was a swirl of chaos — a dimensional rift caught between multiple realms, its edges cracking with cosmic distortion. Winds of mana, both gaseous, liquid, solid, and even pure divine energy collided in detonations of radiant bursts. The once serene grasslands outside the Hybrid territory had become a crumbling war zone of clashing might.

Lila stood at the center of it all, breath ragged, her arms trembling from exhaustion. Her robes were torn and glowing with residual celestial burns, and her eyes — those strange, seer-gifted irises — pulsed uncontrollably as if her bloodline was awakening under duress.

Surrounding her were obviously the Pillars of Pacesetters Academy. Charlotte, with her massive Shield imbued with the Divine shield technique both inherited from her father, strapped to her left arm, emitting radiant pulses that shockingly distorted space itself.

Camilia whose veins is shimmering with liquid mana as forbidden Cryo Runes weaved into sigils around her. Her frost had devoured the ground into permafrost.

Vlahović who is now shirtless, body rippling with martial scars and glowing tattoos despite his old age, spinning his spear like a hurricane of molten steel.

And finally, Bowen, whose shadow robes is alive, whispering with ancient tongues as he summoned a mass of black chains from the void to halt a charging Celestial soldier.

But still... they were losing.

The Celestial soldiers sent through the seven concepts’ portal were divine beyond measure — beings wrapped in translucent armor etched with constellations, wielding swords carved from stardust, their forms occasionally flickering between physical and astral. For every one they struck down, two more emerged from rifts in the sky, singing hymns of cosmic order.

Worse still, the Hybrids were in the fray. Their leader — a tall figure now cloaked in violet flame and draconic blood tattoos — unleashed a soul-burning roar that froze even Camilia’s frost in midair. The hybrids weren’t just soldiers; they were legacy wielders from the ancient bloodlines, moving with a synchronicity honed over millennia.

And just when Lila staggered back beside Charlotte to ask, "Can we really survive this?", the entire dimension twisted again.

The Chaos Twins has moved.

Both Aron and Selene — both practitioners of Chaos magic — uddenly launched an attack on them, dragging with them twisted creatures: humanoid abominations with jagged bone armor and mouths in their chestswhich are the Labyrinth Borns.

"Lets wrap this up," Aron said. His voice came in echoes.

"The Seer of Lyseria’s blood... Endless will be most pleased," whispered the other, flipping a coin made of screaming stone.

Their movemoent sent every party into deeper alert. Even the Celestials paused for the briefest second, sensing the entropy the Chaos Twins carried since they were existences that are accurately called the Celestials bane according to history.

But for Lila and her allies, it was doom — they were surrounded from every direction.

Charlotte, bruised and bleeding, stood before Lila with her shield raised. "We’ll hold them. No matter what. You can’t fall here."

Bowen’s eyes bled from overusing his Shadow Domain. Vlahović had a gash down his back but still swung like a beast, and Camilia’s frost had dimmed, replaced by sparks of desperation.

But just then—

The wind shifted.

The very air stilled for a breath.

Then the ground cracked. A surge of wild qi thundered across the battlefield, knocking even Celestial soldiers off balance.

From the blinding edge of the rift, Naena appeared.

The aged leader of the Nullcarvers, skin now cracked with celestial runes and qi scars, stood with her arms wide. Behind her, dozens of Nullcarver warriors — wrapped in earthy cloth, bare-chested, bodies glowing with latently surging Qi — emerged from the mist.

Their presence bent the rules of the realm. They carried no mana, but every movement they made left the terrain rupturing and gravity collapsing.

"Lila!" Naena roared, voice cutting through every explosion. "You must leave!"

Before Lila could speak, Naena vanished from sight — then appeared beside her mid-blink. A palm pressed on Lila’s back.

"You hold something more important than any of them realize. Come. Now."

"Wait—" Charlotte shouted. "Where are you taking her?!"

Naena didn’t answer. She wrapped Lila in a thin veil of Null Qi and vanished in an instant, leaping into a breach she carved from pure force — the entire dimension shrieked as she disappeared.

The battlefield stilled for a heartbeat.

Charlotte stepped forward in rage. "She took her! That woman—!"

"Charlotte," Bowen said, touching her arm. "That was Naena... Kaelen’s master. She’s... one of the Nullcarvers."

The words sank in slowly. Camilia lowered her hands. Vlahović took a ragged breath.

"They trained Kaelen?" Charlotte asked, perplexed.

Bowen nodded, wiping blood from his lips. "Based on what we discovered while tracking Kaelen, it seems so since they fit the same energy we felt from the Deadroot forest. And if she’s here, it means Kaelen sent her."

Realization struck.

"...Then we may not be as alone in this as we thought," Charlotte whispered.

Around them, the war raged on — Celestials who were obviously with the Hybrids clashes with the envoy from Endless as the Chaos Twins clashed with Celestial commanders, and Nullcarver warriors disrupting everything with their unique battle rhythm.

But for now, Lila had escaped.

-----

Not long after, the battlefield crackled with chaotic energies, the ground torn open from overlapping dimensional pressures and ancient forces. The Labyrinth-born monstrosities clawed at the sky with warped limbs, their presence distorting the air around them like cursed smoke. The Hybrids, savage and half-evolved creatures that had risen beyond the line of humanity, stood alongside the Celestials, a sight no one on the battlefield thought they’d ever see.

But in the midst of the madness, Neana and Lila were already gone—vanished into the distance, their auras fading rapidly into the horizon as the latent Qi storm of the Nullcarvers blanketed their retreat.

Still, the Celestials didn’t hesitate. As if bound by purpose deeper than divine decree, their leader—clad in robes woven from light and void—glanced at the Hybrid leader beside him and spoke in a tongue older than time itself.

"Hold them here. We retrieve the Seer."

After repelling one of the Labyrinth born with a draconic mana birthed from his draconic tattoo, the Leader said respectfully along with a simple nod.

"It will be done, O Concept-Born."

And with that, the Celestials began to leave.

But not fast enough.

A thunderous crack split the battlefield as Camilia, her long silver braid frozen in motion behind her, shot through the air on an icy trail. Charlotte, her heavy shield gleaming with divine sigils inherited from her father, followed in a blast of momentum. Vlahoviç, muscles tense and spear vibrating with liquid mana-infused force, surged behind them, while Bowen, his cloak billowing in tendrils of darkness, emerged through a cloud of shadow.

Together, the Pillars of the Pacesetters Academy and Charlotte intercepted the Celestials, their faces hard with the silent vow: "You will not pass."

The lead Celestial tilted his head slightly, bored yet curious.

"You truly believe mortals can halt the step of stars?"

Camilia’s answer was a blast of forbidden frost, laced with liquid mana, that spread like a dome across the sky—suppressing the Celestial path. Bowen’s fingers weaved a forgotten chant, calling on dark arts that made even the Labyrinth-born halt in confusion. Vlahoviç’s spear hummed with death, and Charlotte grounded her massive shield as a glowing ward appeared behind her, protecting her allies from divine backlash.

But even as battle commenced—blades against fate, spear against destiny—Charlotte’s eyes flicked sideways. Toward the direction Neana had gone.

She hesitated. Just for a moment.

And Camilia saw it.

The Ice Queen turned her head slightly mid-cast, her voice cold and commanding but deeply warm in its intent.

"Charlotte. You must go. Neana is strong... but not invincible. You must protect Lila. And try your utmost best to lead them to our territory. That seems to be the safest place for Lila now."

Charlotte clenched her jaw.

"I can’t leave you all like this."

"We’re not asking," Bowen said quietly, stepping forward as he unleashed a wall of night to split the Celestial advance.

"Neana trained Kaelen," Vlahoviç added, his voice a rock of trust. "If she says she’s on our side, then that girl is the future. Go."

Still, Charlotte didn’t move.

Until Camilia stepped close, her eyes — usually emotionless — shining with layered care.

"I taught you to choose wisely. Right now, your duty isn’t to fight. It’s to carry hope."

Charlotte’s grip on her shield loosened... then tightened. She nodded once, sharp and pained.

"Don’t you dare die."

And with that, she leapt away, breaking into a sprint that tore through air and space alike, her armor flaring with divine energy as she vanished into the mist—chasing the fading trail of Neana and Lila.

Back on the battlefield, the Hybrid soldiers surged forward, screeching as they obeyed the Celestial command to "hold them there."

The chaos resumed.

But now, it wasn’t just a war for Lila—it was a war to delay destiny, to buy her time.

To make sure the Seer reached the Human Territory alive.