Albedo touched down on the shattered floor with an eerie lightness, his boots barely kissing the stone before he seemed to hover predatory, unhurried.

He clicked his tongue twice.

"Tch… tch… tch… You should've made it stronger, my daughter. Just look at it… almost broken beyond repair."

A low, cruel chuckle slipped from his lips, rolling into a deep laugh that echoed through the arena's fractured walls.

"Hahahahahaha…"

Dila's gaze locked on the black-glass figure lying in the crater. Her breath came shallow and sharp. Her staff pressed tight against her chest, knuckles bone-white, while her other hand crept toward her mouth—fingers biting into her lower lip before sliding up to gnaw at a nail. Her brows pulled low, shadows curling over her eyes, her aura trembling between fury and fear.

The dust had barely settled before Albedo began to close the distance, his footsteps unnervingly slow, deliberate. The crunch of debris under his boots sounded like bones being stepped on.

Before him lay the elemental golem—its once-slick, perfect frame now webbed with cracks, each fissure glowing faintly like molten fault lines. Pieces of its outer layer had chipped away, the black-glass surface flaking under the strain. Its limbs twitched weakly, as though the weight of its own body was too much to bear.

Albedo's shadow fell over it. His eyes burned an unnatural blue, twin flames flickering with both mockery and power.

"You should have ignored her call,"

he said, voice dripping with venom.

"Now look at you… nothing more than a useless piece of shit toy."

For a heartbeat, silence.

Then, the golem's cracked head tilted upward with a slow, grinding motion, like stone dragging against stone. Its fractured face marred with spiderweb-like breaks—still glowed faintly, stubbornly.

A mechanical voice emerged, distorted but defiant:

"I… will never… abandon… my master."

Its blue-lit gaze locked on Albedo, shaking faintly but unwavering. The cracks along its face pulsed with dim light, the sound of internal gears straining against their limits filling the air.

It could not rise. It could barely move.

But it refused to look away.

The clash still echoed in the arena low rumbles from cracked stone, the faint hiss of settling dust. Fragments of rock slid across the floor, their sound swallowed by the oppressive silence that followed Albedo's words.

Dila stood frozen a few paces away, her staff still clutched tight against her chest. Her breath fogged faintly in the cool air, and sweat trickled down the side of her face despite the chill. Her eyes darted from the broken golem to the towering figure of Albedo, and in her mind, a single, heavy thought repeated itself like a drumbeat:

(Impossible… That man is stronger than I thought.)

She could feel it not just in her bones, but in her very mana, as though her core itself recoiled from his presence.

(This father of mine… if I could even call him that… is unbreakable. Like an immovable mountain. Just too powerful. What should I do?)

From within her consciousness, Nari's voice chimed in, light and almost teasing despite the tension.

☆ Umm… Master Dila, you shouldn't have challenged your father in the first place. He's still immovable for you to beat. Fighting him is just like… well, like punching a mountain nonstop while yielding nothing in return. ☆

The words stung with truth, but Dila's teeth clenched. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the golem her creation summoned, her new companion.... lying shattered yet defiant.

"You're right." she admitted in thought, her mental tone edged with both frustration and guilt.

"I shouldn't have challenged him in the first place…"

Her grip on the staff tightened until her knuckles ached, her nails trying to dig into the metal stick.

( …But still… I should not just lay here and do nothing.)

All around her, the arena seemed to close in. The high walls were scarred from battle, glowing faintly where mana had burned into the stone. The air was thick with the scent of scorched earth and metallic ozone from the lightning. Somewhere far off, loose rubble clicked and shifted, but otherwise the space was silent.

Every onlooker holding their breath, waiting to see if the princess would stand or yield.

Her heartbeat grew louder in her ears, not from fear, but from the flicker of resolve that began to burn under her skin.

High above the battlefield, where the shadows clung to the edges of the arena's broken walls, Zeon stood with his arms loosely crossed. His crimson eyes glimmered faintly in the half-light, reflecting the chaotic scene below. From his vantage point, he could see everything—the way Albedo loomed over the cracked, slick-bodied golem, the way Dila's knuckles whitened as she clutched her staff, the subtle tremble of the air as residual mana still rolled through the space.

A slow, wolfish smile curved across his face.

"My, my…"

His voice was barely louder than a whisper, yet it carried an edge of dark amusement that seemed to slither through the air.

"Looks like my master is truly enjoying himself… feasting on that golem's struggle, savoring it," he murmured, his tone dripping with both mockery and awe.

A short, sharp laugh escaped him "hahaha" but it wasn't the laugh of someone entertained by a mere fight. No… it was the laugh of someone who relished the imbalance of power, who saw the destruction below as a kind of twisted art.

The wind up there carried the dust and faint tang of ozone past his face, ruffling his hair. Zeon didn't blink; his gaze stayed fixed on Albedo, his expression is now a mix of respect and something darker... an almost predatory thrill.

"Yes… break it… break it completely…" he whispered to himself, the gleam in his eyes making it unclear whether he was speaking about the golem, or Dila's will.

Meanwhile...

Fran pressed herself tighter against the cold, jagged pillar, its rough surface biting into her back. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, fingers curling and uncurling as if trying to grab onto courage that simply wasn't there. Her breaths came in shallow bursts, each one shaky, as the minute ago, deafening echoes of the battle rang through the arena Albedo's mocking voice, the crash of stone, the glasse metallic obsidian like crack of the golem's body splintering.

She risked a glance from her hiding spot, just enough to see Dila standing there, aura flickering, her golem barely holding together under the last time relentless onslaught. Fran's chest tightened painfully.

What do I do…? she thought, her mind spiraling. There's nothing..... nothing I can do to help my sister.

Her teeth bit down on her lip so hard she tasted the faint tang of iron. Tears blurred her vision, though she blinked them away furiously. She wanted to move, to scream, to charge into the chaos and stand by Dila's side.... but her legs refused to obey. They were rooted in fear.

Her voice cracked in the quiet, a hitch that barely escaped her throat.

"But… I can't…"

The word felt like it shattered something inside her. Her shoulders slumped, her gaze dropping to the dusty ground.

"I can't… I can't just risk my life… it's too much…"

Her final whisper came out broken, trembling with defeat, almost swallowed by the sudden roaring wind. In that moment, Fran hated herself for her own helplessness—but the fear kept her shackled in place.

As Albedo still loomed over the shattered elemental golem, his shadow stretching across its cracked, glass-like frame. A slow, cold smirk curled across his lips, his voice dripping with menace as he leaned closer.

"So… you're prepared to say your last goodbye?"

The golem lay sprawled on the ground, its once-slick body now marred with jagged fractures that glimmered faintly in the arena's dim light.

Without warning, CRUNCH—Albedo's boot came down on its head. The blow sent a sharp crack splintering through the golem's skull-like structure, shards trembling at the edges. The creature's body jerked, a distorted, robotic groan escaping its mouth.

"Ehhhhh—ahhhh—aoooahhh…"

Albedo didn't stop. He pressed harder, grinding his heel in deliberate, unhurried circles, like a predator savoring its kill. The golem twitched, its limbs straining to push up, but its strength was failing.

From the distance, Zeon stood with his arms crossed, a glint of amusement in his eyes. He let out a sharp whistle.

"Nice."

Albedo's head tilted slightly, his glowing blue eyes narrowing in cruel curiosity.

"Tell me… how is it you feel pain?"

The golem's cracked mouth remained silent. Its eyes flickered faintly—blue dimming to a pale ghost of its former glow.

No answer came.

Albedo's expression darkened, and his boot came down again—THUD—relentless, each stomp sending tiny shards scattering across the arena floor like glistening tears. The sound of stone grinding underfoot mingled with the sharp echo of impact, until the air itself seemed to vibrate with the cruelty of the act.

Meanwhile ...

Her gaze locked on the sight of Albedo's relentless assault—each stomp crushing more of her summoned creation into the arena floor.

"Think. Think. THINK!"

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She bit her lip until she tasted blood.

"There's no other choice…" she whispered under her breath, almost afraid to admit it to herself.

With a flick of her wrist, she summoned the shimmering rift of her spatial storage. The air rippled as she trying to frantically reached inside even though it's designed to think the item, just to summoned off her stored stuffs there, fingers brushing past nothing, as if empty, until she found them.

Two small glass vials glinted in her palm.

The first—deep crimson—swirled with molten streaks that pulsed like a living heart.

[Red Magic Boost] a dangerous, unstable concoction. Magic-based strength enhancement, beyond the Stargem system, each passing second doubling the force flowing through the veins… but only for one minute.

The second—emerald green—glowed faintly, as though holding the breath of a forest within it.

[Rare Recovery Flash] capable of regenerating the impossible: torn muscle, crushed bone, severed limbs… everything except the head.

(I don't know if this emerald green well work.)

Dila's breath quickened. Her grip on the vials tightened.

(I need to act fast… before it's too late.)

Her eyes darted to her nearly-destroyed golem, its slick black frame splintered like brittle glass, Albedo's glowing boots raining down with merciless rhythm.

She lifted her staff, whispering an incantation under her breath, her voice trembling yet sharp.

"Earthrea… heed my call."

The ground beneath her pulsed, and from it emerged a small, winged earthen creature—its body shaped of smooth stone, its eyes two glowing blue lights.

"Take these," she commanded, slipping both vials into its tiny claws. Her voice cracked as she spoke. "Get to him. Now."

Earthrea gave a curt nod, wings of dust and rock unfurling. It darted low across the arena floor, weaving between shattered debris and Albedo's shadow, its tiny form almost invisible in the chaos.

Still.... Albedo's boot didn't stop.

THUD. CRACK. GRIND.

The sound tore at her chest like a blade.

Dila clenched her teeth, forcing down the rising panic.

(Hold on… just a few more seconds…)