Arthur remained motionless in the sky, his eyes fixed on the empty ground below for several long seconds, as if his mind had not yet caught up with what his eyes were seeing. His chest rose and fell once in a deep breath before his attention shifted north.
From that direction, he felt a heavy presence of the void. His eyes began to glow with light as he used light and divination, stretching his perception across the distance. Even from where he stood, he could sense the enemy clearly.
Behind him, the four illusory wings had disappeared. Only his real eight wings remained, spread wide in the air.
He beat those wings once and rose slightly higher into the sky. As he did, his arm moved back. Light began to gather in his hand, slowly taking the shape of a spear. The formation was gradual and steady, the light condensing into a defined form.
He poured his remaining power into it. As more power flowed into the spear, his wings began to fade one after another. At the same time, the aura around his body dimmed.
Soon, there was no glow left around him, only the bright spear in his hand. Its tip was clearly formed, and along the shaft were sharp barbs of light.
With the last of his strength, Arthur threw the spear forward.
…
Bernal felt the collapse of his allies across the battlefield, but he did not allow himself to turn or react. His focus stayed locked on the portal. More than half of it had already closed. Only a few more minutes were needed.
Behind him, Iralian observed him for a brief moment. Then she raised her finger and pointed it directly at him. At the tip of her finger, void condensed rapidly, compressing into a dense sphere before being released forward.
The attack moved through the air at high speed, closing the distance in an instant.
Bernal did not turn. He did not adjust his stance. He continued the process at the portal without interruption.
The compressed void struck his back and detonated on contact.
The explosion spread outward in a tight burst, engulfing his upper body in smoke and void residue. The force of the blast distorted the air around him for a moment.
When the smoke began to clear, Bernal was still in the same position. His body remained where it stood, unchanged in direction, still focused on the portal.
A brief expression of surprise appeared on Iralian's face as she registered that result.
She raised her finger again. This time, she formed a more concentrated beam of void energy and fired it directly toward him.
When the void beam closed to within a meter of Bernal, his cape reacted first. The fabric lit up with a steady blue glow, and a circular shield formed around him instantly. The barrier was clean and perfectly shaped, as if drawn into the air with precise lines of light.
The beam struck the shield head on.
The impact stopped completely at the surface. The void energy pressed against the barrier but did not pass through. The shield held firm.
Iralian did not pause. She continued her assault, firing more attacks in quick succession. Each one collided with the blue barrier, but none of them penetrated it.
Bernal's lips lifted slightly at the corner. His cape was one of the tenth ranked legendary artifacts, one of the strongest defensive items known, second only in defense to the highest tier relics.
The void host changed her approach. She raised both hands. A massive circular formation of void energy opened in front of her, expanding outward like a gate. From it, a continuous beam surged forward, thick, dense, and unbroken, like a river of void pouring directly at him.
The beam struck the shield without stopping.
The blue barrier held, but it began to tremble under the sustained pressure. The surface rippled with strain, and faint distortions spread across its edges.
Bernal understood immediately. The cape could hold, but not indefinitely.
…
Count Errenor Daradia stood on the terrace connected to his chamber, the cold night air pressing against his face. He had spent the entire night reading reports from every front of the battlefield, and each one painted the same picture, the situation was deteriorating on all sides at once.
In the north, Osvald was locked in a brutal fight against the void. In the south, Arthur was engaged with a new enemy of overwhelming power.
He lifted a hand and pressed his fingers to his temple, massaging slowly as fatigue weighed on him.
Then, a sudden sound broke the silence from the southern direction.
Something shot across the sky at extreme speed, cutting through the clouds in a straight, violent line. A streak of golden light followed behind it, burning briefly against the dark sky before fading.
Count Errenor's eyes widened as he tracked it. The direction matched the southern battlefield, Arthur's front.
From below, the castle yard erupted with movement. Soldiers shouted, armor clanked, and confusion spread through the ranks as they pointed upward, trying to understand what they had just seen.
No one knew what had passed overhead, but its speed, its light, and its trajectory all pointed to one thing, whatever had been launched from the south was directly tied to the battle unfolding around Arthur's position.
…
Seeing that the shield was still holding, Iralian let out a sharp, continuous howl and did not stop her assault. The pressure of the void beam against the blue barrier only intensified as she pushed harder.
At that moment, an eye opened again inside the portal.
Bernal's gaze locked directly onto it. The moment their eyes met, void energy began to gather in the center of the eye. A second attack formed and fired.
Now two beams struck from different directions at once.
The cape's blue shield trembled violently under the combined pressure. Fine cracks began to spread across its surface, showing the strain for the first time.
Bernal clenched his teeth, trying to maintain control and find an opening, when Alexia's voice cut through the pressure.
"Bernal, dodge."
He immediately sensed something approaching from behind him. The pressure hit him before he could fully react. He started to rise, attempting to move out of the way while holding his spell, but his speed was not enough to clear it completely.
A spear, moving at a speed comparable to light itself, tore through the air and struck Iralian from behind. It pierced her body and emerged from the front, carrying her forward with its momentum. Because the spear was formed of pure light, her void based power failed to interfere with it.
The spear continued forward toward Bernal's back.
Just before impact, the entire motion abruptly slowed. Iralian's movement slowed with it, as if space itself had thickened around them. Bernal reacted in that brief window, rising upward just enough to avoid the strike.
Then the distorted space collapsed under pressure. The spear regained full speed, continuing forward and entering the portal. It struck the eye inside.
An ear piercing sound erupted from the portal. The noise carried destructive force within it, enough to kill any B rank or lower instantly, though S ranks endured it.
At the same moment, a burst of light expanded outward from the impact point. The energy destabilized the portal itself, forcing it into rapid collapse.
With that surge of light, the closing accelerated beyond normal limits. In seconds, the portal sealed completely and disappeared.
"It looks like I came just in time," a voice said, steady and clear despite the chaos that were around them seconds ago.
Bernal and Alexia froze for a fraction of a second. Both turned their heads toward the sound at the same time.
Leo hovered in midair a short distance away. His clothes were torn apart, covered in burn marks and holes. The entire right sleeve was gone, exposing scorched skin beneath. In that same hand, he held a scepter. His left arm was wrapped firmly around Paul's wide waist, keeping his unconscious body from falling. Paul's head hung forward, his arms limp, his chest barely rising.
Leo did not waste a single moment. Two phantoms formed beside him, taking shape from his blood and mana with identical features and movements. The instant they stabilized, they split apart.
One phantom moved toward Alexia. The other went directly to Osvald, whose body trembled from complete mana exhaustion. He stood unsteady, on the verge of collapse.
Bernal dropped down and landed beside Alexia just as the phantoms reached their targets. Both phantoms placed their palms flat against the ground.
From the exact points where their hands touched, thin vines pushed out through the soil. The vines spread rapidly in all directions, crawling across the surface before diving beneath the bodies of the injured. Roots followed, threading through the earth with unnatural speed and precision.
Soft green light traveled through the vines as they thickened, forming a living network under Alexia and Osvald. The plants pulsed slowly, transferring healing energy upward through their stems and into their bodies.
This healing force did not come from Leo. It flowed from Ilandra's power, channeled through the phantoms and delivered through the living growth beneath them.
Leo descended and landed beside them.
"Where are Alina and the others?" he asked Bernal.
Bernal raised his arm and pointed toward the direction where he had sent the group. "That way. They're likely still fighting. We should go help."
Leo gently lowered Paul's unconscious body onto the ground covered with living vines. The plants adjusted beneath him, supporting his weight as the healing energy continued to flow.
"I'll go. You rest," Leo said.
He did not wait for an answer. He lifted into the air and vanished from sight in an instant.
Bernal allowed himself a faint smile. "I'm being treated like an old man."
He then moved closer to Alexia and began helping with her injuries while the vines continued their steady work beneath them.
…
Alina, Vanessa, and Dave fought in the middle of a dense formation of orcs. Even with allied soldiers supporting them, the enemy numbers still stretched far across the battlefield. The ground around them had turned uneven from constant movement, littered with bodies, broken weapons, and deep footprints. Their breathing had grown heavy after the long fight, and their movements no longer carried the same sharp speed as before.
A sudden sound, like air bursting apart under pressure, rolled across the field.
Leo appeared high above them in the sky.
His presence drew attention immediately. Fighting slowed as heads tilted upward. Orcs and soldiers alike paused, eyes fixed on the figure suspended overhead.
Leo looked down across the battlefield, taking in the scene below. Then he spoke, his voice carrying clearly over the noise.
"Army of orcs, your leader is defeated. You have two choices now. One is to surrender. If you do, you will be handed over to the chieftains who are already on our side, and they will decide your fate. The second is to continue fighting, which will lead to me killing you all."
As he finished speaking, a massive meteor tore through the dark sky above the battlefield. It descended fast enough to be seen as a streak of fire, then stopped in place high overhead, suspended without falling.
The orcs stared up at it in silence. Fear spread through their ranks. One weapon fell to the ground, then another. Within seconds, the sound of metal hitting the earth spread across the field as more and more of them dropped their arms. The surrender moved through the army in a wave.
Leo descended slowly toward the ground. As he did, the meteor above faded from sight.
The moment his feet touched the earth, plant life spread outward from beneath him, thin vines and patches of green pushing through the damaged soil.
Alina, Vanessa, and Dave made their way toward him. Their faces showed relief and exhaustion, mixed with faint smiles.
"Is Mr. Paul okay?" Vanessa asked, worry clear in her voice.
Leo nodded once. "He is fine. Good job, everyone."
"What now?" Dave asked, glancing over the surrendered orc army.
"First, we go back to Paul and the others. We'll decide there."
As he spoke, a large portal opened behind him, wide enough for the entire army to pass through.