A sharp ring pierced Athena's ears as her eyes slowly came back into focus. Blurry figures moved in her peripheral vision.
It was the knights and her father…
They were moving…
They were alive.
But that couldn't be. She saw them die with her own eyes.
Was her mind refusing to accept the truth? Was it all just a trick of the light—or worse, a trick of her own desperation? Reality and illusion had blurred. In her heart, they were still dead.
And yet… they stood there, very much alive.
The truth was harder to grasp than fiction. Though the experience had felt like hours, in the real world, barely a second had passed. Whatever had just happened—it was real, and yet it wasn't.
The only proof of that otherworldly encounter was the masked man's cloak—no longer still, it thrashed wildly behind him, pulsing with a ferocity that hadn't been there before.
Through the fading ring in her ears, a voice broke through—distant and muffled.
"Knights! Attack with everything you've got!"
Landen's voice snapped the moment back into motion. The illusion was gone, and the battle had resumed.
But his attempt was futile, for the group was in disarray.
Landen turned to Nova, who remained frozen, her gaze unfocused on the ground. "Nova, pull yourself together—encapsulate him!"
She clutched her chest, gasping. "I… I can't breathe." Though her body was physically fine, her mind told her otherwise. She was caught in an indescribable torment that only she and the masked man knew.
Nearby, Liriel fared no better. Curled up on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees, she rocked back and forth in distress. Her eyes were wide, telling a story of horror.
Ember, on the other hand, was enraged. "How DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME!" she screamed, her voice shaking with fury. In an instant, she erupted in a blinding blaze, flames engulfing her entire body. Heat radiated outward in waves, distorting the air around her.
"Ember, get a hold of yourself!" Landen shouted, shielding his face as a wave of searing heat rolled over him and the others.
But she wasn't listening. Instead, massive fiery wings unfurled from her back, their scorching light illuminating the battlefield. With a powerful thrust, she shot into the sky, the gust of her ascent sending a shockwave of heat and embers in every direction.
Hovering high above, her silhouette burned, locking her gaze onto the masked man below.
Zenith rushed to Nova's side, kneeling beside her. Gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Nova, we need you," he said, his voice firm yet reassuring.
Nova let out a shaky breath, her body still trembling from exhaustion. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to focus.
"You're right," she said, determination creeping back into her voice. "I'm sorry."
Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up onto one knee, steadying her breath as she prepared to rejoin the fight.
On the other side of the battlefield, Ling stood frozen, his gaze locked on the sky, eyes brimming with tears.
"It was YOU!!!" he yelled in fury.
Quickly, he turned to face the masked man, and tears poured down his face.
"YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!"
He drew his daggers and held them wide behind him, his muscles tense with fury. Gritting his teeth, he let out a low growl as energy surged into the blades, causing them to glow with violent intensity.
The once poised man was now trembling with rage—his calm shattered, his stance wild and unhinged
"Fade to Black!" he said. In an instant, he vanished into the shadows.
Landen rushed to Liriel's side, placing a reassuring hand on her back. "Liriel, are you okay?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, her entire body trembled as she clutched her head, fingers digging into her scalp. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her ears were covered as she tried to block out the voices in her head. Then a raw, piercing scream tore from her throat. It echoed across the battlefield, sending a chill down Landen's spine.
"Liriel!" he called again, but her body only rocked back and forth, lost in an invisible torment. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. Tears streamed down her sweaty face as she fought against something no one else could see.
Landen's jaw tightened as he snapped his gaze toward the masked man. He clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Damn it… What did you do to her?"
His grip tightened around his sword as he drew it from its sheath. Stepping forward, he raised the blade high above his head, gripping it with both hands.
"God of the Heavenly Sword, lend me your strength!"
A blinding light cascaded from the sky, bathing the blade in divine radiance as power surged through it.
His armor shimmered, catching the celestial light, and for a moment, Landen stood like a heavenly knight—righteous fury embodied. Every footstep he took caused the earth beneath him to spark and crackle with divine force.
Ember hovered high above, her fiery wings beating against the air, keeping her aloft. Rage burned deep within her, fueling the inferno that surrounded her body.
With a fierce glare, she raised her hands skyward, summoning a massive sphere of fire. The blazing orb crackled with energy, pulsing with deadly heat, its flames swirling like a living entity.
"FEEL THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY PHOENIX!" she roared, her voice echoing across the battlefield.
Just as Ember prepared to unleash her fiery assault, Zenith shouted, "Earthshaker!"
With a mighty swing of his hammer, the ground beneath the masked man's feet cracked open, sending deep fissures sprawling outward.
At the same moment, Nova responded with determination in her voice.
"Infinite Prison," she declared, her palms pressed to the earth. Dark energy surged from her hands, and a low hum vibrated through the ground. A black barrier with multiple layers of magical reinforcement began to rise, protruding from the ground like a growing wall.
"I won't let him escape," she vowed, her gaze fixed on the masked man as the wall rapidly expanded, aiming to trap both the knights and their foe in an inescapable prison.
As the wall rose, Ling reappeared in the air as a black fiery shadow. His blurry figure was translucent except for these large twin blades strapped to his forearms. With a swift motion, he twisted his body, causing him to spin down like a fury tornado.
With the masked man immobilized, Landen prepared to strike.
He unleashed his legendary sword technique, and in an instant, seven ethereal swords rose into the air, the tip of the blade forming a perfect circle around the masked man. Each blade gleamed with a different elemental power—fire, ice, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness.
With a burst of energy, Landen soared into the air, his hand outstretched, grasping the lightning sword. As his fingers closed around the hilt, a pulse of raw power shot through him.
His body became a conduit for the storm, every nerve alive and crackling with electric energy, turning him into the living embodiment of lightning.
At last, with the attacks prepared, Ember unleashed her fiery attack while Landen flew down at lightning speed.
"Athena!" King Raphael shouted desperately. "Athena!"
He had been calling her name over and over, but it was no use—Athena remained paralyzed by fear.
With no time to lose, he leaned into the pod and engaged the autopilot. The rocket boosters roared to life, and the shuttle's clamshell door closed.
As the pod ascended, his heart ached with a mix of pride and dread. Watching his only daughter embark on such a perilous journey was almost unbearable. This was something that had to be done, but he couldn't help but wonder—had he overlooked something critical that could jeopardize everything?
Below, the fierce battle continued to rage. Ember's massive fireball descended like a meteor, Ling flew down in a fiery tornado, and Landen, wielding his lightning sword, streaked toward the masked man like a vengeful storm.
But throughout all this incredible display of skills and power, the masked man stood unfazed, his cloak of red energy continued to writher and lash out like living flames. The chaos around him was insignificant—nothing mattered except Athena. His gaze remained locked on her as he watched her slowly ascend into the air, and Nova's Infinite Prison rose, finally breaking the tension between them.
BOOM!!!
The ground trembled violently as the final blow landed, unleashing a massive explosion within the Infinite Prison.
Then—silence.
His energy vanished in an instant, without warning or trace. The suffocating pressure that had dominated the battlefield disappeared with him, and Athena collapsed into her seat, her limbs finally free to move.