Ery had expected resistance—but Veyarel's soul barely fought back. Weakened by injury and perhaps even relieved, the man's soul simply receded into the shadows of consciousness, allowing Ery to take over his body with startling ease.
It saved him precious ti, and in those brief seconds of soul fusion, he gained sothing even more valuable than a Grand Magus's body.
mory.
Veyarel's mind was a labyrinth—fragnted, but powerful. Within it, Ery found knowledge of the maze-like spatial distortion behind the Stargate, a structure the grand magus risked his life exploring.
Veyarel had glimpsed it... and now Ery possessed that knowledge.
A grin crept across his stolen face.
He had planned rely to fight in this body—to buy ti. But this changed everything. With the spatial rift still active beside him, he had a chance to do sothing far greater.
He reached inward, anchoring his spirit through the faint thread toward Shinta on the other side through Khaos. With one pulse of magic, a signal was cast through realms. Seconds passed. Then—
FWOOM.
A portal tore open with a deafening howl of wind and power. From the other side of the continent, they ca.
From its center erged the elderly Grand Magus Soltz, furrowed in deep irritation.
"Damn it… Why do I always get dragged into your sses..."
Behind him, like the rising tide of a new age, ca the full might of the Fey Army—elven battalions with celestial glaives, fairy casters, and beastkin berserkers.
They surged into the chamber like a crashing wave.
The demonic barbarians never stood a chance.
The female beastmaster's face turned pale. Her gaze snapped toward the gate—toward one figure.
A tall, muscular man. Radiating enough light to burn shadows from existence. His beard shimred like threads of solar fla.
The Sun Guardian.
One of the most powerful beings in the Tartarus Realm.
Her blood ran cold.
Fortunately, the Sun Guardian spared her not even a glance. With a single beat, he ascended out of the chamber, shooting into the sky like a cot to join the battle above.
Her chance to retreat had co.
And Ery saw it.
He stood in the midst of carnage, fire, and golden spears—yet his gaze followed her. Watched as she mounted her blight-toad and smashed through a wall, leaping into the craggy mountains beyond.
"You're not getting away!" Ery growled and took off in pursuit.
Behind him, the mountain trembled with war.
Thousands of firebursts tore across the night sky, painting the snow-draped cliffs in violent shades of white and crimson. The booming echoes of cosmic spells and divine strikes rang like bells of the apocalypse—but Ery didn't look back. He surged forward, eyes fixed on the beastmaster fleeing ahead, her massive toad mount leaping with terrifying montum.
Within re minutes, they had left the war-torn citadel far behind. Over a thousand miles now stretched between them and the fortress—yet the chase never stopped. The beastmaster did not dare slow, even with only one pursuer on her tail.
But her mad dash ended in a flash.
Vooom.
A rift opened mid-air, a shimring wall of space blocking her path like a divine gate.
From it stepped Ery, clad in Veyarel's body. Domain energy rippled outward, slamming into the beastmaster's mount and halting its next leap.
"I apologize for being late," his voice calm but iron-hard. "Took a bit longer than I thought. Too many reinforcents to handle"
The only reason Ery dared to pursue the female beastmaster alone was because his dark self was never far behind.
Now, the two halves of him—light and dark—had finally converged. The beastmaster stood between them, front and back, a predator caged.
Her expression was tight. Not fear—but fury, frustration. Yet even surrounded, she didn't break. Pride glead in her golden eyes as she hissed, "Move aside… and I'll forget what you did to my childrens."
Ery understood instantly. She wasn't bluffing. She didn't want to fight—not because she feared them—but because of the reinforcents storming the battlefield behind. The Fey forces, the Sun Guardian... she couldn't afford to be delayed.
The dark Ery laughed. It was a cold, amused sound, hungry for battle. "No way!!... I ca here to end you."
But before he could lunge, the light Ery raised a hand.
"Wait," he said calmly.
He pulled out the Verkall Banner—, the very artifact the beastmaster had used to enslave her godly beasts. It pulsed with suppressed power, its dark threads twitching in the air.
"You want to leave?" Ery said, "Remove your seal from this artifact… and hand over the full legacy of your enslavent path. Every technique. Every secret. Then I'll let you go."
The beastmaster's jaw clenched. Her gaze flicked between the two of them—and then to the monstrous toad by her side.
The dark Ery wasn't satisfied. He pointed a finger at the creature. "And your beast as well."
Her lips curled in disgust. She spat into the snow. "You Parderan scum. You're pushing too far!"
Her eyes snapped toward the horizon, toward the flaming skies where titans clashed. "The Sun Guardian... he won't win. Not against the scourge! NO!"
"Who are you trying to fool...? If you really believed that, you wouldnt be running…" he added. "Alright... We can fight. And see who loses more." Ery stepped forward slowly, energy rising around him like a storm about to break. His Fey transformation began—
The beastmaster growled, her expression twisting.
"FINE!! But not my beast. I'm no fool. The second I hand it over, what's to stop you from breaking your word!!"
Both Erys paused—light and dark in one shared thought.
They could defeat her, yes. But kill her? That was uncertain. And without her full cooperation, the Verkall Banner's potential would remain locked. Worse—destroying her might destroy the knowledge they sought.
The legacy of three cosmic-level Grand Magus in the path of enslavent?
That was beyond valuable.
"…Deal," Ery said at last.
The beastmaster sneered but obeyed. She bit into her palm, blood seeping through her teeth, and with swift, practiced gestures she ford a talisman in the air—woven from blood, spellfire, and soul fragnts. It floated toward Ery's hand.
He caught it.
Eyes narrowed, he examined the contents—dense with ancient knowledge, complex enough to dizzy most minds.
He nodded. "We're done here. Go."
The beastmaster didn't wait. With a snap of her fingers, the toad-beast roared and launched skyward, bounding into the snowy horizon. She vanished into the mountains without another word.
The dark Ery sighed dramatically. "Tch. Disappointing."
They turned as one toward the horizon, where fire still fell from the sky above Northstar Stronghold.
"Let's get back,"
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