Thunderous explosions and monstrous roars echoed across the swamp wasteland, each impact sending shockwaves rippling through the poisoned terrain. The sky flickered with bursts of fire and violent energy, while the ground below continued to fracture under the relentless clash.
From a distant mountainside, Fjolnir watched.
Even from such a distance, the battle felt suffocating.
Ery moved with fluid precision across the shattered terrain, his figure constantly shifting as he weaved through the abomination's relentless assaults. Rather than eting its force head-on, he relied on speed and control, slipping past crushing blows by re inches before countering with sharp, decisive strikes. Each movent was calculated, his body bending through space itself as he turned defense into offense in a seamless rhythm.
Above him, Morgana surged through the sky like a streak of living fire, her wings trailing blazing arcs as she unleashed coordinated bursts of fla. Her attacks fell in perfect timing with Ery's movents, striking from above whenever the creature's attention shifted, forcing it to divide its focus between ground and sky.
Together, they ford a relentless two-front assault, their coordination tightening with each exchange.
Every collision between them unleashed devastating shockwaves that rippled across the wasteland. The ground split further with each impact, the air trembled under the pressure, and the entire region seed to groan under the strain, as though the planet itself struggled to endure the sheer magnitude of their battle.
Near Fjolrin, the Phantom Blade stood trembling, his composure completely shattered.
"We're going to die..." he muttered, his voice unsteady as his eyes remained fixed on the distant devastation. "Call your transport... we need to leave."
Not long ago, that sa man had surrendered without hesitation, offering everything he knew about the Midnight Brotherhood in exchange for survival. Secrets, hidden operations-he had been willing to expose it all just to escape this battlefield alive.
Fjolnir had not even responded.
His gaze remained locked on the fight.
Frustration at his own weakness, a deep, suffocating helplessness.
The power he had invoked earlier still lingered within him, but its backlash had left his internal energy chaotic and unstable. All he could do now was watch, forced into the role of a spectator while his junior faced the abomination.
Another eruption lit up the sky.
High above the battlefield, Morgana unfurled her bone wings to their full span, the structure of pale, jagged bone now wrapped in layers of blazing cosmic fire. As she hovered, flas surged outward from her form, gathering rapidly around her hands before expanding into massive lotus-shaped constructs that pulsed with intense energy.
[Lotus Cosmic Fla]
With a decisive motion, she released them
The fiery lotuses descended in succession, crashing into the battlefield with explosive force before unfolding upon impact. Each bloom spread outward into a wide inferno, layers of fla cascading over one another as they latched onto the target, refusing to disperse even as the surrounding terrain fractured under the heat.
These were no ordinary flas.
They were alive.
Born from the fusion of her cosmic fire and Gaia's vitality, the flas carried a persistent, almost predatory nature. They fed on surrounding energy, clinging to whatever they touched, continuing to burn long after the initial impact. That very technique had been enough to overwhelm Madam Butcher, leaving her no chance to recover once the living flas took hold.
Against the Chira Sovereign, however, the result was far less decisive.
The inferno scorched deeply into its flesh, scorching through layers of muscle and leaving large sections of its body charred and split open, yet the damage never lasted. Almost imdiately, its abnormal regeneration activated, new flesh forcing its way through the burnt surface as the wounds closed at a visible pace.
Dozens of exchanges had already passed between Ery and Morgana against the abomination, yet with every clash, the Chira Sovereign only grew
stronger.
And it was still evolving.
Its grotesque crimson body began to change once more. The six writhing python heads that once lashed outward independently had disappeared, rging into a massive, snake-scaled arm with six elongated fingers, their edges hardened into jagged, fang-like blades that resembled the diamond fangs of the serpents they had replaced. The spider limbs that once protruded from its back had also vanished, their place taken by a thick, crystallized shell- pitch-black and smooth, layered like obsidian armor, radiating an unbreakable quality.
The rest of its form followed suit.
Muscles thickened and compressed.
Flesh reinforced.
Its entire body expanded steadily, its presence growing heavier and more oppressive as it rose-
Larger and larger-
Until it stood nearly fifteen ters tall, a towering abomination that dominated the battlefield.
The creature rampaged wildly, each step shaking the ground as it forced Ery into constant retreat. Its attacks carried overwhelming force, leaving no room
for direct confrontation.
Without warning, it leapt.
The massive body soared into the air before crashing down with catastrophic
weight.
BOOM!!
The impact carved out a massive crater, sending shockwaves rippling through the swamp and triggering a violent tremor that spread across the entire area. Before the debris had even settled, one of its arms shifted.
The snake-scaled limb elongated unnaturally, stretching forward as its clawed hand expanded, the diamond-like fingers extending into a crushing strike that descended toward Ery with terrifying speed.
"That's a close one!!"
Ery barely escaped.
His figure flickered through space, reappearing at a distance as the attack obliterated everything where he had stood monts before.
The ground split further.
From the cracks, thick clouds of toxic vapor began to rise, spreading rapidly across the battlefield as the planet's natural hazards were stirred awake by the
destruction.
Ery remained unaffected.
But Morgana was forced higher into the sky, her wings carrying her above the spreading poison as she avoided the dangerous fus below.
"Damn... this thing is crazy strong..."
He could no longer clearly asure the Chira Sovereign's exact realm, but
the pressure it exerted spoke for itself. Its combat strength had surpassed any Three Cosmos opponent he had ever faced, reaching a level where even a single direct hit could result in serious injury.
There was only one option that could match it.
His full primal transformation.
But Ery hesitated.
He had been trying to maintain control over his mind, and he would rather not
lose it now. More importantly, his dark avatar was approaching a critical breakthrough, and disturbing that process would be costly.
Searching for another solution, Ery finally let out a quiet sigh. Then his gaze
drifted across the battlefield before stopping at a distant hill, where a faint cluster of drifting smoke lingered quietly above the ruins. It was subtle, nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding haze of dust and poison-but to Ery, it was anything but natural.
Focusing his mind, he reached out with a ntal ssage.
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