Midair, Seraph’s expression twisted in panic as he let out a furious roar, struggling to fight back.
But as the battle dragged on, the truth hit him—he was being pushed into a corner.
"Damn it! How the hell are you two... overpowering me?!"
Andona raised her holy sword high, her sixteen wings fully unfurled. A torrent of pure judgment surged from her body, transforming into countless chains of radiant light that lashed out and bound Seraph’s limbs and wings tight.
At the same time, Elira appeared out of nowhere.
Behind her, the massive wings of the Skytear Demon Moth flared open with a violent snap. Runes and dark crimson light pulsed across the wings, forming a storm of illusions that blotted out the sky.
Every beat of her wings tore through the void, unleashing razor-sharp shadow blades that rained down like a storm.
Holy light and void storm collided in the air—
One purifying everything in its path,
The other devouring it all.
The two opposing forces slammed into Seraph, shredding his divine aura in an instant. His energy was ripped from his body, surging like a flood into Andona and Elira.
Seraph screamed in agony as his body began to collapse under the crushing pressure of light and darkness. His bones cracked with a sickening crunch.
Andona’s power surged higher and higher, her wings now fully evolved into sixteen radiant extensions of divine might. Her holy light lit up the entire fifth layer like a second sun.
Elira’s wings expanded dramatically, now ten times larger than her body. Blood-red cracks spread along the edges, and the void itself seeped through them, threatening to swallow all light in its path.
Their combined auras pressed down on Seraph like a mountain, leaving him no room to breathe.
He gasped, eyes wild with desperation. "You... you’re using me as a power source?! I’ll take you all down with me!!"
Suddenly, he pulled out a blood-red orb and crushed it in his hand—
A violent surge of energy exploded from the orb, forcefully pushing back the two women’s power and tearing open a spatial rift.
He was just about to escape—
When a devastating force slammed down from above like a meteor.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Ataneya had arrived without warning.
A strange, overwhelming energy radiated from her—
The surrounding space shattered like glass.
Even the escape portal Seraph had just opened was sealed shut in an instant.
Behind her, ten massive tails whipped through the air, each one pulsing with terrifying power that rolled off her in waves.
Seraph froze. He couldn’t even handle Andona and Elira—now Ataneya had joined the fight?
The three of them unleashed their power in unison, compressing it toward Seraph. Within moments, he was crushed into a space so tight he could barely move.
Andona raised her holy sword high.
A surge of divine energy gathered at its tip, and a towering angelic phantom appeared in the sky above.
"Today is your judgment day. Your body, your soul, and every ounce of power you hold—will be judged!"
The light radiating from Andona was blinding, her presence like that of a true celestial deity.
The divine force came crashing down, slamming into Seraph with unstoppable might.
Under the combined assault of all three, Seraph’s body finally gave out. His wings and divine light were torn apart piece by piece, blood and radiance swirling into a chaotic storm.
Seraph’s final scream echoed across the vaulted sky of the Sky Citadel’s sixth layer, reverberating like a collapsing mountain before fading into silence.
With that last, furious roar, his body finally unraveled—shattering into countless fragments of light that drifted apart like ash on the wind.
But this wasn’t just death.
That immense, almost incomprehensible energy didn’t vanish—it was seized, compressed, and forcefully refined by Andona, Elira, and Ataneya, then absorbed into their bodies.
In an instant, their auras exploded outward, towering like divine mountains no one dared to look upon.
Ethan stood nearby, watching it all unfold, his chest tightening with the sheer pressure in the air.
The energy was overwhelming. If he’d tried to absorb it himself, his body would’ve torn apart on the spot. Thankfully, the three of them had split the burden, stabilizing the battlefield.
The words dropped like a hammer.
The battlefield fell into stunned silence, as if the very foundation had been ripped away.
The Sky Citadel’s forces faltered, their formation unraveling in an instant.
Their power source was gone. No more reinforcements from the upper layers. No more divine support.
Meanwhile, Emerald Castle’s forces surged with renewed strength, their morale blazing like wildfire.
The fighting only lasted a few more heartbeats before the tide turned completely. The rightful source is ⓝovelFire.net
Blood and fire swept across the field. Enemy soldiers fell in droves, until only a dozen or so remained, huddled in a corner, trembling.
—The battle was over.
Ethan exhaled slowly, but a shadow still lingered in his eyes.
He could feel it—his body was on the verge of rupture from the residual energy he’d absorbed during the clash.
"Get over here—help me stabilize this!"
His voice rang out, sharp and commanding.
Feylora was the first to respond, flying to his side and placing her hands on his shoulders. Her spiritual energy synced with his, forming a stabilizing current. The other Hero Units followed quickly, opening their internal channels to redirect the surging energy like floodgates.
The unique power of the Sky Citadel roared through their bodies.
Wounds sealed. Broken bones knit themselves back together. Even warriors who’d been on the brink of death gasped back to life as the energy washed over them.
Several Hero Units felt their power spike on the spot, breaking through long-standing bottlenecks.
For a moment, the grand hall was utterly still.
Ethan opened his eyes and let out a long, steady breath.
He rose slowly and walked toward the remaining Sky Citadel soldiers.
"I’ve already sealed the passage to the upper levels," he said, voice low and cold. "So tell me—how did you get down here?"
The tone alone made their skin crawl.
The enemy soldiers trembled, none daring to speak.
Finally, one of them, shaking like a leaf, pointed toward the edge of the void. "The layers of the Sky Citadel... they’re not completely sealed off. The flow of energy is the key. You only cut off the main artery... we... we tore open a side path..."
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, the chill in them deepening.
That confirmed what he’d suspected all along—no wonder they needed those "energy crystals" to fight. They couldn’t draw power directly from above.
"So what you’re saying is..."
His voice sliced through the air like a blade.
"If you could come down... then others can too. Anytime."
The soldiers’ faces went pale. Their bodies shook uncontrollably.
And then Ethan’s killing intent surged.
Dozens of energy blades erupted from him, tearing through the air and slicing the enemy soldiers to pieces before they could even scream.
Silence fell again—thick, bloody, absolute.
Ethan slowly reined in his aura and gave a grim command:
"Everyone, on high alert. Send word to your Creature Dwellings. Summon your armies—bring them here. We need to reinforce everything before they realize what’s happened."
The others responded immediately, scattering to carry out his orders.
Ethan, meanwhile, sat cross-legged in the center of the ruined battlefield, focusing inward, channeling the raging energy within him into something stable, something usable.
BZZZ... BZZZ... BZZZ...
The hum of resonating power echoed through the great hall...