Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance.
Magnus's eyes sharpened the moment he spotted him. He moved instinctively, but Oberon's hand caught him.
Before he could question it, the Enigmalnk pointed toward a location just behind them.
There, space fractured again, rippling like a shattered mirror, and multiple figures emerged: Aurora, Zoey, Kael, and other members of the Ravenstein family, flanked by the echoes of Atticus.
Without hesitation, Magnus's aura enveloped them, shielding them like a fortress.
Then, his gaze met the echoes who looked at him silently.
Magnus understood immediately.
Atticus wanted them protected.
His aura deepened, cloaking them all in an unyielding dome.
Other human paragons had arrived as well. After confirming the safety of their kin, their eyes slowly turned toward the center of it all…
And what they saw defied every logic they had ever thought possible.
Just then, Eletantron roared, his voice shaking the skies.
"Paragons of the Dimensari race! Warriors of the Alliance! Look upon this battlefield, look upon the carnage this devil has brought! He has slain Azrakan! He has murdered Velkarion! He slaughtered us like we are nothing!
"If we let this creature continue, he will reduce our alliance to dust! He will bring ruin to everything we've built!"
The eyes of the Dragon race paragons flared at the mention of Velkarion, their fury igniting the air. He had killed their leader? The atmosphere began to burn with rising heat.
Eletantron's voice rose even higher, trembling with power.
"Will we stand idle and watch this madness consume our world? Will we cower while our paragons fall?! No! We fight! We strike him down here and now! I call upon every paragon, every race that calls this world home! For our fallen! For our future… ATTACK!"
Eletantron's words had barely dropped before the laws of the world changed.
The temperature spiked, becoming near-unbearable.
The Dragon Paragons erupted first. Geysers of flame burst skyward like volcanic eruptions, their bodies morphing mid-air.
Scales shimmered like molten gold, crimson eyes narrowed into reptilian slits, and massive wings exploded outward, tearing through the clouds as their colossal frames surged forward, all converging on Atticus.
But they weren't alone.
Dimensari Paragons unleashed hell.
Beams of warped space, crushing gravity blasts, and dimensional spears ripped through the air, converging toward the lone figure in the sky.
Dozens of paragons, racing through the air, closed in like a pack of apex predators.
And amidst it all, Eletantron's eyes gleamed coldly.
He didn't move yet.
'I must get him.'
Azrakan was gone. The one who was supposed to be the heir to his bloodline, his successor, dead.
If he didn't act now and get Carius, his lineage would die with him.
He hovered still… waiting for his moment to strike.
As the paragons converged, the air seemed to fracture with the weight of their combined power.
Dozens of paragons, each one a veteran of war, warriors that were over a century old, renowned across all of Eldoralth, were hurtling toward a boy no more than eighteen.
It was madness.
And yet, no one saw it that way.
In fact, to the onlookers, those paragons who had witnessed everything from the very beginning, it felt like something else entirely.
Like pigs charging toward annihilation itself.
Because they had seen it, his power, his overwhelming strength, his terrifying calm.
And now… they braced themselves.
Because the one at the center of it all hadn't disappointed.
This time, Atticus moved his lips and spoke two words.
Two words that carried the weight of a god's judgment.
"Sundering Storm."
The fourth art of the katana was a culmination of the first to third arts, to form an unending cyclone of slashes. A storm. It was a power on an apocalyptic scale.
Yet, Atticus had discovered something even better. The storm was made of pure swirling mana and spiritual energy if he wanted.
However, what if he used an energy even more lethal than that? More deadly.
The fusion energy.
The dark-crimson aura around Atticus began to swirl, slow at first, then faster… faster… until it spun with such ferocity that the very air around him distorted.
Boom.
The energy erupted outward, surging like a volcanic explosion. A cyclone of spiraling tempest slashes tore through the skies.
But this time, it wasn't just mana or spiritual energy.
It was something far more lethal.
The Fusion energy.
When the storm collided with the incoming attacks, there was no explosion. No clash. No sound.
Only erasure.
Every beam, every flame, every spear of dimensional force, unmade in a blink, dissolved into nothingness as the storm surged on, crashing into the charging paragons.
Their expressions twisted into sheer dread.
They felt it instantly, a shredding force cutting through flesh, aura… followed by a devastating erasure, stripping everything down to nothingness.
Their auras exploded in response, walls of power, shields, counterattacks, all unleashed in desperation.
But it was too late.
The storm swallowed them all.
And it didn't stop. It expanded, devouring sky and ground alike, turning into a swirling void of obliteration.
Eletantron's eyes trembled.
He vanished from the storm's reach, reappearing in the distance, hovering with wide eyes locked on the carnage unfolding before him.
"H-How…?" his voice quivered. They hadn't even been able to hold him for a second.
And he wasn't the only one.
The paragons who had chosen not to join the charge felt their hearts pounding, utterly shocked.
Atticus hovered within the devastation, untouched. The storm collapsed inward, spiraling down and fading like a divine curtain drawing to a close.
And when the dust cleared… the paragons were gone.
The storm had encompassed the cocoon that held Carius and Drakthanion, and yet, they remained untouched, suspended within it as if the storm had never existed.
No one moved.
Not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't.
Their limbs felt heavy. Their breath shallow. Their minds… numb.
They watched, silently, as if witnessing an inevitable scene carved by fate itself.
Atticus sheathed his katana, the final click echoing across the deadened battlefield.
Then, he slowly stretched both hands forward.
The cocoon unfurled, revealing Carius and Drakthanion, bodies still paralyzed, expressions twisted with utter shock and unwillingness. They couldn't move.
In a blink, both shot toward him, their throats gripped by his hands, tight.
Atticus didn't even look at them.
He didn't acknowledge them.
Yet the killing intent that bled from his body was enough to send chills rippling through their bones.
His gaze drifted past them, over the chaos, over the destruction, locking onto the paragons still watching from afar, holding their breath, unsure whether to speak or flee.
Then, his lips parted.