The wall of roots in front of them began to melt.
A heartbeat later, a beam of fire punched through.
The flame was concentrated, compressed into a single line of destruction. The ground it touched was carved open, stone and metal evaporating instantly as the beam swept forward.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm raised its head.
The beam followed.
Buildings vanished. Defensive walls collapsed into molten slag. Entire structures simply ceased to exist as the flames tore through them. The heat rolled outward, so intense that even at their distance, everyone felt their skin sting.
"The outer ring—" Emily gasped.
Isaac’s eyes widened.
The flames reached the outer ring of the city.
They were fighting in the inner ring.
The sheer scale of the destruction sent a chill through him. Infrastructure was being erased in seconds. Streets, towers, everything they had built to protect the city was being reduced to nothing.
Still, he forced himself to stay focused.
The citizens were underground.
Every single one of them.
He had made sure of that.
If they had been even a few minutes slower earlier, this would have been a massacre.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm finally stopped breathing fire. The glow in its throat dimmed slightly as it lifted its head, wings beating heavily as it hovered above the devastation.
Isaac could tell.
It was preparing to do it again.
"There’s no way to trap it now. The roots are gone," Catherine said, her voice tight.
Isaac nodded.
Without the roots, there was nothing to restrain the Crimson Sky Wyrm. And even if he summoned more, the Fourth Eye would weaken them before they could serve any purpose.
The wyrm stared at them, hatred and rage mixing into something ugly and focused.
It had eaten roots again during the chaos, regenerating wooden wings.
Some of its injuries had already begun to close, though the regeneration was clearly taking a toll on its body.
"The clouds. If it reaches them, it can go incorporeal and heal properly," Althea reminded them.
Isaac clenched his jaw.
"How long until Sword Empress returns?" he asked.
"Five more minutes!" Catherine answered immediately.
Five minutes.
Too long.
They were already being forced backward, losing ground with every exchange.
Isaac took a slow breath.
’No. We keep fighting. We have to,’ he thought.
Letting the Crimson Sky Wyrm escape into the clouds would reset its injuries and fatigue. All the work they did until now would mean nothing.
At least one thing was in their favor.
Without roots binding it anymore, the Crimson Sky Wyrm also had nothing left to consume for easy regeneration unless it flew into the clouds.
Isaac made a deliberate choice.
He did not summon more roots.
The Fourth Eye was still open. Any roots he summoned now would be brittle, unstable, and would only become food.
"Alright," Althea shouted, raising her voice so everyone could hear. "We move according to Plan B!"
The Crimson Sky Wyrm roared again, its throat glowing as it began to gather flames.
This time, it aimed downward.
Straight at the ground where they stood.
"Celia!" Althea called.
Celia didn’t hesitate.
"Prison of Folds," she said.
Space twisted.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm vanished mid-breath, its massive body swallowed by a looping pocket of distorted space. The flames cut off abruptly, leaving behind a sudden, unnatural silence.
Isaac said, "I’ll use the same skill the moment it comes back. Since it was already charging its breath, by the time it breaks out again, the attack should be over. And if it uses the breath twice in a row, it’ll need time before it can do it again. Sword Empress will be back by then."
Althea relayed the plan quickly.
Isaac didn’t bother hiding anything anymore.
This wasn’t the time for secrecy.
And Seventh Queen had already proven she was on his side by warning him in advance, saving the city and everyone in it.
And even if she wasn’t, it didn’t matter.
Sooner or later, the world would know he could use skills like this. After all, he would need to fight powerful monsters in the future.
Five seconds passed.
The air warped.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm returned.
Isaac moved immediately.
"Prison of Folds," he said.
Nothing happened.
His brow furrowed.
"What?" Celia said, panic creeping into her voice. "Why isn’t it activating?"
Isaac tried again.
Nothing.
Around them, the others realized it at the same time.
Skills wouldn’t respond.
Mana circulation felt sluggish, suppressed, as if something had wrapped around their cores.
Isaac’s gaze snapped upward.
And then he saw it.
Above the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s head, another slit had opened.
The Fifth Eye.
"Wh-What?" Althea stared in disbelief. "That’s not right."
Her voice shook.
"The Fifth Eye was supposed to distort distance It was supposed to confuse perception," she muttered.
Isaac had heard the same from Sword Empress.
Distance confusion was terrifying in coordinated combat. Allies would misjudge spacing, attacks would miss or hit the wrong targets, and formations would collapse.
But this—
"This is skill suppression," Isaac said grimly.
Why was the Fifth Eye’s ability different?
There was no time to figure it out.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm’s breath attack was still active.
And now, with skills blocked, it had a clear opening.
Its head turned.
Its eyes locked onto Emily.
Isaac moved.
"Ragnarok!" he shouted.
Red lightning tore through the sky and slammed into the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s snout, exploding on impact. The force snapped its jaws shut, cutting off the breath attack mid-release.
At the same time, Aeralis surged forward.
Towering walls of water rose between Emily and the Crimson Sky Wyrm, crashing together into a layered barrier to block the flames that had been thrown at her already. Steam exploded outward as heat met water.
Emily stumbled back, heart pounding.
"Emily, how are you?" Isaac asked worriedly.
"I’m fine," she said quickly.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm sneered.
It was satisfied.
It had achieved what it wanted.
For several seconds, everyone’s skills were sealed. In that time, it had demonstrated absolute dominance. No one dared to rush it now. No one dared to get close.
Fear spread, quiet but real.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm beat its wings.
Once.
Twice.
Then it rose.
Straight toward the clouds.
Earlier, its own flames had burned its body badly. It needed time. It needed space. And the clouds would give it everything it required.
"It’s escaping!" Emily shouted.
"It’s escaping!" Emily shouted.
"No... no... no!" Isaac said under his breath.
He was already running before he realized it. His feet slammed against broken ground, pushing off debris and cracked stone as he sprinted forward. His mind raced faster than his body.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm could not be allowed to reach the clouds.
If it healed fully and reset its fatigue, the fight would be over. Worse, it wouldn’t come down again. It would hover above the city and rain flames until nothing remained.
’If it reaches the clouds, it’s over,’ Isaac thought grimly.
Wings burst from his back.
Fabric tore as they erupted, ripping through his shirt. He didn’t bother protecting his clothes with partial phasing. There wasn’t time for that kind of control.
With a powerful flap, Isaac launched himself into the air.
Below him, the battlefield shrank rapidly. The Crimson Sky Wyrm was already high above, its newly regenerated wings struggling but still lifting its massive body higher and higher.
’The heart. I have to attack its heart!’ Isaac thought.
The wyrm noticed him.
Of course it did.
That small "ant" was following it. The same ant that had hurt it. The same ant that had cost it wings, dignity, and time.
And called it a lesser dragon.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm sneered.
As Isaac closed the distance, it moved.
There was no warning.
Its head snapped back with terrifying speed. Its neck flowed like a serpent’s, flexible and precise, and in an instant—
It swallowed Isaac whole.
There was no chance to dodge.
The world vanished.
Isaac appeared inside its mouth, crushed instantly between massive teeth. Heat assaulted him from all sides. Corrosive saliva poured over his body, sizzling as digestive enzymes began their work.
Isaac didn’t scream.
He acted.
Multiple shield skills flared around him at once, borrowed and stacked. They were Emily’s and Celia’s barriers. They layered over each other just in time to stop his body from being pulped.
At the same time, healing surged through him, the effect of Alice’s skill.
His wounds closed as fast as they appeared. Flesh regenerated instantly. Burns faded before pain could properly register.
He was healing himself so fast that there was no pain.
For a moment, it worked.
But he knew it wouldn’t last.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm swallowed.
Isaac was dragged deeper, muscles contracting around him as he was forced down its throat. The pressure increased, crushing and relentless. The saliva grew thicker, hotter, and more aggressive.
The stomach was coming.
And there, the digestive enzymes would be far stronger.
He would be melted alive.
Isaac clenched his teeth.
He was just about to force his way through and attack from inside when a voice rang out in his mind.
’I-Isaac! What are you doing?! Come out!’
Alice.
Her voice was frantic, shaking with panic.
’Please! Isaac, please!’
She was speaking through the telepathic link Tirra, Emily’s ghost bird, maintained between all Emily’s bonded beings.
The connection was unstable, filled with fear and static.
’Isaac, don’t do this! You’ll di—’
"I won’t die," Isaac said, forcing the words out even as the wyrm’s throat muscles squeezed tighter around him.
He kept his tone light, almost casual, despite the crushing pressure.
"And I’m not trying to kill myself."
He smiled, even though she couldn’t see it.
"Did you forget? My life is connected to yours. If I die, you die. And I’m never letting any harm come to you."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the link.
’Th-then what are you doing?’ Alice asked, her voice trembling.
"Don’t worry about me. I’m going to kill this thing," Isaac said, grinning through the pain of being crushed alive.
’Ho-how—’
He cut the connection.
Not because he wanted to, but because he had no more time.
According to his internal calculations, he was already close. The rhythmic contractions told him where he was. The flow of mana inside the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s body pointed toward the core.
This was the nearest point to the heart.
If he delayed any longer, he would be carried fully into the stomach.
And then it would be too late.
"Alright. Time to do this."
He focused.
"Stoneward."
The Abyssal Mammoth’s copy in his mind responded.
The summoning circle flared inside the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s body.
For a brief instant, the wyrm’s internal mana flow destabilized as something enormous tried to manifest inside it.
Stoneward’s form began to take shape.
Compared to the Crimson Sky Wyrm, the mammoth was smaller.
But Isaac hadn’t summoned it to fight.
Just before Stoneward fully materialized, Isaac activated another skill.
"Spirit Weave."
Emily’s skill responded instantly.
It could "fuse" two summons.
Stoneward’s massive form fused with something far more violent.
Ragnarok.
The mammoth vanished.
In its place, a lightning construct was born.
Not a thin bolt like before.
This one was enormous.
A lightning bolt thicker than a mansion, compressed and contained within the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s body. Its surface crackled violently, red energy tearing at the surrounding flesh and mana channels.
Ragnarok, the thin lightning bolt, alone had blown off a wing.
This?
This was something else entirely.
"You shouldn’t eat things recklessly."
Isaac grinned.
"Or you will get indigestion!"
The lightning moved towards the heart.
Then it detonated.
Red lightning exploded outward in all directions from within the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s body. Mana channels ruptured. Flesh tore apart. Internal organs were shredded instantly.
’Good, this much damage would weaken. Sword Empress should be able to finish—’
The heart was hit directly.
Isaac was stunned.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm screamed.
Its body convulsed violently in mid-air, wings flailing as blood and corrupted mana erupted from its mouth and wounds. The clouds above scattered as shockwaves tore through the sky.
Inside, Isaac was thrown violently backward as the explosion ripped through the wyrm’s insides. His shields shattered one after another, healing flaring desperately to keep him alive.
Even thought the summoned monster controlled its attacks to not hit him, he was heavily damaged from the aftermath.
The pressure crushing Isaac from all sides suddenly vanished.
The throat muscles spasmed and tore apart.
Isaac was expelled violently, shot out of the Crimson Sky Wyrm’s mouth like a projectile, covered in blood and lightning residue.
He tumbled through the air, wings barely responding.
Below, the battlefield erupted into chaos.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm lost control of its flight completely. Its body twisted, spasming as internal destruction caught up to it. Wings faltered. Mana output collapsed.
It began to fall.
Isaac stabilized himself mid-air, coughing as he wiped blood from his mouth. His body ached, every nerve screaming, but he stayed conscious.
He looked down at the falling behemoth.
A large portion of the city was about to be crushed.
He began to summon roots to catch it.
And...
A screen appeared before him.
[You have killed the Catastrophe, Crimson Sky Wyrm.]
[You have received....]