Crimson mist surged from Silver’s body as he flapped his wings. The world trembled with the sound—BOOM!—and before the echo even faded, I tore the fabric of space open again, ripping one rift after another, creating a straight path through space itself.
Silver screeched as he shot forward, his body piercing through the tears. In just two heartbeats, we broke through the last tear and hovered above the capital.
The sky shattered with our arrival. Sonic booms rolled like thunder across the heavens, the clouds scattering as a massive shockwave burst outward.
Silver let out a piercing cry that echoed across the battlefield, a declaration of our arrival.
I expanded my perception, my Psynapse blooming until it wrapped around the entirety of the capital.
Relief washed over me when I sensed Steve and North, they were alive. But the relief was fleeting. Many Grandmasters were badly injured, some clinging to life. Dante himself looked battered, bloodied, and on the brink.
Then my eyes locked on the real threat.
The Phantom.
It stood there in the center of chaos as if it owned the world. Its body was wreathed in deathmist, calm, immovable, and unbothered. Around it, the Emperor, Arkas, and the strongest of our side were suspended by some strange binding skill, trapped like prey in a hunter’s snare.
What caught my attention the most were the two horizontal glowing lines etched across its misty face.
A transcendent.
The thought hit me like a hammer. I never imagined I’d face a second-rank Phantom this soon.
The sheer weight of its presence pressed down on the battlefield. More than shock, though, questions swirled in my head, what happened while I was gone? Where was Saturn? Where were the Peanu grandmasters?
My gaze narrowed on the Phantom, on those burning orangish lines across its face that glowed with eerie defiance.
At that moment, the generator core inside my heart thundered to life. Essence surged like a storm, flooding my channels. The engravings carved into my body blazed awake, carrying that torrent of power through me like a raging tsunami.
And then my class responded. The Executor’s Halo flared at full strength, and my presence burst outward like an unseen explosion.
The reaction was instant.
The dwarf Phantom and the hulking giant both staggered back. The deathmist cloaking their bodies rippled, then flared violently as if shaken by some primal fear.
The transcendent Phantom, however, reacted differently. It unleashed an inhuman roar that shredded the air. My Psynapse trembled at the sound, and I could feel its will pouring outward in waves.
All three of them trembled, but I noticed the difference immediately. The dwarf and the giant were rattled, shocked, unsettled, perhaps even afraid.
Their leader, though... it was trembling with something else entirely. Not fear. Not doubt. Pure, unfiltered anger.
I could feel its emotions as clearly as my own heartbeat. The only thought filling its mind was simple: kill me.
And yet, by sheer force of will, it was holding itself back.
I stepped forward from Silver’s back and vanished, reappearing inside the crater where the grandmasters lay scattered. Their breaths were weak, their bodies broken. Without hesitation, I lifted my hand and let vitality flow through my Essence into their wounds.
Right before my eyes, their bodies began to mend. Crushed bones realigned, torn flesh knitted back together, and their fading pulses steadied. Relief flickered in their gazes, but I didn’t stop to speak.
My focus was already locked on the transcendent Phantom.
Step by step, I began walking toward it. Each stride carried weight, the ground trembling faintly under my boots.
Inside, I was a storm. I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling.
My class pulsed with emotion—anger, sharp and heavy, as if it had carried hatred through countless lifetimes and now wanted vengeance. The generator core inside my chest, or perhaps the Essence I had created, burned with eagerness, a restless joy, urging me toward war.
And me?
I felt something else entirely.
Excitement.
A thrill that made my blood boil. The anticipation of clashing against something that could finally push me to my limits. To fight a being so powerful that every strike could mean death, and every choice could be the last.
To go for each other’s lives without restraint. Without mercy.
My steady walk was interrupted.
The dwarf and the giant finally overcame their shock, their armored forms surging with murderous intent. A guttural roar split the air, and the dwarf was the first to move.
Its short frame blurred forward with frightening speed, the hammer in its hands swelling larger and larger until it towered over me like a falling mountain. Deathmist poured over the weapon, hardening it into a jagged mass of blackened steel.
With a scream that rattled the ground, it swung the hammer down.
The air trembled as the hammer descended, promising to crush me where I stood.
I clenched my fist. Violet Essence flared, wrapping around my knuckles and fist. My waist twisted, muscles coiling like a spring, and I drove my fist upward.
Boom!!!!
The world shook. The collision split the air, a sharp crack snapping through the void. For an instant, it was as if time froze, then the hammer shattered apart, fragments of corrupted deathmist scattering like dying sparks.
The backlash rippled out in a violent shockwave, tearing through the dwarf’s body and blasting him backward. Its armored chest caved in, leaving a deep dent that hissed with its corrupted energy.
But I wasn’t done.
I raised my palm, calling upon the law of polarity. Essence surged, and the space between us bent. The dwarf’s flailing body jerked midair, halted, then snapped back toward me like an arrow pulled by an unseen string.
I stepped forward, planting my foot with purpose, and threw my fist.
The collision was merciless. My knuckles smashed into the misty face, right over the glowing orange line etched into its visage.
A sonic boom cracked through the battlefield. The Phantom’s head exploded in a storm of deathmist and shattered metal.
The dwarf staggered, headless now, its frame swaying as if refusing to fall. For a moment, it seemed it might continue fighting.
Then its body gave way, collapsing with a heavy crash into the crater.
I lifted my gaze, violet Essence still burning around me. The giant waited, trembling with rage, and the transcendent’s red eyes glared like burning coals.
I stepped forward and placed my foot on the Phantom’s fallen body. My Essence roared to life, surging down through me and into the corpse. The dead dwarf’s deathmist writhed in resistance, but I pressed harder, forcing my will into every fragment of its being.