I rose above the battlefield and lifted my hand.
Three small runes formed in front of my palm, each no larger than my hand, aligned side by side. They began to rotate slowly, their motion smooth as layers of space folded subtly around them.
Then I drew from the dawn core.
Deathmist flowed outward.
It seeped into the runes, dark and heavy, and the moment it touched them, the entire formation changed. The runes flared faintly, their edges sharpening as the mist condensed, responding to my control.
Behind me, Xeron’s presence shifted abruptly.
"Deathmist... how?" he muttered under his breath.
Azalea said nothing, but her focus locked onto me completely.
I didn’t respond.
My eyes remained fixed on the three Eternal commanders. They hadn’t noticed me yet.
The runes spun faster.
From within them, three arrows began to form. They were made entirely of condensed deathmist, their surface unstable, rippling slightly as space bent around them.
I held them there for a fraction of a second.
Then muttered.
"Go."
The arrows vanished. Like something sinking beneath the surface of reality itself. They moved through space unseen, hidden within the fluctuations of deathmist already present across the battlefield.
In the next instant they appeared. Right in front of the three commanders.
That was when they reacted.
Their bodies surged with power, dark auras bursting outward as shields formed instantly in front of them, layers of defense rising in a split second.
But the arrows tore through.
The shields shattered on impact, unable to withstand the force behind them. The arrows pierced through and struck their bodies directly.
BOOM!
The impact exploded outward.
Their bodies were thrown back violently, sent crashing into the massive black crystalline spikes behind them, the sheer force of the strike echoing across the battlefield.
I tilted my head slightly and looked toward Knight and the others.
"Move out."
There was no hesitation.
In the next instant, all of them surged forward, their bodies cutting through space as they entered the battlefield. Steve and North led the charge, moving straight toward one of the drifting warfields, while Azalea followed close behind them.
The clash intensified almost immediately.
I turned my attention back to Xeron.
"You stay with your forces," I said. "Just make sure they don’t get in our way."
He gave a short nod, his eyes still carrying a trace of what he had just witnessed.
I didn’t wait for anything else. I stepped forward and shot straight toward the three Eternal commanders.
The distance collapsed quickly.
I reached one of the massive black crystalline spikes and landed lightly on its surface, the structure humming faintly beneath my feet as it continued to anchor the rift open.
In front of me, the three Eternals were recovering. Their bodies shifted as they pulled themselves free from the impact.
Around us, a few of the higher-ranked Eternals had finally noticed my presence. Their attention shifted toward me, their black, gem-like eyes locking on from a distance.
But none of them moved. I moved my eyes and locked onto Aurora. She moved like a streak of light across the battlefield.
She broke away from the formation the moment the clash began, her body turning into a blur of lightning as she cut through the drifting fragments of space. The unstable terrain did not slow her. If anything, it made her faster.
She arrived inside one of the floating warfields. A distorted bubble of space where gravity bent and the ground shifted under every step.
In front of her stood an Eternal commander.
For a brief second, neither of them moved.
Then the Eternal spoke.
"Interesting..." it said, its voice carrying through the warped space. "To find a member of the Order of Absolute here."
Aurora didn’t respond.
Her body flickered once, and the next instant, she was gone. Lightning cracked through the space, and she appeared right in front of it, her strike already descending.
The Eternal didn’t flinch.
Its hand rose calmly.
Three circles of dark energy formed instantly around it.
From the first: a massive abomination surged out.
It looked like a gigantic octopus, its body made of thick, pulsing deathmist. Multiple tendrils lashed outward the moment it formed, moving through the air as if swimming through water, each one carrying enough force to crush anything it touched.
From the second: a wolf-shaped abomination emerged.
Humanoid in structure but twisted, its frame dense and muscular, its limbs ending in elongated claws. Its eyes burned faintly as it landed between Aurora and the Eternal, its body low and ready to strike.
From the third: a phantom appeared. Its presence alone marked it as Upper Transcendent, its movements sharp and reactive as it positioned itself to intercept.
Aurora’s attack met resistance.
The wolf abomination moved first, intercepting her mid-strike, its claws clashing against her lightning-coated arm. The impact sent a burst of energy across the space, but before she could follow through, the tendrils came.
The octopus abomination lashed out, multiple arms converging on her position from different angles, forcing her to break contact and move.
She vanished again. Reappearing above them in a flash of lightning.
But the phantom was already there.
It met her the moment she appeared, raised its arm and stuck with the great sword it carried.
The Eternal remained at the back.
Watching.
Every movement of the three constructs flowed from it seamlessly. There was no delay, no confusion. Each attack overlapped the next, leaving no opening.
Aurora landed lightly on a floating fragment, her body sparking with electricity as arcs of lightning spread outward from her.
Her eyes locked onto the Eternal.
Then to the constructs.
She exhaled once.
And in the next instant the battlefield exploded with lightning. Lightning spread from her feet and climbed into the air, turning the entire warfield into her domain. The drifting fragments began to hum under the charge, and even the unstable space reacted to the surge of energy gathering around her.
The armored phantom moved first. A fully formed humanoid figure clad in dark armor, red lines glowing across its masked face, deathmist leaking constantly from the gaps in its body. A blade formed in its hand and in the next instant it was already in front of Aurora.
Its sword cut through space itself.
Aurora tilted her head slightly and the blade passed inches from her face, slicing through the lightning behind her instead. Before she could counter, the wolf was already there.
It crashed into her from the side, its claws coated in dense deathmist, tearing through the air with brute force. The impact pushed her back across the fragment she stood on, cracks spreading beneath her feet.
She didn’t resist it directly. Her body turned into lightning and slipped through the force, reappearing above them.
But the battlefield was already closing in.
The octopus abomination had spread its tendrils everywhere. They didn’t just strike, they flowed, carrying water laws within them. The space inside the bubble began to feel heavy, fluid, as if she were moving through an ocean instead of air.
One tendril shot upward, then ten more followed. They twisted around her position, not striking blindly, but guiding her movement, limiting her escape paths.
Aurora’s eyes narrowed.
The phantom appeared again.
Right behind her.
"You rely too much on speed," it said, its voice echoing through the warped space.
Its blade came down. Aurora didn’t dodge.
Lightning surged across her body, and in that instant she split, her body fractured into multiple arcs of electricity, each one moving in a different direction. The sword passed through empty space as she reformed at a distance.
Then she moved again. She didn’t vanish this time.
She accelerated. Straight toward the phantom.
The armored figure raised its blade to intercept but suddenly her speed skyrocketed. Aurora passed through its body and exited the other side.
Lightning pierced its core, tearing through the armor and the deathmist within. The red lines across its face flickered violently as its body froze mid-motion.
A second later BOOM!
Its body exploded apart. The phantom collapsed, its form breaking into fragments before dissolving completely.
"I like to move fast." she said and smiled.