CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: MADNESS OF EMMA

After defeating Nyx, Callista then Kai and then Celestia.

Now,

Paige Rayne stood her ground, her last beast looming beside her, her HP bar flickering in the red.

[HP: 15%]

She was panting, her elegant suit now streaked with virtual dirt.

Across from her, Emma stood untouched, her hands clasped behind her back, an easy, almost bored smile on her face.

"It’s over, Mrs. Rayne," Emma said, her voice light. "You’re just dragging this out."

Paige’s jaw clenched. Her pride wouldn’t let her surrender.

’I am Paige Rayne. I do not lose.’

"Titan Behemoth!" she commanded, her voice raw. "Crush them!"

Her final beast, an S-Rank Primal-Earth type, roared. It was a mountain of rock and moss, its fists the size of cars.

It reared back and slammed its fists down.

Boom!

Emma laughed.

Her humanoid dragon beast, Vulkrayne, the Furnace Knight, simply raised one hand.

It didn’t block. It met the attack.

A wave of Molten Explosion erupted from its palm.

The wave of liquid magma washed over the Titan Behemoth. There was no struggle.

The S-Rank beast didn’t even have time to roar again. It was instantly vaporized, erased from the field.

[Titan Behemoth - Eliminated]

Paige stumbled back, her knees weak.

Defeated.

Emma walked forward slowly, her smile softening. "Thank you."

Paige, gasping for breath, looked up in confusion. "For what?"

Emma tilted her head, her expression unreadable.

"For taking care of Jax, of course."

Paige’s blood ran cold. "What do you mean? He is my son!"

"That doesn’t matter," Emma said dismissively. "If it was even a fraction of help... getting him alive in this world... then I sincerely thank you."

Paige stared, her tactical mind unable to process this.

"Are you crazy?" Paige hissed. "Do you even know what mad stuff you are talking about? ’Getting him alive’? What does that mean?"

Emma giggled, a high, sharp sound. "Hihi. Of course I know what I’m saying. But it’s far, far away from your understanding."

She waved her hand, and Vulkrayne, the Furnace Knight, stepped forward, its molten armor glowing.

"Anyway," Emma said, her smile vanishing. "I thanked you. And I don’t have time for more conversation."

She gestured to the beast.

"Give Jax’s mother a painless elimination."

The Furnace Knight moved. It grabbed Paige’s avatar by the head and the waist.

Paige didn’t even have time to scream.

The beast pulled.

Rip!

Her digital body was torn in half at the waist, her legs separating from her torso. The virtual code glitched for a second, a mess of static and light.

[Player Paige Rayne - Eliminated]

Emma watched the particles fade, her smile returning, this time sharp and maniacal.

’That leaves Jax.’

Her head tilted, scanning the empty, crystalline horizon.

’Come out, come out, wherever you are, Jax. I am waiting. I am so eager to meet you.’

But then interrupting her thoughts a new figure appeared right in front of her.

Emma’s smile faded, replaced by a deep, annoyed frown.

’Tssk.’

"Thalia," she hissed under her breath.

’I forgot about this pest.’

Thalia Steele appeared, calm and collected. Her golden-yellow hair seemed to glow in the dim light.

She immediately summoned her team.

Emma scanned them, her tactical mind instantly cataloging the threats.

[Argent Leviathan – S-Rank / Water–Light]

[Abilities: Tide Reversal (Reflects attacks), Luminwave Surge (Laser-ribbon water beams)]

[Virelion – S-Rank / Wind–Metal]

[Abilities: Razor Draft (Metallic feather cyclone), Sky Sever (Supersonic dive attack)]

[Sylvarya – S-Rank / Nature–Crystal]

[Abilities: Crystal Growth (Traps enemies), Regen Bloom (Restores HP)]

’An impressive lineup,’ Emma thought. ’Defense, offense, and support. A perfect, balanced team.’

Thalia returned the scan, her own interface locking onto Emma’s beasts.

Her eyes widened.

[Aethernox – SS-Rank / Energy–Void]

[Title: The Cataclysmic Core]

[Abilities: Singularity Pulse (Erases projectiles, pulls targets), Omega Equation (Disintegrates matter)]

[Vulkrayne – SS-Rank / Fire–Steel]

[Title: The Furnace Knight]

[Abilities: Infernal Charge (High-speed magma dash), Core Detonation (AoE explosion)]

[Zephyra – S-Rank / Lightning–Wind]

[Title: The Storm Sovereign]

[Abilities: Tempest Blades (Homing lightning discs), Ion Step (Teleport)]

Thalia’s breath hitched. ’Two SS-Ranks... How is this possible?’

Emma smiled, seeing the flicker of shock on Thalia’s face.

"Impressive lineup you got," Emma said, her voice dripping with mockery.

Her three beasts materialized fully, their power radiating in oppressive waves.

"But will you be able to beat a single one of them?"

Thalia didn’t rise to the bait. Her face was a mask of calm focus.

’She is toying with me. She outranks me severely. But she’s arrogant. That’s her weakness.’

"Leviathan, Tide Reversal!" Thalia commanded, her voice clear and sharp.

"Virelion, Razor Draft! Sylvarya, Crystal Growth and Regen Bloom!"

Her beasts moved like a well-oiled machine.

The Argent Leviathan coiled, and a massive dome of ’Tide Reversal’ water shimmered into existence, a perfect mirror shield.

The Virelion took to the air, its metal wings creating ’Razor Draft’—cyclones of metallic feathers that carved safe pathways for Thalia to move within.

On the ground, Sylvarya’s ’Crystal Growth’ spread, hardening the terrain against burrowing attacks, while a soft, glowing ’Regen Bloom’ began pulsing, healing her team.

Emma just watched, amused. ’Cute. A classic fortress build.’

She gestured lazily. "Vulkrayne, feint. Zephyra, probe."

The Furnace Knight, Vulkrayne, gave a smoking, low-angle ’Infernal Charge’, testing the crystal vines.

Zephyra unleashed ’Tempest Blades’, sending homing lightning discs at the water shield.

Clang! Clang!

The Leviathan’s ’Tide Reversal’ reflected them all perfectly.

Thalia saw her opening. ’She’s not taking this seriously. Aethernox is just waiting. That’s her core. I have to break its defense.’

She analyzed the orbiting gravitational rings around Aethernox, spotting a momentary gap in their alignment.

"Virelion, Sky Sever! Now!"

The metal hawk screeched, diving at supersonic speed.

Boom!

It created a pressure shockwave aimed directly at the gap in Aethernox’s rings.

"Sylvarya, full power to Regen Bloom!" Thalia ordered, anticipating the counter-attack.

Emma actually clapped, a slow, soft sound.

"Bravo," she said. "A perfect tactical strike. Really."

Her smile turned cold.

"But you’re still just a beta-tester."

The moment Virelion’s attack hit, the Leviathan’s mirror-shield wavered, its energy diverted.

That was the opening Emma was waiting for.

"Aethernox. Singularity Pulse. Target the mirror’s anchor."

The SS-Rank void beast didn’t attack Leviathan. It targeted the reflection of light on the water’s surface.

A tiny black hole appeared. Fwwwip!

It swallowed the light, and the entire ’Tide Reversal’ shield collapsed.

"Now," Emma whispered. "Omega Equation. Localized."

A pocket of pure, disintegrating void opened exactly where the defenseless Leviathan hovered.

The S-Rank beast didn’t even have time to shriek. It was simply unmade, its silver scales dissolving into glittering shards.

[Argent Leviathan - Eliminated]

Thalia gritted her teeth. ’She broke the physics of the ability.’

But she didn’t panic. She was brilliant.

"Sylvarya, Crystal Growth on Vulkrayne! Virelion, bait the Core Detonation!"

She tried to counter. She used Sylvarya’s vines to trap the Furnace Knight, forcing it to use its ’Core Detonation’ explosion to free itself, hoping the blast would damage Aethernox’s anchor rings.

She was smart. She was fast. She timed every move to the millisecond.

But Emma had the raw rank. And she was done toying.

"Vulkrayne, Infernal Charge. Zephyra, Ion Step," Emma ordered, her voice flat. "Finish them."

It was a surgical execution.

Vulkrayne’s molten charge melted Sylvarya’s crystal defenses instantly.

[Sylvarya - Dead]

Zephyra used ’Ion Step’, teleporting inside Virelion’s ’Razor Draft’, bypassing the metal storm completely. Its tempest blades severed the automaton’s wings.

[Virelion - Dead]

The smoke cleared.

Thalia stood alone, breathing hard. Her beasts were gone.

She was brilliant, exhausted, and utterly defeated.

Emma stepped forward, her voice cool, almost respectful.

"You fought beautifully."

The spectators watching this feed, if any, would understand. They had just watched two high-level minds duel.

One lost by rank. The other won by cold, inevitable calculation.

Emma gestured to Vulkrayne. The Furnace Knight raised its hand, molten lava gathering in its palm for the final, eliminating blow.

Thalia closed her eyes, accepting her defeat.

FWOOOOOOOSH!

A sudden, violent gust of wind tore through the arena.

The molten lava in Vulkrayne’s hand instantly cooled, hardening into useless, black obsidian rock before it could even be launched.

Clink.

The rock fell from its hand.

Thalia’s eyes snapped open.

She looked up.

A massive, storm-wielding dragon, its scales crackling with raw lightning, descended from the sky.

And standing on its back, his suit jacket flapping in the gale he had created, was Jax Rayne.