Ethan's heart clenched hard in his chest.

A monstrous pull surged through the air.

The sand beneath his boots lifted in streams, his armor shrieking as it scraped against itself.

"Fall back!" he barked, grabbing Feylora's arm and yanking her toward him.

Around them, soldiers shouted in alarm, struggling against the invisible force dragging them forward.

The wind howled like a beast unleashed.

Above, Elira and Caelith remained suspended in the air, not resisting the pull—instead, they seemed to draw strength from it. Their auras flared, growing sharper, heavier.

It was a dangerous power. But it was also… seductive.

"This energy leaking from the rift…" Ethan muttered, eyes locked on the swirling vortex. "To beings at their level, it's a tonic. But to us—"

He gritted his teeth. "It's a furnace."

They fought their way back, step by step, until they finally broke free of the vortex's edge.

Behind them, the dunes collapsed inward. The sky twisted. The world itself seemed to bend.

Caelith's expression shifted—something between surprise and calculation.

She hadn't expected anyone to push her this far.

A cold smile tugged at her lips, but in her eyes—there was a flicker of respect.

"Impressive," she said quietly. "It's been a long time since anyone made me take things seriously."

Her gaze slid to Elira, voice dipping into something almost coaxing. "Come with me to Sky Citadel. I'll grant you a floor of your own. There, your power will be worshipped—not wasted under the command of a mortal."

Elira's lips curved upward, but the smile was glacial.

Her aura surged, black wings flaring wide behind her, light and shadow rippling across their span.

Behind her, the phantom of the Skytear Demon Moth unfurled—vast, regal, terrifying.

"You think I'd betray my master?"

Her voice was low, edged with fury and pride.

Caelith's smile vanished.

"Foolish insect," she hissed. "Then I'll show you what loyalty costs."

She brought her hands together.

Wind screamed into her palms, forming a spiraling tornado of raw force.

The air turned frigid. Darkness stirred in her core, rising to meet the storm.

Wind and shadow boiled together.

Between her hands, a sphere of light formed—black and white swirling in a violent dance, the eye of a storm made flesh.

Her voice cut through the roar:

"Let's see if you can withstand the true judgment of Sky Citadel."

The orb hovered in the air, pulsing.

Thunder cracked.

BOOM—!

A shockwave tore through the desert, flinging sand into the sky.

The earth trembled.

Elira rose higher, caught in the updraft, her body steady, her gaze like ice.

Her wings spread wide behind her, a storm of black feathers and lightning.

The Skytear Demon Moth's phantom loomed behind her, light flickering through its silhouette like a fallen god poised to strike.

RUMBLE—

She raised her hand—and hurled the phantom forward like a spear.

At the same moment, Caelith let out a roar.

Wind and darkness exploded from her body, twisting together into a blinding sphere of energy.

It surged forward, wrapped in a cyclone of fury, to meet Elira's attack head-on.

Two forces—utterly different, utterly immense—collided in the sky.

The next instant—

The sky collapsed.

The impact was like two stars colliding.

The spatial vortex shattered into fragments, and the shockwave tore across the heavens.

Air ignited into invisible flame. The ground split open, scorched with branching burns.

Light and shadow twisted and tore at each other in the sky, devouring one another until nothing remained but a cascade of flickering energy—like a meteor shower raining down from a broken firmament.

When the dust finally settled—

Caelith staggered backward.

Her face had gone pale, her breath ragged and uneven.

She fought to steady herself.

But the space before her was empty.

Elira was gone.

—BOOM!

A thunderous crack exploded behind her.

Before she could even turn, a crushing force slammed into her back.

Elira had reappeared—somehow, impossibly—right behind her.

The blow landed with the weight of the entire sky.

The black phantom flared again, wings etched with glowing runes, shrieking as they came crashing down.

"Aaaah—!"

Caelith's left shoulder shattered completely.

Blood and energy burst from the wound as her body spun through the air and slammed into the ground.

She tried to rise, to retaliate.

Power surged in her core—

—Shhk!

Elira was already there.

A single, clean strike.

Black energy pierced straight through Caelith's chest, snuffing out the last flicker of wind within her.

"H-How… how is this…"

Her voice broke apart, disbelief and fury tangled in her eyes.

She reached out, fingers grasping at nothing.

And then—her body fractured into a thousand points of light.

Scattered to the wind.

——Silence.

The wind died.

The desert fell eerily still, broken only by Elira's heavy, ragged breathing.

Ethan finally exhaled.

"It's over."

But before the words had fully left his mouth—

BOOM—!

A deep, muffled blast echoed from the heart of the desert.

The ground shook violently. Fine sand rippled like water.

Then—a blinding pillar of light erupted from the desert's core, spearing into the sky.

The light pulsed with a power that made the heart stutter.

Waves of red energy rippled outward, concentric rings that linked earth and sky in a blood-colored chain.

Ethan's brow furrowed.

"This power…"

Even he felt the pressure now.

The air stretched tight, like invisible strings drawn to the breaking point.

One more pull—and it would tear them all apart.

"Full retreat!" he ordered, voice sharp.

The Emerald Castle forces moved instantly, trained and disciplined.

But—

They'd barely taken a step when the pillar of light exploded outward.

It expanded into a massive ring of energy, forming a barrier that sealed them in.

"Shit—!"

Ethan raised his hand to cast a spell—but then the system chime rang in his mind.

Ding!

Congratulations, Player Valkarion. You have triggered the instance: Crimson Dunes of Desolation!

This is a stacked challenge mode. All previously defeated enemies will be re-summoned.

Enemy levels will be lower—but their numbers are vast, and they possess devouring traits.

Good luck, Player.

...