The air reeked of blood and pollen.

The Fairy host didn't stop. Their fury shook the sky itself. The Bloodfiends shrieked and howled, but were torn apart by volley after volley of radiant arrows—this wasn't a battle. It was a massacre.

When the last scream faded, silence finally settled over the land.

Ethan stood amid the drifting blood mist, unease prickling at the edges of his mind. The stench of blood hadn't lifted. It writhed in the air, slithering into every Fairy's body. Their once-luminous auras, pure and clear, now shimmered with a faint crimson taint.

Their wings glinted with a dangerous sheen. Their smiles twisted into something feral.

Ethan understood at once.

The Bloodfiends' power was corrupting them.

He drew a deep breath and stepped onto the high platform.

In his hand, the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign glowed with a soft golden light.

This was the power of dominion he alone commanded. And now, he would relinquish it—

unraveling it into invisible threads that drifted toward the Fairies writhing in pain.

Gold and crimson tangled in the air, like petals caught in a storm, spiraling around each other.

Ethan's power became a binding agent, coaxing the two opposing forces into harmony. No longer tearing each other apart, they began to merge.

A blinding flash lit the sky.

When it faded, the Fairies' auras had sharpened, grown stronger. They were no longer what they had been. No longer just creatures of light—but something new. They carried the purity of radiance and the wildness of blood.

Ethan looked at them, and the answer came to him.

The Bloodfiends had invaded this realm because they lacked this very bridge—this fusion.

They had tried to consume the Fairies' power, but couldn't make the two forces coexist.

He smiled faintly and raised the scepter.

"See that blood mist?" he called out. "That's their last stronghold. The Bloodfiend Lord waits at the heart of that fortress.

If you want vengeance for your kin, come with me—let's cleanse this sky with light!"

A roar of voices rose behind him. The Fairy host surged forward, wings slicing the air like waves crashing ashore. Gold and bloodfire wove together, lighting up the heavens.

They flew for a long time, until the fog ahead began to thin—

And then, rising from the horizon, a massive fortress emerged. Its walls pulsed with crimson veins of light, like the arteries of some slumbering beast.

Compared to the ruined outpost they'd seen before, this place was vast—almost sacred in its grandeur, and just as hellish in its menace.

"We're ready," Ethan murmured.

He lifted his hand. The air trembled. A sphere of light spun slowly in his palm, growing larger, brighter—like a second sun.

When the energy reached its peak, he hurled it downward.

Boom—

The orb slammed into the fortress wall, sending shockwaves rippling across the land.

The blood mist churned violently, as if something enormous had begun to stir.

Thoom—

The explosion tore the sky apart.

Dust, rubble, and blood vapor erupted outward, the shockwave sweeping across the plains beyond the city.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then came the screeching.

Bloodfiends poured from the shattered dome—winged beasts with black feathers and glistening scales, circling in the air. The bloodlight caught on their bodies, turning them into a storm of fire and shadow.

At their head flew a creature far larger than the rest. Its twin eyes burned with molten gold, and its voice grated like rusted iron tearing apart.

"You wretched insects! You dare provoke us at the Lord's gate? I'll rip you apart, piece by piece!"

Before the last word left its mouth, it raised both arms. The air froze.

Blood and light twisted together in its hands, forming a massive blade. The edge burned with dark red fire, slicing the sky as it fell.

The moment the blade dropped, even the air split in two with a deafening crack...

BOOM—

The sky itself buckled.

The force that tore through the heavens was a volatile fusion—Fairy light and Bloodfiend blood-energy, locked in a violent tug-of-war, yet somehow holding together in a twisted equilibrium.

Space warped. The horizon shimmered like shattered glass underfoot.

Ethan looked up, fire igniting in his eyes.

He could feel it—that surge of power traced back to the sliver of Bloodfiend energy still buried inside him.

Something in it was resonating. Calling to him.

Fear?

No.

It was exhilaration. A wild, primal urge to tear the world apart.

He inhaled deeply, his chest rumbling with a low, thunderous growl.

Then, golden light erupted from within him, roaring like a dragon caught in a storm.

A spectral beast of pure energy burst from his body, a dragon of radiant gold, claws slashing, jaws wide. It soared into the sky and collided head-on with the massive blade descending from above.

BOOM—

Everything shook.

The sky collapsed inward. Space rippled like water struck by a stone.

Far above, the Fairy army scattered to avoid the shockwave, their wings buffeted by the storm, bodies tossed like leaves in a gale.

Ethan stood at the eye of the chaos, a faint smile tugging at his lips. It was the kind of smile that could mean triumph—or madness.

He raised his hand. At his fingertips, seven distinct lights flickered—each one a different element.

Every element he had ever mastered.

Now, all of them were burning with Bloodfiend fire.

"Fuse," he whispered.

The seven streams of light spiraled together, weaving into a violent tapestry across the sky.

He thrust his hand forward—and the heavens tore open.

The roar that followed was like a flood breaking loose. Lightning laced the clouds. The air boiled.

The Bloodfiend's massive blade shattered instantly, splintering into a thousand molten shards that rained down like fire.

The blast wave slammed into the fortress wall, ripping a gaping hole through the thick stone.

Dozens of lesser Bloodfiends didn't even have time to flee. The energy storm swallowed them whole, reducing them to a mist of blood.

When the dust cleared, Ethan hovered in midair, arms outstretched.

Behind him, the golden dragon had unraveled into countless threads of light, swirling around him like a living halo.

Wind howled. Light surged.

He didn't look human anymore.

He looked like a god—one who held dominion over sky and earth.

The world trembled with every breath he took.

The air stank of scorched blood.

The Bloodfiends who had been snarling moments ago now hovered in stunned silence, their faces pale, their bodies trembling like beasts with their throats half-cut.

One final burst of light from Ethan shattered their bravado. Panic took hold. They broke ranks, screaming, fleeing back toward the fortress. Their cries echoed through the sky in jagged, broken lines.

And then came the pressure.

A suffocating weight, like the heart of the fortress itself had begun to beat.

The ground quaked. The air twisted. A column of black-red energy surged from the castle's core, punching through the clouds.

That presence—whatever it was—wasn't mortal.

It reeked of blood and rot, sweet and sickly like spoiled wine. It felt ancient, like a curse that had waited centuries to mock the light.

"How extraordinary."

The voice came slowly, deep and smooth, from the heart of the vortex.

But it wasn't just a voice. It carried power—enough to dim the sky.

From the swirling blood mist, the Bloodfiend Lord emerged.

Tall. Lean. Wings like blades unfurled behind him. His eyes glowed crimson. His smile was a razor's edge.

"You've managed to fuse Fairy and Bloodfiend power…" he said, each word seared with heat. "Tell me—how did you do it? Speak, and I'll grant you anything you desire."

Thunder rolled in the distance.

Ethan only laughed. Cold. Sharp. No hesitation. Just pure, focused rage.

"You're not worthy of the answer."

And then he raised his hand.

Every ounce of energy in his body surged at once. The air around him cracked and shimmered. Blue-white arcs of lightning danced across his skin, converging into a blazing sphere in his palm.

Light burst from between his fingers, flooding the blood-red sky with brilliance.

...