Ethan landed in a crouch, steady and sharp.

"Confirmed," he muttered. "It works."

He turned, eyes sweeping over the ranks behind him.

"Target the same spot on the orb! Four consecutive hits or more!"

The moment the order left his lips, the air cracked open.

Fairies, Dragonkin, mages, and centaur warriors surged forward in unison.

Beams of light tore across the desert, slicing through the haze and igniting the sky.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—

One by one, the blood-red orbs shattered in the storm of fire and magic. Each explosion unraveled a Sandman, their bodies collapsing like sandcastles under a rising tide.

In minutes, half the enemy force had been wiped from the battlefield.

Then—silence.

The desert wind stilled.

A heartbeat later, a roar split the sky—

"RRRAAAHHH!"

It was deep, guttural—like iron grinding against stone.

Ethan's head snapped up.

At the crest of a dune, a shadow emerged from the heat shimmer. Towering. Scaled. Its body gleamed with a dull gold sheen, each plate of armor-like skin catching the sun like molten metal.

Its eyes—blood-red, cold, and ravenous.

Lizardman.

It threw back its head and bellowed, twin greataxes crossed over its chest. The blades screamed through the air, their edges humming with raw power.

"You filthy invaders!" the creature thundered, voice rolling like a storm. "You dare lay hands on my pets? I'll grind your bones to dust—one bite at a time!"

Before the last word left its mouth, its form blurred.

CRACK—

Lightning exploded.

The Lizardman became a streak of violet electricity, crossing five hundred feet in a blink, hurtling straight for Ethan.

Ethan didn't flinch.

His arms snapped outward, and the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign flared into existence in his grip. The crystal at its tip blazed to life, gold and silver energy spiraling together into a radiant helix.

He met the charge head-on.

BOOM—

The moment of impact sucked the air from the world. Space itself cracked, thin lines of distortion flickering like broken glass.

A shockwave detonated outward.

Both figures were hurled back, crashing into opposite dunes. Sand erupted in towering waves, golden surf slamming against the sky.

Ethan twisted midair, landing hard but upright. The sand beneath his boots instantly fused into glass from the heat of his aura.

Across the field, the Lizardman rolled his neck with a pop, then grinned—a slow, cruel curl of the lips.

"Interesting," he growled. "You actually made me step back."

He licked one of his fangs, voice dropping to a purr thick with menace. "I've changed my mind. You shouldn't die… You should be mine."

Ethan's smile was cold, his eyes glowing red.

"Afraid I don't tame easy."

In the next instant, they both lunged.

The Lizardman roared, lightning coursing through his muscles, blue veins pulsing beneath his scales.

Ethan's scepter spun in a blur, energy coalescing around him into a shimmering barrier. Runes spiraled outward, orbiting him like a storm of glyphs.

HUMMMM—

Axe met scepter again.

This time, the sound wasn't metal—it was cataclysm. Like the world itself cracking open.

Space buckled. The shockwave tore trenches through the desert, carving deep scars into the sand.

Both fighters were blasted apart.

They tumbled through the air, crashing into the dunes, kicking up a tidal wave of dust that blotted out the sun.

"Hah—hah—"

Ethan dropped to one knee, bracing himself with a hand in the sand, breath ragged.

He could feel it now—lightning, raw and invasive, crawling through his veins.

Even with the fused power of the Dragon God and the Fairy God burning in his blood, his chest felt like it was on fire. His pulse thundered in his ears.

Across the battlefield, the Lizardman was breathing hard too.

Its arms trembled slightly, veins bulging beneath the scaled hide. The golden sheen of its armor-like skin was dulled now, streaked with soot and faint scorch marks.

Both fighters lifted their heads at the same time.

No words.

They charged.

This time, the air collapsed first—ripped apart by the force of their movement. Sand was shredded into dust by the vacuum left in their wake.

Two streaks of light collided midair.

Sparks burst.

Thunder rolled.

The desert boiled.

BOOM—

They were thrown apart again, crashing into the dunes with bone-rattling force, golden sand erupting around them like a tidal wave.

Then—silence.

Only the distant hiss of burning dunes broke the stillness, a low, smoldering whisper.

Ethan gasped for breath.

Each inhale scorched his lungs, like he was sucking in fire. His chest heaved, sweat dripping down his face in rivulets.

Through the swirling dust, he locked eyes with the Lizardman.

The creature was still standing.

Its chest rose and fell, but those blood-red, slit-pupiled eyes still burned with fury—and pride.

Lightning crackled across its scales, snapping and hissing like a caged beast.

Ethan's heart sank.

Head-to-head, he couldn't win.

Three direct clashes, and his hybrid blood was already boiling. The energy inside him surged out of control, rampaging through his meridians like it wanted to tear him apart from the inside.

One more hit, he thought grimly, and my veins might just burst.

He drew a slow, shaky breath. A bead of sweat slid down his cheek.

In his mind, a pattern of light flickered—an echo from the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign. A resonance, ancient and alive, pulsing with the spirit of the old Fairies.

He whispered, "If close combat won't do it… then it's time for something else."

Slowly, he raised the scepter.

HUMMMM—

The crystal at its tip glowed softly, then bent the light around it, stretching and curving until it formed the shape of a bowstring.

Gold and silver energy wove together in the air, solidifying into a massive longbow—elegant, deadly, and radiant.

The string quivered, like a harp in the wind.

Ethan reached out with his right hand.

An arrow began to form.

Not metal. Not flame. But something deeper—drawn from the core of his being. A fusion of blood and spirit, magic and light. His essence, shaped into a single point of destruction.

RUMBLE—

The sand beneath him began to tremble.

Across the field, the Lizardman narrowed its eyes. The grin on its face faded, replaced by something colder.

"What are you doing?" it growled.

Ethan didn't answer.

He drew the bow.

The string stretched, light bending under the pressure, the air itself warping around him.

HUMMMM—

The moment the arrow left the string, the sky lit up.

It wasn't speed—it was transformation. The energy had become matter, a force so dense it tore through the air in a warped, spiraling path.

The Lizardman roared, crossing its axes over its chest, lightning coiling around its arms.

"In the face of true power," it bellowed, "your little tricks are worthless!"

Lightning exploded around it.

It became a streak of thunder, charging straight into the shot.

And then—impact.

BOOM—

The world went silent.

The shockwave tore across the desert, lifting a wall of sand a thousand feet high.

Both figures were hurled backward.

Ethan spun through the air, slammed into the ground, and skidded through the sand, a cloud of dust erupting around him like a fog.

A sharp taste filled his mouth—he nearly coughed up blood.

Across the field, the Lizardman was down on one knee.

Its armor of scales was cracked—fine fractures spiderwebbing across its chest and shoulders, glinting faintly in the sun.

...