Ethan's brow furrowed, a flicker of disbelief flashing through his eyes. He hadn't expected it—this toad, which looked so ordinary at first glance, wielded a staggering level of power.

But he didn't freeze. His breath steadied in an instant as he sprang backward, shifting into a new defensive stance. With a swift motion, he summoned another energy sphere into his palm and hurled it straight at the creature.

"Boom!"

The explosion cracked through the air like a thunderclap. The two forces collided again, unleashing a shockwave that roared like a storm tearing through the sky.

Lightning above seemed to answer the call, lashing down onto the surrounding cliffs. The entire volcanic crater trembled violently—fissures split the ground, dust billowed up in choking clouds, and shards of rock scattered like shrapnel.

The Toad King staggered back a few steps, clearly caught off guard by Ethan's sudden surge of power. It let out a guttural, alien screech—half fury, half confusion. And then, as if summoned by that cry, a strange chorus of sounds echoed across the battlefield. It was like the world itself had begun to chant.

Then they came.

Toads. Thousands—no, tens of thousands—raining from the sky like a living storm, converging on Ethan and Andona.

They weren't strong individually—low-tier, sluggish, barely a threat on their own. But the sheer number of them was overwhelming. In seconds, they formed a massive, writhing army, a tidal wave of slick bodies and croaking fury surging toward them.

Ethan's chest tightened. His breath caught.

If it had been a few thousand, he might've stood a chance—pick them off, one by one, wear them down. But this? This was a swarm. Hundreds of thousands, maybe more. There was no way he could hold them all off.

Just as despair began to creep in, a sudden rustle behind him snapped his attention around.

Reinforcements.

The Fairy army he'd just reclaimed had arrived.

They were no longer the delicate, fragile creatures they'd once been. Battle had hardened them. Power now shimmered in their wings, and they dove into the fray without hesitation.

Each beat of their wings sliced the air with razor-sharp gusts. Every strike landed like a thunderclap, tearing through the toads with surgical precision.

The swarm didn't even have time to react. One by one, they dropped—cut down mid-leap, shredded before they could land a blow.

"Now! With me—wipe them out!" Ethan shouted, his voice ringing with command. Power radiated from him, undeniable and fierce, as he led the charge.

But this wasn't just brute force anymore.

Something had changed in the Fairies. Maybe it was the influence of the Bloodfiend's power, but their strength had skyrocketed. Their attacks were faster, sharper, more coordinated. In mere moments, they'd already decimated tens of thousands of the enemy.

…

"Andona! Are you alright?!" Ethan called out as he saw her pulled from the chaos. Relief flooded his face, though his eyes stayed sharp, scanning for threats.

He stepped back, hands glowing with radiant light. A surge of healing energy flowed from his palms into her, knitting wounds and restoring strength.

But the Toad King wasn't done.

It roared—an earth-shaking, sky-splitting bellow of rage. The air around it warped as raw power exploded from its body, distorting space like heat off pavement.

With a violent sweep of its arm, it summoned another monstrous projection behind it—a colossal spectral toad, pulsing with malevolence.

The phantom opened its maw and let out a deafening roar, a sound so deep it seemed to vibrate in the bones. It felt like it could swallow the world whole.

Then, from the heart of the ruined crater, a golden light erupted.

Holy energy surged upward, cutting through the darkness like a blade of dawn. It was blinding—pure, searing brilliance that shattered the spectral toad in an instant, reducing it to glittering fragments.

And then came the Angel.

A towering silhouette of divine power hovered in the air, its gaze sweeping across the battlefield with serene, unshakable authority.

"Vmmm…"

"Rumble…"

"RUMMMMMMBLE…"

The light expanded like a tidal wave, swallowing the sky, the earth, everything. The pressure was immense—crushing. It pressed down on every living thing, stealing breath, freezing movement.

Ethan could barely stand beneath it. The world itself seemed to shrink in the face of that overwhelming force.

And then the voice came.

"You wretched creature. Did you truly believe this pitiful volcano could hold me?"

The words boomed from the Angel's form, not spoken but declared—like a divine verdict. The sound shook the heavens, and in its wake, the Toad King's power unraveled. Its aura shattered, its resistance crumbling like ash in the wind.

In that moment, all its fury, all its strength—meant nothing.

The Toad King's breath came in ragged gasps, its eyes wide with raw, unfiltered terror.

It tried to retreat—just a few steps—but the golden light flared again, locking onto it like a divine spotlight. An invisible force clamped down, pinning it midair. It couldn't move. Every muscle in its grotesque body strained under the crushing weight of that holy pressure.

Ethan's eyes widened. For a moment, he just stared, stunned. "There was something else sealed in here?"

He'd never imagined that this volcanic crater—already a battlefield—was also a prison. And not just for the Toad King.

This… this was something far more powerful.

The radiant figure hovering above wasn't just any being—it was an Angel. Or what was left of one. Its body was long gone, reduced to pure energy, but even in this fragmented state, the power it radiated was staggering. If this was what remained, Ethan could only guess how terrifying it must've been in life.

But the brilliance of the Angel's form was already beginning to dim. The light flickered, no longer blinding. Its strength was fading, the last of its divine energy burning out.

Then—

"Boom!"

A thunderous pulse of light erupted from the Angel's core, and this time, it didn't strike the Toad King.

It surged toward Andona.

The golden radiance, the sacred presence—it all funneled into her, as if the Angel had found its successor.

"RUMBLE!"

A roar tore through the air as Andona's aura exploded outward. Power surged from her like a tidal wave, shaking the very ground beneath them.

Her Tier spiked—23rd Tier, early stage. The leap was instant, violent, and absolute.

The divine energy now coursing through her collided with the Toad King's corrupted power, locking it in place. The clash of forces sent shockwaves through the battlefield.

The Toad King's body began to twist and warp, its form unraveling under the pressure. Despair filled its eyes. It was being crushed—utterly dominated—by the sacred force now radiating from Andona.

Its flesh tore open. Blood sprayed. Chunks of its body were ripped apart and scattered like debris in a storm.

Ethan stood frozen, mouth slightly open. He hadn't expected this. Not from Andona. Not like this.

In a single, blinding moment, she had annihilated the Toad King—left it no room to fight back, no time to react.

"Hell yes," Ethan breathed, finally exhaling the tension that had been coiled in his chest. "It's dead. Finally."

Relief washed over him like a wave. The Toad King had been a nightmare—its strength, its resilience, its sheer presence. Without the Angel's intervention, without that divine power flowing into Andona, they might not have made it out alive.

"Vmmm…"

"RUMBLE… RUMBLE… RUMBLE…"

The ground trembled again—but this time, it wasn't from the Toad King.

The very fabric of space around them began to ripple, as if something massive was slamming against the walls of reality itself.

Ethan's instincts screamed. His eyes snapped wide. Something was coming—something big. He could feel it, pressing against the dimensional barrier like a battering ram.

Before he could even react, the air split open.

A jagged tear ripped through space, and from it, a shadowy figure emerged.

Its presence shattered the calm like a hammer through glass. The air turned thick, heavy—almost unbreathable. A suffocating pressure spread across the battlefield, choking the wind, stilling the dust.

"Found you at last," the voice growled, low and venomous. It slithered through the air like smoke, thick with malice. "You've been running for so long. Dodging, hiding. But now… now I'm going to devour you."

It sounded like it came from the depths of the abyss—ancient, cruel, and hungry.

Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs. He looked up—and saw it.

The figure was monstrous, its form half-swallowed by shadow, its outline constantly shifting like smoke in a storm. It didn't walk so much as glide, warping the space around it.

Its eyes locked onto Ethan.

And then it moved.

Faster than thought, it shot forward—like a bolt of black lightning, aimed straight at his heart.

...