Meanwhile—

The battle between Ethan and Vaedoroth had spiraled completely out of control.

THOOM.

THOOM.

THOOM.

Their clashing power spiraled into twin vortexes, two storms colliding and devouring everything around them. Every trace of slaughter energy in the air was sucked into the maelstrom.

Even the pale white core that had once floated above them—Vaedoroth's source—was torn apart, unraveled by the chaos, and finally vanished.

The pressure kept building.

Until the space itself gave out.

BOOOOM—!!!

The cavern walls crumbled like dry sand.

Black-hole-like fissures tore through the air, spreading fast.

Ethan and Vaedoroth were forced to abandon the collapsing chamber, bursting out into the open—

Landing atop the narrow stone bridge.

But the bridge—

Was gone.

Swallowed entirely by the rising tide of violet magma.

There was no solid ground left beneath them.

And worse—

The aura rising from that magma clashed violently with Vaedoroth's own.

ROOOAAARR—!!

The moment his foot grazed the edge of the molten flow, his skin began to melt, sizzling like acid on flesh.

He screamed—a raw, guttural sound of pain—and launched himself into the air, hovering above the magma to escape its searing touch.

Ethan, by contrast, landed without hesitation.

His boots touched the glowing surface—and instead of burning, his power surged outward, instinctively reaching for the energy beneath him.

And the magma responded.

It welcomed him.

The two forces merged like water meeting water.

If Kaelira had seen it, she would've been speechless.

Ethan wasn't native to Sol'Rakka. By all logic, he shouldn't have been able to resonate with this kind of deep-world energy.

But reality didn't care about logic.

Ethan's body already housed multiple pure forces—Dragon God, Fairy God, elemental essence, slaughter energy…

All of them were source-tier powers.

So whether it was the slaughter vortex—

Or this strange, ancient violet magma—

He could absorb it.

Vaedoroth's voice cracked with disbelief.

"Impossible!"

"You… you can absorb that too?!"

He hadn't even begun to process what he was seeing when—

Ethan moved.

He leapt.

Straight into the heart of the magma.

Vaedoroth froze.

"…?"

He knew exactly what lay beneath that surface.

That wasn't lava.

It was a primordial force—so potent it could burn through a monarch's soul in seconds.

Even he, born of this world's core, couldn't enter it without being reduced to ash.

He hovered above it, scowling, and tried to force his power downward—attempting to boil away the magma, to see what had become of Ethan.

But the violet energy pushed back.

It moved like it had a will of its own, rejecting him, repelling his power at every turn.

Seconds passed.

Then more.

Still no sign of Ethan.

"Dead?" Vaedoroth muttered, though his voice lacked conviction. "Or melted?"

He snorted, but unease gnawed at him.

With a frustrated growl, he turned and flew back toward the shattered vortex, beginning to rebuild.

His power was more than enough to construct a new sealed domain. It would only take a moment.

But what he didn't know—

Was that deep beneath the surface of the violet magma…

Ethan was drifting downward, carried by the current of molten light.

The moment he plunged into the violet magma, the power within him detonated—wild, unrestrained—and fused seamlessly with the energy around him.

Elemental force. Dragon God's might. Fairy God's grace. The raw essence of slaughter.

All of it surged to the surface, forming a protective shell around his body. Not to resist the magma—but to meet it. To merge with it.

And the magma welcomed him.

It didn't burn. It embraced.

Before long, he reached the heart of the glow—the place where the energy pulsed brightest.

There—

Kaelira floated in stillness.

Her long hair drifted like silk in the current, and the violet energy poured into her like a tide returning home.

Around her, the swirling power resembled some ancient rite—solemn, sacred.

Runes shimmered across her skin, glowing with the same hue as the magma. A thin, radiant armor clung to her body, like a second skin woven from light.

Ethan blinked, momentarily stunned. "Your Majesty, Desert Queen… I thought you were in danger. Turns out you found yourself a treasure."

Kaelira's eyes snapped open, and her gaze sparkled with unrestrained joy.

"You're here too?! This power—it's like it was made for me!"

Her voice was light, almost giddy, unlike anything he'd heard from her before.

The violet energy surged faster, condensing into a spinning orb just below her navel. It pulsed with a deep hum, drawing more power into its orbit like a gravitational core.

The rate of absorption doubled.

Soon, most of the magma's energy was being funneled directly into her.

VMMM—

VMMM—

VMMM—

The remaining energy, as if sensing its purpose had shifted, rushed toward Ethan in a single, unified wave.

He didn't hesitate.

He took it all.

Deep in the magma's core, their powers intertwined—two forces spiraling together, draining the sea of energy dry.

The magma dimmed.

Then withered.

Aboveground—

Vaedoroth felt it.

He tore through the half-formed space he'd been building and shot back to the stone bridge—

Only to find the magma gone.

The entire flow had vanished, leaving behind a cracked, blackened basin of cooled stone.

As if centuries of molten fury had been flash-frozen in an instant.

"Damn it…!"

Vaedoroth's voice trembled with rage—and something worse.

Dread.

"They're… not dead?!"

He'd never felt this kind of unease before.

Never.

He couldn't hold it back anymore.

Driven by panic and fury, he dove into the dried magma pit.

He had to know.

Had to see with his own eyes whether those two humans—those insects—had truly survived touching his power.

But the moment he dropped into the basin—

VMMM—!!

A surge of power exploded from the earth's core, wild and ancient, like a thousand dragons roaring awake at once.

It swallowed him whole.

ROOOAAARR—!!

His body convulsed violently.

The force was too strong. Too old. Even for him.

He couldn't resist it—not at first.

He staggered back, barely escaping the tide of energy, his form flickering with damage.

It took him a long moment to stabilize.

And just as he touched down, breath ragged—

A blade of killing intent slid across his back like a whisper made of steel.

Danger.

FWIP—!!!

A massive Energy Disc dropped from above like a guillotine from the heavens.

CRACK!!!

BOOOOOOM—!!!

The explosion warped the entire space, the shockwave bending light and sound.

Vaedoroth was slammed into the ground, half his body buried in stone. A gaping wound tore across his shoulder, ripping down through his chest. Blood sprayed in thick, dark arcs.

"No—!!"

His scream was raw, guttural, full of disbelief.

He looked up—

And saw him.

Ethan.

Not only alive.

But stronger.

Far, far stronger.

Vaedoroth's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"That magma… that power should've destroyed you! How are you still alive?!"

His voice cracked, teetering on the edge of hysteria.

"You absorbed it?! You actually grew stronger?!"

"This… this is impossible! Why?! Why you?!"

...