"HAAAAAA!!!"

Dila's scream ripped through the air like thunder—raw, furious, and burning with frustration. Her voice echoed through the ruined arena, shaking loose fragments from the walls. And then...

CRACK-THOOOM!!!

A bolt of lightning shattered the skies above, stabbing straight into the ground before her. The impact exploded outward in a shockwave of light and force, blowing dust and rubble across the chamber. Fran shielded her face and stumbled backward, eyes wide with disbelief.

Where the lightning had struck, the stone had melted into glowing cracks. And from the center of that impact… the golem rose.

But this one this wasn't like the others.

Slick, angular, and almost unnatural in its sharp grace. Its obsidian body shimmered as though made of hardened shadow-glass, and veins of lightning pulsed beneath its sleek armor. Its form mimicked the terrifying perfection of Albedo's.... clean, swift, lethal. The blue glow of mana surged beneath its surface like a heart of storms.

Dila herself stood at its core, bathed in that same blue torrent. Her silver-white hair whipped violently behind her, dancing in the howling winds conjured by her raging aura. Lightning sparked across her skin, trailing up into the air like a dark hurricane building to collapse.

Her eyes…

They blazed blue like wildfire.

Albedo watched her transformation with calm, bemused eyes, lips curling into a smile. Then—

"Hahaha… Just like father, just like daughter," he chuckled, his arms casually folded behind him as the dark mist still curled at his feet. "How beautiful… and foolish."

Across the area, Fran yelped and darted for cover, hiding behind a broken slab of stone. "T-That's not support magic anymore!" she whimpered, peeking through the cracks. "That's... something else entirely!"

But even as the golem crackled and powered up with energy, Dila's legs buckled. Her right knee hit the ground with a hard thud, and she winced, gripping her staff to keep herself from falling over entirely.

The blue storm still raged around her… but something was wrong.

In her mind, Nari's frail voice rang sharply:

☆ WARNING. STATUS UPDATE. CRITICAL CONDITION. ☆

[System Display: Nari - Active]

• Mana Level: 0 / 2500

• Health: 25000 / 25000

• Level: 25

• Class Rank: H

• System Buddy: Nari

☆ Mana levels are empty. You've pushed beyond safe casting range… if you hadn't upgraded your mana control last time, you would have collapsed entirely, Master Dila! ☆

Dila coughed through clenched teeth, her breath ragged, skin pale from exertion. Still, she didn't falter. Slowly, she reached her hand out and whispered, "Don't worry, Nari…"

A soft click echoed as she opened her spatial inventory. A gleam flickered, and with a gentle whoosh, a radiant glass bottle materialized in her palm.

[1x Potion Acquired: Extreme Mana Fuel]

A rare, high-grade potion. Fully restores mana even if the user is completely burned out.]

She didn't hesitate.

With a swift tilt, the liquid vanished down her throat. A heartbeat passed… then—

FWOOM!!!

Her body surged with heat and clarity. It was like a floodgate had been ripped open—mana came roaring back into her veins, lighting up her core in a brilliant flash.

☆ Mana restore complete. ☆

[System Display: Nari - Update]

• Mana Level: 2500 / 2500

• Health: 25000 / 25000

• Level: 25

• Class Rank: H

• System Buddy: Nari

☆ Mana levels at 100%! Please be careful… this isn't like before. You're on the edge, Master… ☆

Dila stood back up slowly, her aura shimmering once more—stronger now. With controlled. Determined.

The storm hadn't passed.

It was only just beginning.

Dila's eyes burned with furious blue light reignited even further, her chest rising and falling with shallow, sharp breaths. The mana in her body pulsed like a storm barely chained, echoing around her in ghostly blue swirls that stirred the dust and cracked stone around her feet.

She raised her hand, trembling, pointed it at the man before her—the King of Eldor. Her father.

"If only that shit would just lay flat on the ground," she spat, her voice low and venomous, edged with raw betrayal.

A pulse of silence followed. Even the wind around them seemed to pause.

Albedo's blue eyes narrowed his brow twitched. Subtle. But there. A crack in the king's usually impenetrable calm. His lips parted slightly in disbelief, as if the word had slapped him more than her voice ever could.

"…What did you just say?" he muttered, breath slow, deliberate.

He took a step forward. Then His voice was deeper now, like thunder brooding in the distance.

"I was trying to protect you, Dila. I've been trying to bring you home, even if you hate me. I—"

SMASH!!

Before he could finish, a blur of black and lightning surged past Dila.

The golem.

Her slick, blue-glowing elemental golem weapon of fury tore through the space between them and landed a devastating right hook straight into Albedo's face.

Time seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.

A burst of saliva snapped from his mouth with the impact. His body twisted mid-air, his voice sputtering out mid-word—

"Swaeaaayhh—!"

He flew like a ragdoll, crashing hard into one of the cracked stone pillars of the chamber. The entire column shuddered and spiderwebbed with cracks, dust falling like rain around the impact. A loud, echoing boom rang across the chamber, making Fran yelp again from her hiding spot.

A silence hung in the air.

Then—through the settling dust and crumbling echoes—came slow footsteps.

Albedo stepped forward, brushing stone chips off his small cloth.

He was… unharmed.

Almost.

A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of his lip.

He brought his hand up, wiped it with two fingers, then glanced at the red stain calmly. His long white hair, slightly tousled, fell gently across his shoulder as he stared across the are at Dila and the glowing golem standing protectively in front of her.

"…So," he said, voice low and measured, "you've chosen your path."

He flicked the blood from his fingertips, letting it fall to the ground like it meant nothing.

"Fine. Have it your way… my daughter."

As he stood straight again, his aura shifted—no longer playful, no longer amused.

The moonlight that once filtered through the high windows now dimmed under the haze of crackling energy between father and daughter. A breeze swept through the shattered chamber, kicking up the silence between them like a prelude to war.

Then....

The air split.

In a blink, Albedo charged—his figure nothing but a black blur against the cracked and smoking ground. His glowing blue eyes burned with terrifying intensity as his hand widened mid-sprint, fingers curled and aimed for Dila's face like claws meant to silence her rebellion once and for all.

But before his hand could even brush her—

CLANG!!

The elemental golem moved.

A dark, glass-like arm sleek and smooth like obsidian lightning snapped forward with brutal speed. It caught Albedo's wrist mid-air with a force that cracked the ground beneath them. Sparks and mana trails spiraled from the collision, scattering like starlight across the broken arena floor.

Dila's hair blew wildly behind her as the energy backlash swept through the chamber. Her eyes didn't waver—still locked on the man she once called father.

Then, without hesitation, the golem acted again.

With a twisting motion, it flung Albedo upward. His cloak snapped behind him like a shadow caught in a windstorm. He spiraled through the air—and instead of crashing down, he landed sideways, sticking to the upper wall of the coliseum-like chamber as if gravity meant nothing.

He perched like a spider, crouched, one hand still smoking from the golem's grip.

Albedo tilted his head slightly, his voice echoing with a strange calm.

"Hmph… I never thought my daughter's new toy could catch me."

There was no fear in his voice.

But there was acknowledgment.

---

Far off in the shadows of a stone corridor, Zeon leaned casually against a column, arms crossed. The faint glow of the battle flickered across his face.

He watched the chaos with a glint in his eye—half amused, half admiring.

"Hmm…" he chuckled under his breath.

He tilted his head, staring down at Dila now wrapped in a glowing blue aura, her golem snarling in silence beside her.

"Yes… yes… yes…" he whispered, voice growing sharper with each word. "I was right. The Princess… has become stronger than her father."

His lips curled into a manic grinned. Eyes wide, excited as if he were watching the rise of a new era with a front-row seat.

---

Meanwhile, behind a broken stone arch, Fran trembled.

The crackling mana in the air, the flashing lights, the boom of the golem's power—none of it felt normal anymore.

She peeked out, only briefly.

Her blue eyes widened in awe and fear as she caught sight of Dila standing like a goddess of ruin, blue light trailing her form like a storm incarnate.

Fran gripped her dagger tighter but didn't move.

"Sister…" she whispered to herself. "What… are you becoming?"

The arena had changed. The very air trembled with tension.

It was no longer just a battle between father and daughter.

It was the clash of generations… of a legacy splitting apart by raw willpower.

And the world was watching.