CHAPTER 206: CHAPTER 206- WHITE

The ground trembled under the clash of forces. With Glain’s roots glowing like veins of emerald fire beneath him, Rafael unleashed another surge of magnetism, dragging shards of metal and broken weapons into orbit around Leo. The storm of steel moved with purpose, twisting and striking like a living entity, each swing guided by Rafael’s magnetic will.

Leo snarled, blocking the blows with his forearms, the chime of steel against chitin echoing across the ruined air. His body flickered with divine energy, but for the first time, visible cracks appeared along his exoskeleton. Steam rose from the impact points, his regeneration was working overtime to contain the damage.

Glain, his hands pressed to the ground, channeled wave after wave of life energy into Rafael. The roots beneath the earth pulsed, transferring warmth and vitality through the soil. "Don’t stop, Rafael," Glain said through gritted teeth. "Make him feel the weight of what he’s become!"

Rafael shouted, his voice carried by wind and thunder. "Divine my ass! You bleed just like the rest of us!!"

Leo’s grin twisted wide, unhinged, and cruel. "Then I’ll show you what separates a god from the worms that crawl beneath him."

With a sickening crack, his back split open. From the fissures, translucent insectoid wings burst forth, unfolding and gleaming with refracted light. A low, vibrating hum filled the air as the wings beat once, twice and the gale that followed sent Rafael and Glain staggering.

The exoskeleton along Leo’s arms shifted, his fingers elongating into talons edged with a metallic sheen. Segments of his body hardened, and his legs bent backward like a predator ready to pounce. Most terrifying of all, two curved horns began to grow from his temples, shimmering like crystallized obsidian.

Rafael’s eyes widened. "He’s... evolving again?"

Leo’s laughter was manic, divine and monstrous at once. "Not evolving, Ascending. Your combined strength has forced me to shed my limits. You should be honored!"

Before Rafael could react, Leo vanished, his wings beating so fast they blurred from sight. In the next instant, he appeared behind Rafael, slashing forward. The claws tore through the magnetic barrier like paper, but just before the killing blow could land, Glain’s vines erupted upward, catching Leo’s arm mid-swing.

The old druid roared, his voice echoing through the storm. "You think wings will save you from the roots of the world?"

Leo turned his burning gaze toward Glain, twisting his arm free. "No, old man," he hissed. "But they’ll make it easier to tear them out."

He shot upward, shredding the roots in a storm of wings and light, the shockwave ripping across the field. Even Glain’s barrier flickered under the pressure.

Still, Rafael steadied himself, magnetic energy coalescing once more. "If he’s going to fly," he muttered, sparks coursing across his arms, "then I’ll bring him down myself."

Glain smirked faintly through the pain. "Then let’s clip those wings together."

Leo hovered above them, his monstrous wings spread wide, aura blazing like a second sun. "Come then," he bellowed, his horns glowing with divine energy. "Let’s see if mortals can still defy the heavens."

Leo unleashed everything. The battlefield turned into chaos incarnate, water burst from the ground like geysers, instantly freezing into jagged pillars of ice. The sky glowed crimson and white as streams of divine energy tore through the air, followed by concentrated beams of light that scorched everything in their path.

Rafael and Glain had no time to counter, only survive.

"RAFAEL! LEFT!" Glain shouted, slamming his hand into the ground. Vines erupted, forming a living shield just as a laser grazed past, cutting through trees like butter. The heat was unbearable, the air itself trembling from the power Leo poured out.

Rafael used his magnetism to pull every fragment of metal he could find, broken weapons, armor shards, even nails from the fortress ruins. They swirled around him like a barrier of spinning blades, but even that was barely enough. Each blast from Leo shattered the magnetic wall, sending debris flying.

"Damn it—he’s not letting up!" Rafael grunted, his boots sliding across the soaked ground. "How much energy does he have?!"

Glain was pale, sweat dripping down his wrinkled face as he forced more life energy into the roots surrounding them. "Too much. He’s draining the ambient mana from the earth itself... even the air is thinning."

Above them, Leo hovered in midair, his form glowing like a fallen star. His wings were no longer just appendages, they were extensions of divine force, radiating with freezing mist and crackling light.

"Look at you," he said, voice cold and thunderous. "Crawling under my light. Struggling just to breathe. Do you still believe mortals can stand before gods?"

He raised his arm, and the air condensed around his palm. Ice crystals formed into a massive spear of frozen divinity, humming with deadly vibration. "Then freeze with your faith!"

He hurled it.

The spear streaked downward, trailing a comet’s tail of frost. Rafael threw his arms up, shouting, "[Magnet Field : FULL POWER]!" The metallic debris swarmed together into a dome, intercepting the spear. The explosion shattered the barrier instantly, throwing Rafael backward.

Glain’s roots coiled upward, wrapping around the remnants of the icy spear to divert it, but the backlash sent shards slicing into his body. He coughed blood, still holding the formation steady.

"Don’t you dare fall now, old man!" Rafael yelled, forcing himself back up.

Glain gave a tired grin through his pain. "I don’t plan to... not before that brat learns humility."

Leo’s laughter echoed across the field, cruel and echoing. "Humility is for the weak!" He clapped his hands together, and a pulse of light spread outward. Countless orbs of divine energy surrounded him, each humming with destructive power.

Rafael’s eyes widened. "He’s going to wipe the entire field—!"

Glain slammed his staff to the ground, roots bursting from the soil to form a dome around them both. "Then we’ll hold the earth itself against heaven!"

The moment the orbs detonated, the world turned white.

The explosion swallowed everything, wind, sound, and life itself leaving only blinding light. The force of it cracked the land and shattered the clouds above.

Inside the storm, Glain and Rafael endured, barely holding the line, one through sheer will, the other through centuries of strength. If Leo struck again with full power... they might not survive the next blow.