Before he could bridge the final gap, a whip crack of crackling purple flames lashed out from the blind spot, its fiery coils snapping tight around his ankles and violently yanking him backward. Twisting in mid-air, Ragnar caught the sight of Yuki standing firm behind him, the glowing ends of the blazing lash coiling effortlessly in her grip.
Yuki's arrival acted like a spark to dry powder, immediately pulling the rest of her faction's paragons out from the shadows of the earth. In instinctive response, Ragnar's own loyal paragons materialized around him, steel and magical energy flaring to life in an instant.
No words were traded, the stakes were far too high for empty taunts. In the blink of an eye, the entire collective of divine champions tore upward through the sky, piercing the heavy cloud cover until the breathable atmosphere gave way to the freezing, infinite void of space, with the great world-body of Nana suspended far below them.
