The battlefield erupted into chaos.
Not one war.
Not two.
But dozens of battles unfolding simultaneously across the shattered city.
Yet among them all, several clashes stood above the rest.
CRAAAAASH!!
Aurelia's lightning-forged blade collided head-on with Draven's black sword.
Golden lightning exploded outward in a violent storm.
Crimson mana answered instantly.
The opposing forces tore through the battlefield, their energies grinding against one another with enough force to fracture the earth beneath them.
Steel platforms shattered.
Concrete cracked.
Debris erupted into the air.
Neither warrior yielded.
They moved again.
And again.
And again.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
Their blades became streaks of light and darkness.
To the ordinary soldiers watching from afar—
they had completely disappeared.
Only the shockwaves remained.
Only the devastation left behind revealed where they had passed.
Aurelia attacked relentlessly.
Golden lightning danced across the battlefield like divine judgment itself.
Every slash sought Draven's life.
Every thrust carried enough force to tear apart armored vehicles.
Every movement was backed by years of training and countless battles.
Yet Draven answered them all.
Every strike.
Every feint.
Every combination.
Every attempt to gain an opening.
His black blade moved with frightening precision.
Cold.
Efficient.
Merciless.
And slowly—
the balance of the battle began shifting.
Aurelia felt it immediately.
Every exchange.
Every collision.
Every clash of steel.
His attacks were growing heavier.
Sharper.
More refined.
More dangerous.
Her restored arm ached with every impact.
The blessings empowering her body were consuming mana at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile—
Draven's expression never changed.
No frustration.
No excitement.
No arrogance.
Only focus.
Pure focus.
As if nothing else existed.
As if the entire battlefield had vanished from his sight.
As if the only thing remaining in his world—
was her death.
Far away—
Aldric finally stopped retreating.
His massive black wings spread wide across the burning heavens.
Crimson eyes slowly swept across the battlefield.
Across the destruction.
Across the countless corpses littering the ruined city.
Hundreds.
Perhaps thousands.
Then—
he raised a single hand.
The battlefield seemed to grow quiet.
Blood.
Every drop of blood scattered throughout the battlefield suddenly trembled.
Corpses twitched.
Pools of crimson began to move.
Flowing.
Sliding.
Rising.
Streams of blood left shattered bodies.
Left broken soldiers.
Left fallen knights.
All of it surged toward Aldric.
The battlefield itself seemed to bleed.
One stream.
Then ten.
Then hundreds.
An endless ocean of crimson gathered around him.
Veterans who had survived countless campaigns felt their stomachs tighten.
Because what they were witnessing wasn't natural.
It wasn't human.
It was monstrous.
Aldric's grin widened.
"...Looks like it's finally time for you two to die."
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The blood sea erupted behind him.
A tidal wave of crimson mana exploded across the sky.
The blood twisted.
Shifted.
Reshaped itself.
Weapons formed.
Monsters emerged.
Wings unfolded.
Blades extended.
Axes.
Spears.
Chains.
Hundreds of blood-forged constructs filled the heavens.
A living army born from death itself.
Below—
Lucan stepped forward.
His expression hardened.
Holy flames erupted around him.
The temperature across the battlefield rose instantly.
Steel softened.
Debris melted.
The air itself distorted beneath the overwhelming heat.
Then—
golden-white fire exploded from his body.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A colossal pillar of divine flame shot into the heavens.
His eyes became miniature suns.
His hair transformed into living fire.
Holy flames poured endlessly from every inch of his body.
The battlefield was bathed in gold.
DIVINE BLESSING: DESCENT OF THE SACRED FLAME.
The pressure multiplied instantly.
Nearby soldiers stumbled backward.
Some dropped to one knee.
Others struggled to breathe.
Unable to withstand the sheer presence pouring from him.
Lucan slowly raised his sword.
Holy fire gathered around the blade.
Condensing.
Expanding.
Taking shape.
Behind him—
a gigantic lion emerged.
A majestic beast forged entirely from divine fire.
Its mane blazed like the sun.
Its golden eyes illuminated the battlefield.
Then—
it roared toward the heavens.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
The sound shook the city.
Across from him—
Aldric's grin only widened.
"...Now that's more like it, Fire Boy."
At that exact moment—
Roland stepped forward.
Unlike Lucan's overwhelming destructive power—
Roland's presence felt different.
Older.
Steadier.
Sharper.
The pressure of a veteran who had survived countless battlefields.
Golden mana flowed across his armor.
Ancient runes ignited one after another.
The atmosphere itself grew heavy.
Dense.
Oppressive.
Like an invisible mountain had descended upon the battlefield.
DIVINE BLESSING: SACRED WAR DOMAIN.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive golden circle expanded outward beneath Roland.
The earth trembled.
Steel groaned.
The battlefield shook.
Everything within the domain changed.
All holy mana intensified.
All allied blessings strengthened.
Every strike became heavier.
Every defense stronger.
Lucan's divine flames surged even higher within the domain.
The golden lion expanded in size.
Its roar becoming even more terrifying.
Aldric stared at the domain.
Then raised an eyebrow.
"...That's cheating."
A second later—
he burst into laughter.
Then the sky itself seemed to split apart.
Blood-red constructs descended like a crimson apocalypse.
Golden flames surged upward to meet them.
Roland raised his sword.
Lucan's divine lion roared.
And Aldric spread his wings.
Smiling like a madman.
Then—
all three moved.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The battlefield shook violently.
Aldric attacked first.
He didn't hesitate.
Didn't wait.
The moment Lucan and Roland revealed their blessings—
he charged.
Black wings exploded backward.
The air shattered beneath the force of his acceleration.
Shockwaves rippled outward.
Above him—
hundreds of blood constructs descended alongside their master.
Spears.
Swords.
Axes.
Chains.
Halberds.
An entire crimson legion falling from the heavens.
"Let's see how long you can keep those blessings running!"
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Aldric crashed directly into the center of Roland's golden domain.
The impact alone shattered nearby platforms.
Steel beams twisted.
Entire sections of the battlefield collapsed.
Lucan met him first.
SHIIIIIIING!!
Holy flame collided against a blood-forged poleaxe.
A violent shockwave exploded outward.
The divine lion roared behind Lucan as oceans of holy fire flooded the battlefield.
Yet Aldric refused to retreat.
Instead—
he laughed.
And pushed harder.
At that same moment—
Roland appeared from Aldric's blind side.
His sword descended.
A perfect killing strike.
CLANG!!
Aldric twisted at the last possible moment.
The poleaxe intercepted the attack.
Golden mana and blood mana exploded together.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The collision launched all three warriors apart.
Only for Aldric to rush forward again immediately.
A blood spear materialized in his free hand.
Then another.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
SHHHHHKKK!!
The spears launched simultaneously.
A crimson storm.
Lucan swung his flaming sword.
The divine lion followed.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!!
A tsunami of holy fire swept across the battlefield.
The blood spears evaporated instantly.
Reduced to nothing.
Roland surged through the flames.
His blade flashed toward Aldric's throat.
Too fast.
Too precise.
Too deadly.
Aldric barely leaned backward.
The blade missed his neck by mere centimeters.
Yet Roland wasn't finished.
Second strike.
Third strike.
Fourth strike.
Fifth strike.
Each one carrying enough force to split apart fortified bunkers.
Aldric's poleaxe became a blur.
CLANG!!
CLANG!!
CLANG!!
The battlefield echoed with relentless impacts.
Above them—
the remaining blood constructs finally arrived.
Like a crimson meteor shower.
Lucan raised his flaming sword.
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
"Burn."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The divine lion exploded upward.
A sea of holy fire engulfed the heavens.
Hundreds of blood constructs vanished instantly.
Consumed.
Purified.
Erased.
Yet hundreds more survived.
The remaining constructs crashed downward.
CRASH!!
CRASH!!
CRAAAAASH!!
Explosions tore through the battlefield.
Entire sections of the city vanished beneath the bombardment.
Holy knights and bounty hunters alike fled from the destruction.
Nobody wanted to remain near the clash.
Because the battle had surpassed ordinary warfare.
This was no longer a fight between warriors.
It was a collision between monsters.
At the center of it all—
Aldric grinned wildly.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Several burns covered his chest and shoulders.
A deep wound sliced across one side of his body.
Yet all of it healed.
Rapidly.
Almost instantly.
Flesh regenerated.
Skin reformed.
The injuries vanished before the eye could properly follow.
His laughter only grew louder.
"GOOD!"
BOOOOOOOOM!!
A gigantic blood-forged hammer materialized above him.
Then another.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
The colossal weapons descended simultaneously.
Like falling mountains.
Lucan's eyes narrowed.
Holy fire surged higher.
Roland expanded his domain.
Golden runes illuminated the battlefield.
Together—
the two holy warriors shattered the incoming constructs.
Explosions echoed endlessly.
Blood and holy fire painted the sky.
Yet Aldric was already moving.
A crimson blur.
The poleaxe swept horizontally.
Lucan blocked.
CLAAAAANG!!
The impact nearly knocked him off his feet.
Before he could recover—
Aldric's massive wing slammed into Roland.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The veteran commander was launched backward through twisted steel and shattered debris.
Aldric spread his wings once more.
Blood mana erupted around him like a raging storm.
Countless new constructs began forming.
Weapons.
Monsters.
Blades.
Entire armies born from blood.
His crimson eyes gleamed with battle-crazed excitement.
A grin stretched across his face.
Wild.
Fearless.
Mad.
"COME ON!"
He pointed the poleaxe directly at them.
Blood mana crackled around the weapon.
The battlefield trembled.
Aldric laughed.
"I thought the Holy Empire's heroes were stronger than this!"