Ethan’s stomach dropped. He immediately yanked back part of the power he was using to control the giant dragon, and strands of transparent lightning wove together in front of everyone, forming a shield.

The blood spraying toward them slammed into it with a shrill, sizzling hiss. Fine wisps of white smoke kept curling off the surface.

Andona didn’t stop.

She lifted the Angelic Sword high. Holy light spilled from the blade and washed outward. The golden glow spread fast, landing on the splattering blood and purifying it bit by bit. Inside the sacred radiance, the blood churned and faded until it finally turned into thin red mist and dispersed.

"Hmph."

Seeing her move get countered, Zeritha’s face darkened on the spot. She pointed straight at Andona, her expression arrogant, almost smug.

"I’ve got my eye on you!"

The moment the words left her mouth, she shot forward again.

Red light detonated beneath her feet. Her whole body turned into a streak of blood-colored radiance, tearing straight toward Andona.

This time, Andona saw it more clearly.

What coiled around Zeritha’s body wasn’t just light—it was blood, surging from somewhere unknown.

It clung tight to her as it flowed, forming a crimson shell. A clear sound like running water rang out, and Zeritha—wrapped in that blood—leapt out of the red glare. In her hand was another blood-red sphere, and she drove her palm forward, aiming it directly at the angel wings on Andona’s back.

Andona’s heart clenched.

She could feel it—massive blood-energy compressed inside that sphere. If it detonated against her wings, the fallout wouldn’t be minor.

She slashed across with the Angelic Sword.

A golden arc of sword-light cut out in front of her, precise and fast, striking the blood sphere dead-on—yet the same scene played out again.

The blade aura hit the surface and only stirred rings of ripples, like water disturbed by a stone. It didn’t actually split it.

Boom!

The red sphere exploded again.

Blood blasted in every direction, so close to Andona it was practically already brushing her wings.

"Andona, watch out!" Ethan roared, whipping his arm hard to the side.

The transparent lightning dragon that had been tangling with the Black Dragon instantly changed course. It abandoned its suppression, its massive body folding in midair as it dove between Andona and Zeritha.

In the next heartbeat, the transparent dragon coiled around Andona again and again, wrapping her in its body and forming a barrier of crackling current.

All the scattered blood struck the lightning dragon instead.

Andona’s eyes went wide inside the ring of its coils.

Through the transparent current, she saw it clearly: when the blood hit the lightning dragon, it didn’t get purified right away. It corroded it—grinding down its energy little by little.

Large sections of the dragon’s body faded. Where the blood ate into it, the transparent lightning broke apart into tiny motes of light that drifted away and vanished.

"Ugh!"

The loss snapped back into Ethan. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

His chest jolted. His breathing went ragged for a moment, and his expression sank. That dragon was condensed from his power—having it forcibly worn away was no small injury.

"Master!"

Seeing it, Andona’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She stopped worrying about the blood threat around her and beat her angel wings hard, rushing to Ethan’s side.

"I’m fine."

Ethan reached out and steadied her by the shoulder, forcing down the turbulent energy inside him until his breathing gradually smoothed out again.

But Zeritha clearly wasn’t planning to give them even a second.

"Ruining my fun!"

She spat the curse under her breath. Blood-light flared around her again, and she turned into a red streak once more—charging straight at Ethan and Andona.

Andona’s expression changed.

She looked at Ethan—still not fully recovered from the backlash—and the worry in her eyes twisted into something sharper. Grief. Rage.

Her fingers tightened around the Angelic Sword. Behind her, both wings unfurled to their full span. Golden holy light burst out of her body in surging waves, layer after layer pouring into the blade.

This time, the radiance was stronger than anything before.

A massive arc of golden sword-energy took shape above her head. It lit up the entire battlefield, so bright it even drowned out the shadow The Dominion cast from high overhead.

Wind began to spiral around her. Clouds split under the sacred glow. On the ground, gravel and dust were pressed outward, rolling away under the sheer weight of that forming strike.

"Die!"

Andona shouted, and brought the Angelic Sword down in a savage, decisive chop.

BOOM!

The golden sword aura slammed down from the sky with a thunder-and-lightning roar, crushing toward Zeritha. Gales ripped open along both sides of the attack, and every bit of light on the battlefield was forcibly dragged toward that single blow.

Power that was supposed to symbolize purity—angelic power—had turned brutal under Andona’s fury, carrying the kind of pressure that felt less like salvation and more like annihilation.

"Not good!"

Zeritha finally realized the danger.

The sense of crisis hit too hard, too fast—like an icy hand closing around her heart.

She watched the descending sword aura rush closer, yet her body locked up. She didn’t just fail to dodge—she couldn’t even summon the urge. The pressure pinned her in place.

"Zeritha!"

At the critical moment, Varik charged in.

He spread both hands. A rift in space tore open at Zeritha’s side and swallowed her whole.

The massive Divine Judgment cleaved through where she’d been. The golden sword aura struck nothing—only leaving a deep, ragged tear carved into that stretch of space.

Andona’s pupils tightened, but her fury didn’t cool.

She was about to beat her wings and chase when a clear, piercing phoenix cry suddenly rang across the battlefield.

Not far away, Varik opened the void again and released Zeritha.

Zeritha—who’d barely escaped death—had just managed to breathe out when she returned to reality. In the very next instant, she felt the temperature around her spike.

It wasn’t ordinary heat. It was the kind that seared straight from the surface of her skin down into her blood.

Then the edges of her clothes caught.

Scarlet flames licked to life, climbing fast along the fabric, crawling up over her shoulders and arms.

"Phoenix Queen Ignara!"

Andona blurted it out, her face flashing with shock—and unmistakable joy.

A figure appeared above the battlefield.

Phoenix Queen Ignara hovered in midair, expression cold and unreadable, her entire body wreathed in vivid red fire.

Where she hung, the air warped violently from the heat. Even the blood mist drifting nearby began to dry out in an instant. She only lowered her gaze toward Zeritha and Varik, her eyes so calm they were almost glacial.

"Petty vermin," she said, voice flat. "And you dare run wild."

Andona stared up at her, a mix of reverence and fear tightening in her chest.

Her sister had always been like this—overwhelmingly strong, distant, like anything filthy that came too close would be burned down to ash by that fire.