The Mist Dragon took a deep breath, its chest swelling like a mountain. The air pressure dropped instantly. Then—

Whooosh!

A torrent of burning hot steam burst from its mouth, surging through the mist like a tidal wave of heat.

Yumina crossed her arms in an "X" shape, her gauntlets glowing fiercely as she summoned a shimmering barrier in front of her.

The first impact rocked the sky. The air howled, and the mist boiled from the heat. Yumina’s teeth clenched, her arms shaking as cracks began to appear across the energy shield.

"Hold—!" she gritted out.

But the Mist Dragon’s breath didn’t stop. The second surge shattered the shield like glass, and her gauntlets followed, cracking under the overwhelming force.

"Ah—!"

She was blown backward, her body spinning through the air. Before she could regain balance, a massive shadow loomed over her.

The dragon didn’t even move , just turned around, catching her mid-flight in its enormous claw. Yumina looped through the mist. The scales glistened like jade, and the pressure from its grip made her ribs ache.

The Mist Dragon tilted its head slightly, scanning her with its divine sense.

"Hmph. She doesn’t have it," the dragon muttered coldly, disappointment echoing through its voice. Then, with a flick of its claw, it threw Yumina like a ragdoll.

She hit the ground hard, skidding to the edge of the island near a small hut before going still.

---

Inside the hut, glowing formations covered the floor. Two figures were controlling the arrays, surrounded by floating symbols of light.

"One down, two to go!" Moeko cheered in her soft, ghostly voice, her translucent form flickering faintly.

Veronica, sitting cross-legged beside her, didn’t look away from the controls. "Don’t get cocky. The real problem is those two — the dragon and the turtle."

As she said that, outside the hut, Zuzia and Myrtle were already preparing for battle.

Myrtle had transformed into her massive turtle form, her shell glowing with protective runes, while Zuzia flew overhead in her blazing dragon form.

Even though both were enormous, the mist array made them seem far apart — isolated, like they existed in different spaces altogether.

Zuzia spotted something glinting faintly in the mist and immediately opened her mouth.

Roar!

A beam of molten orange light — her dragon breath — shot toward the glimmer.

But at the same moment, Myrtle sensed an incoming attack. She didn’t hesitate, retracting into her shell and forming a barrier of blue water around herself.

The lava beam slammed against her shield.

"This attack... Princess?" Myrtle muttered, realizing what happened. "The mist is redirecting our attacks..."

She frowned, analyzing the distorted space. "If I fly toward where that attack came from, I might reunite with Princess Zuzia."

Her shell glowed as she surged forward — but when she emerged from the mist again, she was back in the exact same place.

"This array..." Myrtle sighed. "It’s looping space itself."

Somewhere else in the fog, Zuzia also stopped mid-air, realizing the same thing.

"Tch. What a pain."

She reverted to her humanoid form, her fiery aura fading slightly. Then she pulled out a pearl that shimmered with tiny floating landmasses inside.

"So, you’ve chosen to surrender?" A deep voice echoed from the mist. Two glowing red eyes appeared again, filled with greed. "That’s the pocket dimension, isn’t it?"

Zuzia smirked. "Surrender? No, no. I’m just calling for backup."

She tossed the pearl lightly into the air — and in the next instant, Tyla appeared, materializing with a flash of light.

As soon as she appeared, she looked around, blinking. "Huh? What’s going on? Why is it so foggy?"

Before she could get an answer, a massive claw emerged from the mist and slashed at her — but the attack passed straight through her body like smoke.

Mode: Ghost – Immune to Physical Damage.

Tyla dusted off her sleeves. "Ugh, I can’t see a thing... and my divine sense keeps twisting inside this mist. How annoying."

Zuzia folded her arms. "We were fighting for our lives while you were being all lovey-dovey with Lanny?"

"Huh? No!" Tyla protested immediately. "She’s busy working on something. I was training with Mana — learning more about my powers."

"Training, huh? What kind of ’training’ makes you this late?" Zuzia said teasingly.

Before Tyla could respond, the Mist Dragon’s voice boomed again, filled with fury.

"You two look quite confident... just an ant at the Grandmaster level, gave you confident? daring to act so arrogant?"

The mist around them churned violently, separating Tyla and Zuzia again.

"Oh, tricky mist, huh?" Tyla muttered, her eyes gleaming mischievously. "According to Mana, one of my domains is called... Celestial Rain Domain."

As soon as she said that, the sky above darkened. Thick rain clouds formed across the entire island, rumbling with thunder.

Then — rain began to fall.

At first, it seemed ordinary. But the raindrops glowed faintly, each one carrying a trace of Aura and Prana.

Inside the hut, Moeko’s eyes widened. "The clouds are forming everywhere! What’s going on?"

"Don’t panic," Veronica said confidently. "As long as the mist array is active, it won’t— Wait... No!"

Her eyes widened as she saw it through the control formation.

The rain was dissolving the mist.

Bit by bit, the illusion shattered. The fog melted away like snow under sunlight.

Within seconds, the island became clear — the sakura trees, the hut, and the vast open skies above all visible once more.

Hovering in the air, a massive green dragon with a serpentine body and glowing red eyes snarled furiously.

On the ground below, Yumina lay unconscious near the hut, her clothes torn and her shoulder bleeding.

Nearby, Myrtle and Zuzia suddenly reappeared beside Tyla, as if they had never been separated at all.

"Cool, right?" Tyla said, smiling proudly.

Then, without warning, she lunged forward — Boom!

The air shattered as she moved. A sonic boom cracked across the sky as she shot past the Mist Dragon, the sheer speed shocking even herself.

"Huh... I’m that fast!?" she exclaimed, twisting midair.

Inside her mind, Mana’s voice echoed. "You’re faster and stronger in water, remember? And your body naturally regenerates when it’s wet."

"I can regenerate when I’m wet? That sounds kinda sus..." Tyla muttered under her breath.

"Don’t mind that," Mana replied quickly. "Just focus on the battle!"

"Right," Tyla replied mentally. "But I still can’t use physical attacks properly. I don’t even remember how I managed to control this speed before I lost my memories."

She turned sharply and flew back, landing beside Zuzia and Myrtle.

"Now what?" Mana asked from within her consciousness.

Tyla grinned, her blue eyes sparkling. "Let’s use that."

She reached into her sleeve and pulled out three familiar artifacts — the Copper Pot, Copper Ladle, and Copper Lid.

"Let’s cook the dragon."

Myrtle blinked. "Wait —what?"

The Mist Dragon’s eyes burned with rage. "Courting death!" it roared, inhaling deeply.

A moment later, it unleashed its full might — a massive dragon breath, so hot it vaporized the rain midair, roaring straight toward them.

"Let me defend!" Myrtle shouted, her shell glowing as she prepared her barrier.

"Wait," Tyla said, holding out her hand.

Everyone froze as Tyla lifted the Copper Pot, pointing its mouth toward the incoming attack.

She spun the Copper Ladle once, and the raging beam of dragon breath began to shrink, twisting and condensing into a small sized beam before being sucked neatly into the pot.

Then she calmly placed the Copper Lid over it.

Click.

The dragon’s breath vanished.

"Huh!?" Zuzia’s jaw dropped.

"What just happened!?" Myrtle blinked in disbelief.

Even inside the hut, Veronica and Moeko froze mid-gesture, staring at the scrying formation.

"That pot... just absorbed a dragon’s breath?" Veronica whispered.

Before anyone could say another word, Tyla lifted the pot again, aimed it at the Mist Dragon, and flicked the lid open.

The captured dragon breath shot back out instantly—multiplied, magnified, and refined by the pot’s mysterious power. At least, that’s what everyone thought. In reality, Tyla had simply stored the attack and released it back out.

It tore through the air like divine judgment.

BOOM!

The explosion split the sky. The Mist Dragon’s roar turned into a pained scream as the beam tore straight through its chest, cutting the enormous body clean in half.

The island shook violently. Sakura petals scattered through the storm as the once-majestic dragon fell from the sky, crashing into the sea below with a thunderous splash.

The rain slowly faded.

Tyla stood there, grinning, the Copper Pot still smoking faintly in her hands.

"Hahaha! Easy!" she laughed triumphantly.

In the hut, Veronica and Moeko were speechless.

"That... was way too fast," Moeko whispered.

Veronica exhaled softly, closing her eyes. "Yeah... but Master can’t be defeated that easily."

As if answering her words, the Mist Dragon stirred. Its massive body rose once more, completely unscathed. The wounds had vanished— mist swirled where flesh should’ve been.

"She turned her body into mist form," Myrtle whispered in awe. This is one of the ability of a Divine Seeker Realm...

Elemental Transformation.

Veronica nodded. "Master’s also immune to attacks like that..."