The battlefield was unrecognizable now.
The towering man lood ahead, his shadow swallowing the earth behind him.
And despite his massive size, he moved with terrifying speed—each step crunching deep into the earth, each attack collapsing terrain like brittle glass.
Pierre dove to the side as the creature's hand slamd into the ground where he'd been standing a mont before.
The shockwave from the impact tore a chunk of the forest apart, flinging trees and boulders in every direction.
Lei rolled behind a shattered boulder, her armor scratched and dented.
"That thing is too fast," she shouted, trying to catch her breath. "He's not supposed to move like that!"
Maria conjured a wind shield, barely deflecting a cluster of flying stone shards. "We can't keep this up. We're not even scratching him!"
They weren't.
Every hit they landed—every spell, strike, or summon—fizzled out on impact. As if the creature wasn't even there.
As if they were attacking the idea of an existence rather than sothing real.
Carn sent another elental—this one made of lightning—rushing toward the giant.
It was obliterated the mont it made contact. Not even a flicker of resistance.
Carole kept her hands glowing, cycling healing pulses without pause. The only reason they weren't dead yet was because she didn't stop.
Even as they were tossed, broken, scraped, or scorched—she was there, nding them, reinforcing them, keeping the four of them upright.
"Nothing works," Maria said, her voice tight with fear. "Holy magic, summons, blades... nothing."
"Then either he's immortal," Lei muttered, staring at the creature's massive silhouette, "or we're just too weak."
The man raised his hand again.
The sky dimd a second ti.
They couldn't run.
They couldn't fight.
And when the shadow fell over them again, this ti headed straight for all of them, they didn't even scream.
They simply braced.
And closed their eyes.
Waiting.
But the blow never landed.
When they opened their eyes again, they weren't where they had been.
The shadow was gone.
And standing between them and the existence—
Was Arlon.
And June.
Maria gasped. "Arlon...!"
Carole let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "You're here…"
"Thank god," Pierre muttered, visibly shaken. "You ca."
Arlon stood still, his back to them, arms relaxed at his sides.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"If you stay like that," Arlon said to the looming figure, "it'll be too easy."
A pause.
"Not that it matters."
The giant didn't move.
Then, with a sound like cracking stone, his form shrank.
Condensed.
Shifted.
Until the towering shape gave way to sothing far more human.
And there he was.
The long man.
The one Vlora had bet against.
Suit pristine. Face unreadable.
"So," he said smoothly, "you're Arlon."
Arlon didn't answer right away.
Because he knew what this was.
An ascended existence.
Of course.
That was why nothing had worked against him. No one could touch him.
But then—he wasn't like an ascended existence. Arlon could feel his presence easily.
Why was he even able to interact with the world?
Ascended existences couldn't normally interfere with the physical realm.
They existed beyond it.
Just like Agema.
And yet...
He was here.
Fighting. Killing.
How?
Then he rembered.
One of the warnings Agema had given him.
About the gate.
Sothing had forced its way through, losing so of its power in the process.
That must be it.
The man standing in front of him now wasn't a full ascended existence.
Just a fragnt.
A portion of a soul, just like Agema's, that had forced its way through the gate.
Still dangerous.
Still powerful.
But killable.
Still, what he killed would only be a part of the main body's soul.
Before Arlon could speak, the man smirked.
"What you're thinking is correct," he said casually.
He had read Arlon's thoughts.
Of course, he had.
Ascended existences could do that.
"You shouldn't be able to do this," Arlon said quietly. "You shouldn't be here."
"And yet, here I am," the man replied. "My na is Reeb. I'm here for you."
"For ?" Arlon narrowed his eyes.
"I heard a new test had begun. Naturally, I wanted to observe it myself."
That made Arlon pause.
When his 'test' had begun, he had received a strange system notification stating that he would be observed.
So this was one of them.
One of the observers.
Jiroeki's warning echoed in his mind.
They will co. Either to bring you into their fold… or to kill you when you ascend.
Reeb smiled, reading his thoughts again.
"Correct again. When I observed you, you were interesting. So, when those Keldars summoned soone, I volunteered to co to see you myself. I am here to invite you to my faction."
"Faction?"
Arlon didn't respond imdiately. He didn't know what that ant. Not yet. He wasn't an ascended existence.
But sothing about Reeb's offer rang hollow.
Wrong.
He knew that he couldn't deceive the existence with a lie, saying he would join so that he would retreat and not joining after ascending.
So...
"I'm not joining you," Arlon said flatly.
Reeb raised an eyebrow. "Why not? We are beyond your world. Beyond its rules. Good, bad... these things don't exist to us. There is only power. And others who possess it."
"You killed Trionians."
"They were insects. Bugs underfoot."
"You revealed to everyone that this world was real. You caused chaos. Panic."
"It was necessary," Reeb said with a shrug. "Pain precedes clarity. Your world needed a push."
"And you killed my friends." Arlon's voice dropped to a growl.
Reeb's expression didn't change.
"You know that they are not dead, not really. Also, they were weak."
That was it.
That was all it took.
Arlon didn't care if Reeb was ascended.
Didn't care if this was just a piece of his soul.
Didn't care what faction he represented.
He had t ascended beings before—Agema, Karl, Jiroeki.
And none of them were like this.
If what Reeb said was true—
If becoming ascended ant becoming like that—
Then Arlon would defy it with every breath in his body.
"You think I'll ever stand beside soone like you?" Arlon said, stepping forward, voice sharp. "You think I'll let you walk away after what you've done?"
Reeb's smirk faded.
"I take that as a no."
Arlon didn't answer.
He summoned his sword instead.
The air cracked as its power unfolded.
And in the next mont—
The battle began.
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