The battlefield was in chaos.

  Roars, clashing steel, and screams of agony merged into a symphony of death.

  Some lost their arms.

  Some lost their heads.

  Some were burned alive by dragons before their comrades’ eyes.

  For a girl like me…

  That was the first time I truly understood what cruelty meant.

  Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers clashed against thousands of dragons beneath a sky drowned in flames.

  Every breath marked the line between life and death.

  SELEXTIA plunged into the battlefield.

  “We surround it!” she shouted to Aerion and Elmira.

  The three of them attacked a massive dragon together.

  Driven back, it beat its wings and soared upward.

  SELEXTIA followed instantly, her blade flashing as she drove it straight into the dragon’s head.

  A shriek tore through the wind.

  The dragon thrashed violently before crashing down, carving a trail of shattered stone dozens of meters long.

  Aerion helped Elmira to her feet.

  “I’ve got you.”

  “Thank you…”

  They barely had time to breathe before they were cut off from their formation.

  More than ten dragons surrounded them.

  SELEXTIA gritted her teeth.

  “Save yourselves first!”

  Aerion smirked.

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  “If we don’t, we die.”

  Elmira tightened her grip on her weapon.

  “I… I want to live.”

  The battle resumed.

  Aerion stepped on a dragon’s head, twisting midair to sever its neck. Another’s tail lashed toward him—he dodged by a hair’s breadth, charging straight into its open jaws before it could breathe fire.

  Holy power erupted.

  He clamped its jaws shut and cleaved upward from throat to skull, splitting the massive body in two.

  Elmira reinforced her weapon with holy power, summoned a spear that pierced through another dragon’s torso, then rushed forward with precise, decisive strikes.

  SELEXTIA was different.

  Her eyes turned cold.

  One slash.

  Four heads fell.

  Blood stained her hair crimson.

  Another dragon spewed fire straight at her.

  There was no time to dodge.

  She raised her hand.

  A thin, crystalline layer of light burst outward around her body — Phi Heavenly Force.

  Not ordinary enhancement.

  It was a forced barrier drawn directly from the core of a celestial’s power.

  The flames collided.

  They did not penetrate.

  But the barrier trembled violently.

  Cracks spread across its surface like a spiderweb.

  The backlash surged into her body.

  Her chest tightened.

  One heartbeat.

  The barrier shattered into fragments of light.

  The entire attack was reflected.

  The dragon’s body exploded midair.

  SELEXTIA lowered her hand.

  Her breathing grew slightly heavier — barely noticeable, but real.

  “Easier than I thought,” Aerion exhaled.

  “Yeah… easier than expected,” Elmira smiled faintly.

  SELEXTIA hadn’t even replied when—

  “Look out!”

  A massive blaze shot straight toward Elmira.

  She froze.

  In that instant—

  A figure lunged forward.

  Pushing her away.

  The flames swallowed him whole.

  When the smoke cleared—

  SELEXTIA hurled her sword with all her strength, piercing the dragon’s skull.

  But when she turned back—

  She saw Aerion kneeling.

  His right arm was scorched, nearly unusable.

  “Your arm…!”

  “It’s fine…” he forced a smile.

  Then he collapsed.

  Elmira broke down in tears.

  “It’s my fault… it’s my fault…”

  SELEXTIA stood frozen.

  In the distance, the Infernal Dragon was ravaging the battlefield.

  She had to choose.

  Continue fighting…

  Or save her friend?

  She clenched her jaw.

  Then turned back.

  “We retreat to the medical station first.”

  The three of them ran through a sea of flames.

  Stepping over dragon corpses.

  Stepping over fallen comrades.

  They flew recklessly, ignoring the risk of being spotted.

  Several dragons gave chase.

  Just as they were about to breathe fire—

  A squad of Dai Tenshi appeared, eliminating them in an instant.

  A six-winged angel descended, holding a fan, her gaze calm.

  “Where I stand, there is safety.”

  She turned toward the Infernal Dragon.

  The battle between the Dai Tenshi and the Infernal Dragon began.

  Lightning fell in thousands of strikes per second.

  But the monstrous being unleashed crimson demonic power, setting the sky ablaze.

  The temperature rose until the air itself seemed to melt.

  The six-winged angel sighed.

  “How troublesome.”

  Blue holy power spread outward.

  Rain turned to ice.

  A great flood froze the entire battlefield.

  At last—

  The Infernal Dragon was sealed within a colossal block of ice.

  The battlefield fell silent.

  But SELEXTIA felt no relief.

  In her heart, something… was still deeply unsettled.