As Sora’s [Ruyi Jingu Bang] desded upon Sarsha, his heart was in turmoil.She wasn’t the first pyer he’d killed, but never before had he entered su expression on an enemy’s face.

  Despite her status as an oppo, the tears in her eyes and the look she was giving her allies beyond the walls were heartbreaking.

  Isn’t this too much? The thought tightened his chest even as his staff met its target.

  The familiar, cold notification jolted him back to reality:

  [You have killed an enemy Captaitlefield seemed to shift the moment Sarsha fell. There were no cheers, just a deep, quiet resolve among his allies—a shared realization that victory in this war might actually be within reach.

  Lois's voice cut through the silence. “Sora, drop the dome! This is our ce to take their leader. Focus on Klunor. Oliver and I will deal with Captone. Kara, block everyone else with the battalion's help”

  Lois had noted Kara’s immeential and trusted her with such a task. Even before the battle, she had sidered pns that could make the most of her exceptional abilities, including trapping Sarsha or trapping groups of ambushers.

  As Sora released the domes, he swiftly guided his allies out of Klunor’s range, clearing a wide-open space for a duel.

  Summoning new [Earth Domes] to trap his enemy with him, he begaing the entire area, raising the temperature inside.

  Dark clouds formed above, releasing a steady rain that turned into mist on tact with the scorg ground. Trapped in the enclosed space, each raindrop nded with a soft pssht, which gradually turned into explosive bursts, increasing the pressure inside.

  He summoned more [Earth Domes].

  Now at level 75, Sora could handle most oppos with ease, his refined body, powerful skills, and solid foundation making him an unstoppable force. But even with Klunor’s level reduced from 127 to 80, the dual swordsman exuded a pressure that surpassed his own.

  Sora raised his hands, summoning hundreds of [Ice Balls] that began to float around him in uable patterns, their size growing rger by the sed. Lightning also crackled around him, extending to cover the entire enclosed space.

  Klunaze remained fixed, his expression hardening as a dark red mist started seeping from his body. His eyes glowed red, and two sharp horns began to protrude between his pointed ears, amplifying the already overwhelming aura. The presence he released intensified, pushing the pressure uhe dome to a higher level.

  “This is costly, but you left me no choice,” Klunor said, his tone heavy with resignation aation. He swung his twin bdes, releasing a surge of energy that crackled through the air, thick with immi danger.

  He swung his bdes, and Sora felt a surge of danger.

  In an instant, Sora transformed into lightning, dodging the strike to reappear hundreds of meters behind Klunor. But the threat wasn’t gowo energy beams shot from Klunor’s swords, trag Sora’s movements. He was forced to keep evading, using lightning to move around.

  Klunor’s eyes locked onto Sora, trag his movements as he moved in and out of sight. Anticipating his reappearance, Klunor dashed forward, only to be hit by a shogly fast [Ice Ball] smashing into him from above.

  The [Ice Balls], ricocheting off the dome’s surfaces with each explosion, accelerating uably with each impact. Each collisiohem flying in uable dires, and Klunor found himself struck repeatedly, their impacts distrag him as more of them appeared, boung violently throughout the dome.

  Sora was not satisfied, tinuously summoning more [Ice Balls].

  The dome became a chaotic space where extreme heat, explosive Ice balls, areme pressure met. The oppressive atmosphere grew more inteh each passing moment, transf the battlefield into a living hell.

  Sora who had pushed his elemental resistao the limit, and refined his body to areme level could mana under such dition. Klunor however rapidly felt his endurance deing, having no choice but fly after Sora in hope of catg him.

  Sora, however, was doing his best to avoid a direct frontation, wanting to tire his oppo out and break his resistance.

  Klunritted his teeth at such strategy and focused on slig through the [Ice Balls] to minimize the damage he took, but they were unending. His bde beams, which had pursued Sora for over ten seds, dissipated, aurned back to find his oppo standing unfazed.

  Klun his panel and fli the grim notifications. Reality hit hard—Captone was dead, and Sarsha was gone. His hand trembled, a defeated sigh esg as he thought, "Is this the end? we truly quer [Earth]?"

  He raised his head and looked at Sora, lost in thought for a moment before saying "Little Human, you were amazing in this war. To be ho, if we had a few individuals like you on this serv- p we may have a ce. But our race's focus is somewhere it shouldn't be. I envy your people. You're fighting as one in the face of enemies. Don't bme us [Invaders] too much, as maybe someday we will not face as enemies anymore. I'm not allowed to say too much to you, but I only tell you something, that maybe you sider a favor from this old one. Death may not be the end. In this [World]... Maybe you should just py ?"

  "I will remember your name"

  Resolute, he pulled a small item from his pocket, raising it high above his head.

  [General Klunor is forfeiting the battle. Please stop fighting. Your enemies have 3 days to retreat from the territory.][gratutions to the [New World Kingdom] for the victory in the PVP Event!][Reward: Swedeory Ownership][Level up !][Level up !][Level up !]

  Suddenly, powerful shields appeared around everyone otlefield as the notificatiistered.

  On the dark elves side, a ripple of despair washed over their ranks, and tears streamed down the faces of soldiers. To many, this defeat—bringing dishonor to their families and tribes—was a fate worse thah.

  On the human side, the reas were mixed. Some stood stunned, others cheered, eted to have defeheir homend. Kara felt a wave of relief, letting out a deep breath as she took in the realization that the war was finally over.

  All the spells had ceased and the fas regrouped to t their casualties, Sora flew forward, halting Klunor in his tracks.

  "Wait. Thank you for putting ao this,” he said, meeting Klunor’s eyes with a solemn gaze. “If we meet again and I uood what you meant, I’ll return the favor. I will not fet this."

  Klunarded him for a moment, his fareadable, before he gave a single, simple nod.

  Without a word, he turo rejoin his remaining els and troops. In heavy silehey walked out of the coliseum, their steps eg through the emptying battlefield as they departed, leaving only memories of weeks of hard-fought battles.

  Sora soon nded beside Lois, Kara, and the others, feeling the toll from expending so much mana so quickly. He’d experiehis before during Areva’s test in Paris, where he ushed to the edge, relying heavily on his mana regeion just to survive the test.

  He could feel a headache spreading through his head, making it difficult to focus ohing happening around the coliseum. His mental strength gged behind his physical capabilities, as he fought his weakness, trying to stand tall despite the mounting fatigue.

  Just as General Asami Hito turo address the troops and gratute the incredible recruit who had turhe tides, she noticed him suddenly falter, his body falling forward.

  She moved to catch him, but Kara was faster, reag him just in time to stop his face from hitting the ground.

  Kneeling beside him, Kara eled her life force, sing his body for injuries. To her relief, she realized his body erfectly fine. Instead, it seemed he had reached the limits of his mental endurance.

  Asami surveyed the battlefield, her eyes falling oired expressions of her troops. The exhaustion alpable, etched into the faany pyers. She khey needed rest.

  Kara carried Sora on her bad took in the se around her, her gaze falling on survivors scattered across the battlefield. Many were kneeling beside dropped items—the st remnants of their fallen friends. Some of them had only known each other a short while; others had shared tless battles together, f friendships that had now been abruptly severed.

  Her eyes nded on a familiar figure. ‘That’s… Suraj, isn’t it?’ she thought, reizing the squad or team leader from earlier. He was on his knees, fists pressed into the dirt, his entire body trembling as silent tears traced paths down his face.

  A pang of sorrow hit her as she remembered him speaking to a young woman before the battle. They had exged words about their fears of perma death, but while he seemed anxious, his friend was more optimistic, reassuring him. ‘Where is she? What was her name…?’ Kara thought, her heart beating faster as she sed the faces around her.

  She remembered the woman’s pte armor and tall frame, which should have made her easy to spot. But she was o be seen. An uneasy feeliled in her chest. 'Is she…?'

  Kara moved closer to Suraj, stopping a few meters away. His voice was barely audible, but she could make out the broken words. “Mirai… why did you have to die… I wao propose. Fo.. for us to leave this life and start fresh… together. Why was I safe when you fought in the front lines?”

  His words sent a chill through her. The battle was over, but the echoes of loss were just appearing. She gnced down at Sora, unscious but breathing steadily. His current state weighed on her heart, a remihat he was not invincible.

  She khis was only the beginning, as the reality of their sacrifices would soon hit everyoh painful crity.

  mimou