Myr poured as much mana as she could into the blood sword and swung at Ira causing a huge wave of power to fly toward him. He leaped out of the way before teleporting in mid-air to arrive in front of her but she was already in the middle of flying so he was a step too late.

“We should’ve killed you when Thessia beat you unconscious!” Myr spat as she continued flying.

Ira landed on the ground and briefly contemplated how to stop her. He raised his hand and aimed at her before he snapped as she flew into the ground.

Ira smiled at his improved control over space, it was to the point where he could teleport other people without being near them.

“Damn it!” Myr stabbed the sword into the ground and climbed to her feet before charging toward him.

She closed the distance and swung the sword which released pulses of red light each time it flew past him.

Ira avoided direct contact with the blood sword while feeling an odd sense of danger each time it was wielded near him. It was most likely due to the fact that the sword was a precious artifact when one considered its origins. It was used to injure a Primeval Beast while being the last thing Kara held in her hands before ascending.

Myr switched to an overhead grip and slammed the sword down and a blast of energy erupted in her immediate radius knocking Ira away.

“That’s not even your sword.” Ira spat out a clump of sand. He planned on tearing Myr’s wings off but it would be hard to do as long as she held the blood sword.

“Shut up!” Myr’s wings fluttered once and she moved toward Ira once again.

…

The soldiers of the other nations were lost on what to do as they weren’t warned about the higher races. The leaders of said nations also maintained a cautious stance toward either party. At least, that was at first.

Avery was still fighting nearly twenty dragons not too far away from them and the High Chancellor was the first to move.

“Get our Airships into the sky and fire at those dragons,” Orlov instructed to a nearby attendant.

The group of leaders were having a meeting when the attack happened so they all were near.

“Send our mages to assist the Dark Elves.” King Windsor also made his moves to at least maintain goodwill between himself and Ira.

The Diavol, Dwarves, and Elves maintained a neutral stance since they didn’t really have or want to use the resources they had to contend with the threat.

A few moments later, a Tel’vian attendant returned with a darkened expression and whispered into Orlov’s ear.

“What do you mean two have been destroyed?!” Orlov asked with shock.

The Tel’vian saw that Orlov didn’t care if the other leaders overheard so he spoke aloud, “The smaller models couldn’t stand up against the dragons, but they managed to wound one.”

“...Wound one you say?” Orlov’s anger dissipated and a slight smile formed. Once improvements were made to the Mana Cannon it would be even stronger.

“Don’t send any more, we’ve shown our goodwill.” Orlov waved the attendant off.

…

Avery watched as the two burning airships crashed into the sand before focusing on the battle. They did nothing but provide her with a brief distraction which allowed her to easily take the life of a dragon leaving their numbers at nineteen. The bad news was that they were all Elder Dragons since the weaker ones were easily dispatched.

They circled her before several swooped down and sprayed fire at her. She raised the sun shield and blocked the fire which wouldn’t really leave her with a wound but would damage her armor.

The coordination of the bigger and intelligent Elder Dragons was far better than the ones she killed. Seeing no immediate end, Avery thought to use Helion’s Wrath. She didn’t know what it did, but it sounded as if it was powerful so she concentrated on her divinity and it soon provided the answer.

Avery cracked a faint smile as her skin and hair turned into flames. The brightness of the sun increased threefold and briefly caused a blinding a light to cover the battlefield. It was a solar flare which some called a sign from the Gods but it was Avery’s doing.

Hundreds of solar missiles came down from the sky and sought out the dragons on their own accord. Once they arrived they exploded into a brilliant display of golden reddish fire that vaporized anything caught in the radius of the explosion. No matter how strong the dragons were, they weren’t immune to solar flames. It was safe to say that the attack was overkill as not even ashes remained.

Avery landed on the ground and went back to normal as she breathed heavily. The attack was...taxing, to say the least. Her recovery would go faster since it was daylight but the ability put a huge strain on her body.

Lauren flew over and landed near her while doing her best to withstand the blistering heat from the aftermath of the attack that had yet to diminish.

“Avery, how is your condition?” Lauren asked. She had healed her own wounds but there were still breaches in her armor which told of her battle.

“...It’s nothing life-threatening, Grandmother.” Avery’s breath still remained unsteady.

“I’ll support you and bring you away from here.” Lauren was eager to leave as she already began to sweat and her skin took a flush tone.

Avery didn’t refuse and let Lauren carry her away from the site of the attack.

…

Myr couldn’t seem to land a significant blow on Ira no matter how much she attacked. Any small wounds would heal as soon as they were formed and he wouldn’t allow her time to prepare a stronger attack. Luckily, the blood sword didn’t need much time since it carried a massive amount of power on its own. She plunged it into the sand and several pillars of red light burst out of the ground and struck Ira.

He spun in the air before teleporting to the ground and exhaling, “You’re getting too comfortable for someone who’s gonna die soon.”

Black mist gathered around his hand before he flicked his finger in her direction. A small black bubble that looked as if it was made from ink began to hover toward her slowly. It picked up tons of sand as it passed over the dunes.

Myr saw that it was dangerous and moved away but it continued to follow her while absorbing sand. She slashed at the bubble with her blood sword but it absorbed the red energy and drifted toward her.

“What kind of trick is this?!” Myr shouted.

“Not the good kind.” Ira appeared behind Myr and grabbed her before wrenching the blood sword from her grip and throwing her toward the bubble.

As Myr arrived in front of it, the bubble rippled violently and then exploded. All of the energy stored inside of it was released. A huge shock rang out and Myr was blown apart as her body rolled dozens of feet away.

Ira leaped over and landed in front of her only to see she was missing a leg and an arm while one of her wings were bent crookedly.

“Heal yourself...I’ll even wait,” Ira whispered as he knelt beside her. “...And when you get up I’m going to rip your wings off and watch you die.”

“As if...I would...let you have the...satisfaction…” Myr channeled her mana to end her own life when Ira clutched her jaw and squeezed so tightly her magic was disrupted.

“No? It’s not like I needed you to agree. I wonder what happens if I take one off.” Ira grabbed the wing that was still intact and pulled.

“Aaaaaaaaah!” Myr released a painful wail.

“Tell me where Gicae is and I won’t kill you.” Ira released her wing as he finished speaking.

“As if…I would...believe you…” Myr coughed in between her words.

“Why not? I planned on opening the Storm Wall for you backstabbing fucks until you came here. Well, not Gicae...I was gonna kill him immediately after opening it.” Ira spoke honestly.

“I have nothing left to say to you, Ira.” Myr accepted her fate. She wouldn't beg for her life since all Valkyries held an acceptance to death in battle.

“I thought so.” Ira shook his head before plucking one of her wings off.

Myr’s body contorted in agony as she clenched her teeth. Unlike Lua who died shortly after, the removal of one wing caused her body to slowly become unstable and her wounded state didn’t allow her to repair it.

After making sure she couldn’t heal herself Ira began to walk away from her and when he was far enough he heard a loud explosion.

“Three,” Ira said to himself as he took a step and teleported away.

…

Kesver held complete dominance over the area as the turquoise door standing behind him gave him access to the ocean.

A thick body of water and ice surrounded him and protected him from attacks while he assaulted the group of enemies gathered around him.

Hands made out of water rode across the sand and crushed the slowest to move. While the water that would splash turned into ice darts.

Aldis was only able to remain on the defensive because of his ice-related abilities. He could freeze the water to protect himself and others but there wasn’t a way to get close enough to trap Kesver inside the wall of water. Amy fared no better, her demon flames allowed her to evaporate some of the water or melt the ice, but other than that she wasn’t very effective. Rhys was locked in a stalemate with Kesver as her lightning couldn’t get through the layer of ice around him and she was too quick for his attacks.

The Dark Elves and a few human mages peppered Kesver with ranged attacks but were met with Kesver’s violent attacks in response.

Another tidal wave of water erupted from Kesver and Rhys moved to dodge but ice formed on her foot. Each of Kesver’s attacks caused more moisture to fill the surroundings and after it became humid enough he could control the water in the air.

Rhys realized what happened far too late as she tripped onto the ground and could only watch as a massive handmade out of water fell toward her.

Ira suddenly appeared and grabbed her before teleporting away. The battlefield grew quiet as the Dark Elves sighed in relief.

An opening appeared in the water surrounding Kesver, “So you do care for her? Gicae wouldn’t have attacked her mind if he had known.” He sneered.

“What?” Ira furrowed his brows while Rhys’ expression darkened.

“Of course you don’t know it, but he attempted to get her to betray you. Unfortunately, she cared for you far more than you did for her at the time.” Kesver’s eyes narrowed in delight.

Ira thought back to Rhys’ outburst that caused continuous lightning strikes and finally understood it was due to Gicae’s mental attack.

Ira looked at Rhys who had her face hidden behind the mask, “You didn’t want to tell me?”

He put Rhys down and laughed at Kesver who clearly didn’t expect his reaction, “Since you told me, I’ll let you die easier than the others did.”

Kesver felt his skin crawl with danger and reinforced the water barrier surrounding him.

“That’s not enough.” Ira sighed as he moved toward Kesver.

Water shot toward him as if it had its own mind but it all was repulsed as if Ira had an invisible shield around him. Ira’s control over space meant he could choose whether something could get in and out a certain area.

As he moved toward Kesver’s water barrier it began to part for him and he advanced toward the frozen area that was the last defense.

Ira punched through the wall and grabbed the panicked Kesver before pulling him out and throwing him onto the ground. The turquoise doorway behind him closed and Kesver was cut off from the ocean. The water in the air and sand was far from enough to harm Ira so Kesver became completely helpless at that moment.

Ira gripped the back of his neck and lifted him before speaking, “Before you go, just tell me where Gicae is.”

Under Ira's grip, Kesver felt the increasing pressure on his neck and grew fearful. He wasn’t as battle-hardened as the Valkyries and didn’t have as much pride as Thessia so it was possible that he may have spoken.

“He’s…He’s…” Kesver contemplated hard.

“I’m here, Ira.” Gicae’s voice reverberated far off in the distance as he stood next to a crystal coffin containing Lyra.

Ira crushed Kesver’s neck without blinking before dropping his lifeless body, “That makes four.”

Ira’s expression showed a happiness that couldn’t be faked as he imagined all the ways he could make Gicae die as painfully as possible.