The battle had turned desperate.
Blood splattered against the ruined stonework as the harpy shrieked, her massive, tattered wings whipping up a violent gale. Her form, a grotesque fusion of woman and beast, hovered high above, golden talons glistening with fresh gore. Jerry and Reginald below—bloodied, bruised, and barely standing—gritted their teeth as they struggled to mount a final stand.
Silver blades flashed, and fire roared, but nothing seemed to reach her. Every attack was met with uncanny speed, every counter crushed beneath the storm of her wings.
A piercing, grating sound—mocking, victorious.
"You are insects," she taunted, her voice echoing through the battlefield. "And I am the storm that will wipe you from existence."
She ascended higher, her wings blotting out the sun, talons poised to deliver the final, merciless strike—
And then, the sky itself darkened.
A massive shadow swept the battlefield, drowning the land in an ominous crimson hue.
The harpy barely had time to turn before—
A colossal red tail crashed into her with the force of a meteor.
There was no struggle. No resistance. No counter.
One moment, she was the dominant force, the untouchable terror.
The next, she was nothing.
Her body was swatted from the sky like a mere fly, her triumphant shriek cut short by a sickening, earth-shattering impact. The sheer force sent her plummeting into the ruined stone like a ragdoll, her bones snapping audibly on effects. The battlefield trembled, dust and debris exploding outward as a crater swallowed the spot where she had crashed.
A stunned silence followed.
Then, slowly—a massive presence loomed over them.
The tail—impossibly vast, serpentine, and covered in gleaming crimson scales—retracted, curling back toward an unseen figure whose sheer size seemed to warp reality itself.
A deep, resonant growl rumbled across the battlefield, shaking the very air.
Jerry and Reginald, still gasping, followed the length of the tail skyward—where something monstrous awaited.
'Now that was satisfying.'
A soft feminine voice resounded in the vicinity, yet it echoed directly in their minds.
'Just wait till Master finds this side of yours.'
Another voice followed—masculine, ancient, and barely above a whisper like the speaker was too tired to even talk.
'You wouldn't dare, Gal.'
'I'm up for a trade.'
'What is wrong with you?!'
Jerry's sharp intake of breath was the only sign of his shock. His body, finally free from the relentless assault, began healing itself. The battle had been so fast, so brutal, that even his vampiric regeneration had struggled to keep up, making his usual resilience useless.
"Thank god," Reginald exhaled heavily. Flames flickered over his fox-like form before his body twisted, shifting back into his human appearance. His clothes hung in tattered strips, but his wounds were slowly closing.
'You did well. I thought you both would die before we got here.'
Angitia's blue eyes bore into them. Her third eye remained shut, but even without it, her presence alone was enough to make weaker beings tremble. Jerry and Reginald, however, remained unaffected. Their connection with Ethan ensured that his spirit beasts were not just allies—but something deeper, something familial.
"Thank you, Miss Angitia." Reginald gave a slight bow in appreciation.
Jerry, though outwardly cold, couldn't hide the urgency in his voice. "The people—did you manage to save them?"
'Fear not. Those who were still alive have been rescued.'
A dark edge crept into Galeno's tone, a chilling undertone that hinted at something far worse.
'But more than seventy-five percent of them... men, women, children, elders… They were wiped out.'
Jerry stiffened. His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms. Reginald's face darkened.
'It wasn't just the harpy,' Galeno continued, his golden eyes gleaming under his heavy shell. 'They used an artifact to suppress everyone's power—turning them into defenseless mortals. Only a few could fight back, but it was futile. And…'
His voice dropped lower, carrying a weight that pressed into their souls.
'There was a Royal Executioner from the Blade Clan present.'
Reginald and Jerry shared a glance. That name alone sent a chill down their spines.
'Royal Executioners possess strength equal to, or even greater than, the harpy you fought. This one… was the latter.'
"We didn't even sense him…" Jerry muttered, his voice tight.
'Neither did we,' Angitia admitted, her crimson scales gleaming in the dimming light. 'We failed to track him, and now he's gone.'
Reginald let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it… I thought this would take more than a day, but it looks like I was wrong. Where are the survivors now?"
'They're in a psychic space I created,' Angitia answered. 'Most of them have never experienced teleportation. And mine isn't artificial like the teleportation centers—it's too raw, too natural. It would terrify them, possibly kill them.'
Jerry exhaled through his nose, nodding in understanding.
Then Galeno spoke, shifting the conversation.
'Now… this harpy. What do we do with it?'
Reginald ran a hand through his disheveled hair, exhaustion heavy in his blue eyes. "The only way to completely get rid of it is through a Blood Primogenitor… meaning Ethan or Trevor."
'That makes sense,' Angitia said smoothly before glancing toward her companion. 'Gal, she's yours.'
'I'm so tired…' Galeno groaned.
"Hurry up. We've got company."
This time, Jerry and Reginald had the same exact thought.
Galeno's eyes shimmered gold as the earth responded. The harpy's unconscious body was swallowed by shifting stone, encasing her in a coffin of earth marked with glowing brown symbols. The construct hovered for a moment before sinking beneath Galeno's shell.
'Hmm? They disappeared…' Angitia muttered, eyes narrowing.
That beast… it couldn't be.
How could she appear here of all places? No, wait. She might be a descendant, but even so… they were supposed to grow incredibly slowly. It should have taken centuries, yet this one—this serpent—was already strong enough to sense her presence. How?
Thoughts rushed through the mind of the massive dragon as she soared high above the clouds. Her enormous, orange-scaled body glided effortlessly, her wings cutting through the wind with perfect control, yet her mind was anything but calm.
She glanced down at the unconscious form of Regnare, cradled securely in her claws. His hair barely moved, held in place by the dragon magic she had woven around him. It ensured he remained unconscious—safe, undisturbed. He could not be allowed to wake yet. Not until she decided it was time.
Her form cast a vast shadow across the clouds below, blotting out the sky for anything unfortunate enough to be beneath her. Normally, such a display of dominance would have filled her with pride, but right now, she was too preoccupied to care.
A Psyche-Eye Serpent Emperor… in this world.
Her golden eyes narrowed as she recalled the connection she had sensed between the serpent and Ethan. Was it because of him? She had always suspected he wasn't as simple as he appeared, but this…
And then there was the tortoise. Not just any tortoise. A Divine Tortoise.
Her claws tightened slightly, her mind reeling at the realization. A Divine Tortoise was a being of eternity itself, a creature whose very existence defied the natural flow of time. Their power was said to be boundless, stretching across the ages like an unshakable force. This one, however, seemed… different. Suppressed. Dormant. Almost nonexistent.
Dragons and Divine Tortoises shared an ancient bloodline. It was subtle, buried beneath generations of power and evolution, but the link was there. And because of it, she could sense something beneath his seemingly weakened state. A force lying in wait, quiet and unassuming, but undeniably ancient.
A Psyche-Eye Serpent Emperor and a Divine Tortoise. Both are bound to Ethan.
Her thoughts churned, unsettling emotions twisting through her. Was Ethan truly just a mortal? No. No, he never was. She had known that from the moment they met in her visions, but even with all her deductions, she had never considered this possibility.
She exhaled sharply, irritated at her own miscalculations.
The presence of the Psyche-Eye Serpent alone was enough to send massive ripples through the world. Not small disturbances, but cataclysmic upheavals. And now, alongside it, stood the Divine Tortoise, an existence that should have only appeared in ancient myths.
Her claws flexed unconsciously, her wings beating slower as her mind processed the sheer gravity of what she had just witnessed.
If either of these creatures were allowed to reach their full potential, their mere presence could decide the fate of the world. Just one of them was enough to wipe out empires, reshape continents, and tip the balance of existence itself.
Right now, they were only beginning. Budding forces, still incomplete. But they wouldn't stay that way for long.
She had seen it in the serpent's eyes. That growth, that overwhelming potential—it was unnatural. It wouldn't take centuries. It wouldn't even take decades. It would happen soon.
She exhaled slowly, a deep rumble vibrating through her chest.
Thankfully, they were connected to her soulmate. Otherwise…
She didn't want to finish that thought.
Because even she wasn't sure what she would do if they weren't.