THE VILLAIN'S POV

Forced to endure a brutal battle while racing against time ...

The Iron Emperor found himself facing one of the greatest challenges of his long, battle-scarred life.

And yet, Ser Alon Valerion did his job flawlessly.

Even with Dragoth's ever-increasing speed..

He never managed to land a single blow.

Each time, Ser Alon sent him flying once more.

If this were an open battle without time constraints, Ser Alon would've simply continued flinging Dragoth away, over and over, letting the damage accumulate until he could finish him off for good.

But that plan was no longer viable.

Time wasn't on his side.

So instead ..

He closed the distance on purpose.

Ser Alon deliberately entered Dragoth's danger zone, facing him head-on ..

Raising the risk of taking a hit in exchange for the opportunity to land a finishing blow.

"I'll have to hit him with something even stronger than Atomic Severance…"

Within the Iron Emperor's arsenal ..

There was only one strike that surpassed the last in raw power.

But its effect… was tremendous.

And so, without warning ..

The Iron Emperor shot forward at the speed of light, seizing Dragoth by the face as both of them were flung away from the battlefield .. vanishing across dozens of miles in less than a second.

Realizing Ser Alon had closed the distance between them, Dragoth let out a furious roar. His sword blazed with power, shrouded in dark lightning aura.

And with unrestrained brutality ..

He drove his sword into Ser Alon's chest.

At such close range, the Iron Emperor could no longer dodge.

But Ser Alon didn't flinch. Instead, he plunged his own blade straight into Dragoth's body.

"You think this body can't endure a stab or two from you, boy? Just who do you think I am?"

Having lived longer than anyone else alive ..

Ser Alon had pushed his body to perfection through sheer madness, reaching its ultimate limits long ago.

Even with the Moonlight Sword wreaking havoc inside him ..

The Iron Emperor launched his strongest technique.

"Ultimate Sword Style: Spectrum Burst!"

With his sword buried in Dragoth's flesh, Ser Alon detonated his attack from within.

In an instant ..

A colossal figure of light took shape, towering higher than the mountains themselves.

The spectral figure bore the face of Ser Alon .. enraged, jaw open wide as it devoured Dragoth whole.

All of it happened in a fraction of a second.

Then, without warning ..

The spectral light exploded.

Both Dragoth and Ser Alon were swallowed in its devastating core.

The explosion of light annihilated the entire region with terrifying violence, shaking the heavens with the raw force behind Ser Alon's blade.

From the blinding core, millions of light slashes erupted .. Ripping through Dragoth's body without mercy, turning him into a shredded mass of black and red meat.

"The Spectrum Burst is technically a single attack .. but it's so fast that, from a distance, it appears as millions of strikes carving the enemy apart nonstop."

Pulling back from the blast zone, Ser Alon stumbled away, clutching his bloody chest as he gazed at the destruction left by his sword.

"This was the same technique I once used to kill my own father…"

Descending calmly to the ground, Ser Alon Valerion began focusing all his power on recovering.

The damage from the Moonlight Sword was horrifying. Its corrupted aura rampaged through his insides, tearing him apart continuously.

But Ser Alon was confident he could endure it .. at least for now.

It had been a necessary sacrifice to deliver such a devastating blow.

Refocusing his attention on the battlefield he had left behind ..

The Iron Emperor prepared to return and finish what had been started.

But before he could launch himself forward...

A sudden blast of dark lightning aura surged toward him, forcing him to dodge right at the last instant.

With wide eyes and a face unable to mask his disbelief, Ser Alon turned ..

"Impossible…"

From the center of the blast crater, from the ruin of those relentless slashes ..

That monster emerged once more.

Half his body obliterated, the other half nothing but a lump of blood and torn flesh…

And yet ..

Still clutching the Moonlight Sword ..

Dragoth remained standing.

His regeneration had slowed. But even so, he had already begun recovering from Ser Alon's overwhelming strike.

"What kind of abomination are you?!"

Dragoth's strength had now fully exceeded the Iron Emperor's expectations.

And so, without hesitation, Ser Alon surged forward .. Intent on ending Dragoth before he could fully regenerate.

But in that critical moment ..

Mergo and Gavide Lindman appeared at either side of him, somehow managing to keep pace with his insane speed.

Now surrounded—Dragoth coming from the front, Mergo from the right, Gavide from the left—

Ser Alon instantly understood what had happened.

Mergo...

The drunken old man had manipulated space itself, teleporting with ease ... and waiting for this exact moment from the very start.

He had waited until Ser Alon weakened himself in pursuit of Dragoth.

And now the trap was finally sprung.

Time slowed as Ser Alon raced through every possible solution ..

But even a monster like him couldn't dodge three SS+ level fighters at once… not in his current state.

His options were grim. Every path ended in disaster.

If he fell here...

It would mean the complete downfall of the Empire's side.

And this was something Millicent understood all too well.

She had fought Beatrice relentlessly—just to keep her inside the battlefield for as long as possible.

Millicent had to give her full focus to Beatrice, who hadn't revealed her real body since Ser Alon had struck her down.

Now..

Millicent found herself fighting an enemy who remained completely hidden.

And that was what made Beatrice so terrifying.

If she lowered her guard for even a single second, the Crimson Witch was certain—

Beatrice wouldn't spare her.

And yet, given the current situation…

Millicent found herself forced to act, placing all her hope in the one form of stellar magic she had barely mastered throughout her life.

"Acceleration... Time Skip!"

Pouring every ounce of her power into the spell, a radiant blue stellar aura enveloped Millicent's body. Then, a strange phenomenon occurred ..

Everything around her came to a complete halt.

Frozen in time, Millicent was the only one who could move.

Within that still world, she left behind dozens of afterimages as she pushed herself forward with all her might—

Racing against the very laws of nature to reach him in time.

Breaking through the boundaries of reality, Millicent's phantom forms surged forward across the frozen battlefield… until they reached Ser Alon, who was surrounded on three sides.

With a graceful push, she moved him aside.

And then ..

The Crimson Witch stood alone between Dragoth, Mergo, and Gavide Lindman.

Blood trickled from her nose and mouth, but Millicent didn't stop.

She forced her body to keep going, surrounding her hands with that strange, celestial aura.

Then, she gently tapped each of them on the chest.

Just a faint touch .. not enough to hurt even a child.

And yet, that simple touch compressed the very space in front of them.

When time resumed its natural flow ..

The compressed force snapped back, shattering the air itself.

A massive shockwave erupted, blasting Dragoth, Mergo, and Gavide Lindman away in a single strike.

Now standing between three paths of utter destruction ..

Millicent exhaled deeply, struggling to stay on her feet.

Behind her, Ser Alon stared in disbelief.

Even with his speed of light, he hadn't been able to follow what just happened.

She had saved him using that mysterious spell .. But the cost was steep. She could barely breathe.

Forcing her focus back to the war of domains between her and Beatrice ..

Millicent's expression darkened.

"Impossible… I moved in less than a fraction of a second .. Yet she still managed to spread her power this far?!"

As if answering her doubt, an ominous force began to wrap around both her and Ser Alon.

Then, from above, Beatrice appeared once again .. hovering high above them.

"You truly underestimated me, human witch."

With that same ever-calm smile .. Beatrice looked down on them.

Even though Millicent had acted in mere fractions of a second…

It was still enough time for Beatrice to assert her dominance.

"Get out of my sight, you wretched pests."

She had completely overpowered them.

And now, Ser Alon and Millicent could no longer remain in the battlefield.

Despite his injuries, Dragoth could still fight.

Mergo and Gavide Lindman as well.

With their forced retreat ..

The elite class would be thrown back to square one.

No…

Even worse.

Slowly, they were heading straight toward the worst possible outcome.