Returning to reality was like being dragged from a dream into a battlefield.
Kulmar's attention snapped away from Urillia the instant Amira moved.
Something deep within him—an instinct sharpened by centuries of survival—screamed danger.
Amira lunged.
Her spear carved through the air with a violent crack, the impact of her swing tearing straight through Kulmar's layered shadow defenses. The force was so unexpected that Kulmar was forced to leap backward, boots skidding across the blood-soaked stone.
"What...?" Kulmar muttered, his eyes narrowing.
The aura pouring from Amira was wrong.
It glowed fiercely—pure, radiant, and suffocating—yet it did not align with any known demonic, holy, or elemental signature. Worse still, he couldn't read her Star Rank at all. It was as if her power existed outside the system he understood.
What is this aura? Kulmar thought, unease crawling up his spine.
Asuma felt it too.
The presence beside him no longer felt like the Amira he had known moments ago. Her stance, her breathing, even the way mana flowed around her body—it was all different. Elevated. Dangerous.
She was normal just a second ago, Asuma thought, disbelief tightening his chest.
What happened to her?
"A pact..." Kulmar said slowly, his gaze flicking to Urillia.
The princess stood firm, but the toll was obvious now. Her aura flickered weakly, thinner than before—strained.
"But why," Kulmar continued, eyes returning to Amira, "is her aura unreadable?"
He didn't get time to dwell on it.
Amira was already charging again.
Her spear shot toward his head in a blinding arc, forcing Kulmar to block with his jagged blade. The impact rang out like a thunderclap, shockwaves rippling across the garden.
Shadowy hands erupted from Kulmar's shadow, lunging to restrain her—but Amira sliced through them without hesitation.
"Lightning Magic: Electric Surge!"
Electricity wrapped around her body like living armor. Her muscles screamed as her speed and strength spiked beyond their limits. She became a blur, her spear striking again and again—thrusts, sweeps, feints—forcing Kulmar back step by step.
For the first time since the battle began, Kulmar was on the defensive.
Yet even so—
Her attacks failed to truly wound him.
Each strike was blocked, deflected, absorbed by layers of shadow and raw power. The difference in rank was undeniable. Even empowered by the Phoenix Pact, Amira could not overpower him.
But she didn't need to.
She only needed to distract him.
"Hold him off as long as you can," Princess Urillia said, already moving past them toward Lyra's cocoon. "This will take time."
Asuma clenched his teeth.
Despite exhaustion screaming through his body, he stepped in beside Amira, igniting what remained of his strength. His sword met Kulmar's blade in a grinding clash, sparks and shadow bursting outward.
Leon joined in from behind, arrows streaking through the air, exploding against the shadow hands guarding Kulmar's flanks.
"Tch..." Kulmar clicked his tongue in irritation.
He parried Amira's spear, twisted aside from Asuma's blade, and shattered Leon's incoming arrow with a flick of shadow—but the pressure was mounting. Too many angles. Too many threats.
And behind him—
Urillia was getting closer to the cocoon.
Annoying, Kulmar thought darkly.
Even cornered, they still bare their fangs.
Kulmar's irritation was no longer subtle.
His true obstacle wasn't Asuma's relentless swordplay or Leon's ranged support—it was Amira.
With every swing of her spear, her aura flared brighter, sharper, more unstable. The Phoenix Pact fed on her resolve, amplifying her power in violent surges that even Kulmar was forced to acknowledge.
Each clash grew heavier.
Each strike harder to intercept.
"This is getting annoying," Kulmar muttered, his tone darkening.
The shadows around him thickened, coiling like living things. With a casual motion, he forged a second blade from condensed darkness, its edge humming with corrupted aura.
Dual-wielding now.
In one fluid motion, he intercepted Amira's spear and Asuma's sword at the same time, each blade locked against his own. The impact sent shockwaves tearing through the garden, cracking stone and scattering corrupted petals into the air.
Then—
Kulmar twisted his wrists.
A crescent of compressed aura detonated outward.
The blast hurled Amira and Asuma backward, their bodies skidding across the ground as the breath was torn from their lungs.
Before they could recover, Kulmar vanished.
His shadow folded in on itself—and reappeared beneath Leon.
"What—!?" Leon barely had time to react before two massive blades came crashing down toward him.
In the split second before impact, Amira and Asuma flashed into position, crossing weapons to block the strike. The force slammed them into the ground, cratering the stone beneath their feet.
"Hmmm," Kulmar hummed, already retreating, his form dissolving back into shadow.
"He's toying with us," Amira growled, tightening her grip on her spear.
"I know," Asuma replied, eyes locked forward, jaw clenched.
"Shadow Magic: Void Step."
The shadows beneath their feet exploded upward.
Kulmar emerged from all of them at once—from behind, from below, from the walls—striking simultaneously, as if he had split into multiple versions of himself.
Steel, shadow, and lightning clashed in a storm of blows as the trio struggled to keep pace, barely holding him at bay.
But while they fought—
Urillia was failing.
The cracks in Lyra's cocoon spread faster now, pulsing like veins ready to burst. Urillia's Draak Eyes burned painfully, yet the magic before her refused to yield.
The seal resisted her.
Her breath grew uneven.
Then…..
A presence appeared beside her.
"Are you having trouble, Princess?" Kulmar's voice whispered calmly.
Urillia stiffened.
She turned sharply—only to see him standing inches away.
Her eyes snapped back to the battlefield.
The trio was still fighting Kulmar.
Her blood ran cold.
A Clone.
And not crude illusions—refined shadow replica, wielding a fraction of his power. A quarter at most.
Her gaze returned to the man beside her.
The real Kulmar.
"Are you curious, Princess," he continued, smiling faintly, "why your precious eyes aren't working?"
Urillia steadied herself, forcing her fear down.
"Are you going to educate me," she replied coolly, "or are you just stalling before you kill me?"
Kulmar's smile widened.
"Both."