The battle had reached its peak.
Everywhere Adri looked, there was destruction.
The ground had been torn apart by countless clashes. The sanctuary's barrier was barely holding together, its surface covered in cracks that continued spreading with every passing second. Corrupted beasts surrounded the area from every direction, while the air itself seemed heavy with their dark aura.
And yet—
the battle had not reached its conclusion.
Not yet.
It had reached that dangerous point where anything could happen.
The tide could turn.
Or perhaps—
it wouldn't.
Adri's attempt to reach Mruga had done almost nothing.
For only a fraction of a second, she had seen that spark of recognition.
Then it vanished.
The collar tightened.
The darkness returned.
Mruga continued attacking her like a weapon without a will of its own.
Adri blocked another strike, but her expression was no longer calm.
Behind her, Mora was desperately crying.
"Mother!"
Her voice broke.
"Please... Mother!"
But Mruga didn't stop.
Mora looked toward Adri.
"Adri...!"
She wanted to help. She wanted to do something. Anything. But what could she do?
She was only a child.
She had no strength.
No weapon.
No power capable of changing what was happening around her.
All she could do was watch and cry.
Meanwhile, Traka stood among the chaos.
He wasn't rushing, he wasn't even fighting.
He simply watched.
A cruel smile slowly formed across his face.
The battlefield moved according to his commands.
One gesture—and the corrupted beasts changed direction.
Another— and they surrounded the sanctuary.
Another command— and Adri was forced into another defensive position.
It was almost as though the entire battlefield were a puppet stage, and Traka was the one holding every string.
He was playing with them. Testing them.
Breaking them apart little by little.
But the question remained—
How much longer would he continue?
And more importantly—
how long could they survive his game?
Adri's eyes hardened.
She had already tried to reason with Mruga.
She had tried to reach the person buried beneath the darkness, she had tried to protect everyone without seriously hurting anyone.
But after the attempt to kill Mora...
After Limbo had nearly died...
After Manah had sacrificed everything to save him...
There was no room left for hesitation.
Adri finally understood.
If she continued holding back now—
no one would survive.
Her energy began rising, the air around her trembled.
Mruga's eyes remained empty as she prepared for another attack.
Adri looked directly at her.
"I'm sorry, Mruga." Her expression changed.
"I can't hold back anymore."
Traka watched the change. His smile disappeared. He had seen enough.
There was no reason to drag this out any longer.
"Enough."
His voice carried across the battlefield.
The corrupted beasts immediately stopped.
Traka raised his hand.
"Take the boy." Then his eyes moved toward Mora. "And the girl."
A brief pause.
"And take Adri alive."
Everyone and everything moved according to his command.
A large beast stepped forward. It was enormous compared to the others, its body covered in muscles and old scars. Scratches crossed its skin, while a thick corrupted aura rolled from its body.
The beast began walking toward Limbo. He was still unconscious. Still lying on the ruined ground. Still surrounded by the faint traces of Manah's sacrifice.
The beast reached him quickly.
Adri noticed.
"Limbo!"
But Mruga immediately attacked.
BOOM!
Adri was forced to block.
Several other corrupted creatures rushed toward her, surrounding her and preventing her from reaching Limbo.
"Get out of my way!"
Adri released a burst of energy. But Mruga was already there.
The Dark Knight attacked again.
Adri was forced to fight, she couldn't reach him.
Mora saw the beast approaching Limbo, her eyes widened.
"No..."
She ran, her small feet moved as fast as they could.
"Stop!"
She knew it was useless, she knew she had no power, but she still ran.
"Don't touch him!"
The beast didn't even look at her, It reached Limbo. Its enormous hand extended toward him.
Mora screamed.
"LIMBO!"
The beast's fingers touched him.
And then—
SNAP.
A strange sound echoed through the battlefield.
The beast's expression changed.
BOOOOOOM!
An invisible force exploded outward.
The massive creature was thrown backward as if struck by something far stronger than itself.
It crashed into the ground and rolled several meters before finally stopping.
Silence.
For a brief moment—
the entire battlefield went quiet.
Every eye turned toward Limbo.
Even Traka's expression changed.
"What...?"
What was happening.
When the smoke clear, something unexpectable happened.
Limbo's arm was glowing. Thin blue lines had appeared across his skin. At first, they were only visible around his arm. Then they slowly spread, across his shoulder, across his chest, Across his neck ,then his entire body.
The markings continued expanding like an intricate network of blue light beneath his skin. His silver hair was stained with his own blood. Yet beneath that blood, the strange blue-white glow reflected across his face.
Mora stopped moving.
Adri froze for a moment. Even Mruga's movements slowed.
Something was wrong.
This wasn't simply recovery.
It wasn't the result of Manah's sacrifice alone. The Guardian had given everything.
The recovery protocol had been working.
But this—
this was something else. Something that didn't fit.
Someone standing on the edge of death wasn't supposed to suddenly rise with such power. There was no explanation.
No common logic.
No known rule that could explain what they were witnessing.
It wasn't a miracle.
At least—
it didn't feel like one.
This felt different. Completely different.
And Traka felt it too.
For the first time since the battle began, something inside him screamed.
Kill him. Immediately. Kill the boy.
Traka's instincts were screaming at him.
He didn't understand why. He had never expected this feeling.
His eyes narrowed.
"Kill him." The surrounding beasts reacted.
"Now!"
Then Traka looked toward Mruga.
"Mruga." His voice became cold. "Kill the boy first."
Mruga turned. The Dark Knight moved toward Limbo. Adri tried to intercept her. But the surrounding beasts rushed toward Adri at the same time.
"Move!"
Adri released her energy.
The creatures surrounded her from every side. She couldn't break through quickly enough. Mruga reached Limbo. Her hand moved toward her sword.
She drew it.
Dark green energy erupted from the blade.
It resembled the power of nature— but corrupted. Twisted. Drowned in darkness.
Mruga raised the sword. And brought it down with all her strength.
💥 BOOM!
The attack never reached Limbo. An invisible barrier appeared around him.
The sword struck it. The force exploded outward.
Mruga was thrown backward.
Adri stared. "What...?"
Limbo's body remained standing.
His wounds were healing. Rapidly.
But there was something deeply unsettling about him. He didn't look like someone who had simply awakened from deathdoor.
He didn't look like the same Limbo.
It was as if—
someone else was standing inside his body.
His posture changed.
His presence changed.
The blue markings continued glowing across his body.
Then his eyes opened.
Blue-white.
Cold. Empty.
They didn't look at Mora.
They didn't look at Adri.
They didn't look at Mruga.
They moved directly toward—
Traka.
For the first time, Traka didn't have time to react.
Limbo raised his hand. Lightning gathered.
Not a normal lightning bullet. Not the techniques Limbo had used before.
Something far more violent.
A spear of lightning formed instantly.
Then—
BOOM!
It shot across the battlefield.
Traka barely realized what was happening.
The spear had struck him.
His arm was pierced.
The force tore through it with such violence that his arm was ripped away from his body.
"AAAGHHH!"
The attack didn't stop.
The lightning continued forward.
It tore through the corrupted beasts standing behind him.
One after another.
The horde was annihilated along its path.
The forest trembled. The ground cracked.
Traka stared at the place where his arm had been.
For several seconds, he couldn't understand what had happened.
Then the pain reached him with realisation.
"My... arm..." His expression twisted.
"MY ARM!" His scream echoed through the forest. "AAAHHH!" He clutched the wound.
"It hurts!"
His voice became filled with rage.
"You'll pay for what you did!"
But something else had happened.
The moment the attack struck Traka—
the control over Mruga's collar weakened.
Only slightly. But enough.
Mruga staggered. Her eyes widened.
The darkness clouding her mind loosened for a brief moment. She looked around.
She saw Adri.
She saw Mora.
Then—
she saw Limbo.
Her eyes widened.
Something inside her sparked again.
Memories.
Confusion.
Recognition.
She looked toward Mora.
"Mora..."
Her voice was weak.
Then she looked at Adri.
"Adri..."
The collar immediately began tightening again.
Mruga's hand went toward her neck.
She struggled against it.
"Y-you..."
Her breathing became unstable.
Adri stared at her.
"Mruga!"
Mruga forced the words out.
"You should... leave..."
Adri's eyes widened.
"What?"
Mruga looked toward Limbo.
Her voice trembled.
"He's... not... the..."
The collar tightened. Mruga gasped.
She tried again.
"He's... not... the..."
CRACK.
The dark energy around the collar intensified. Mruga's body shook violently.
Traka immediately noticed.
His expression turned furious.
"So..."
He raised his remaining hand.
"Still trying to resist?"
The collar tightened even further.
Mruga dropped to one knee.
Adri's eyes widened.
"STOP!"
Traka ignored her.
He strengthened his control.
Mruga struggled to breathe.
The words she had been trying to reveal were swallowed by the darkness.
And across the battlefield—
Limbo stood silently.
Blue-white eyes fixed on Traka. His body continued glowing with those strange blue markings.
No expression.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Only an unfamiliar presence.
And for the first time— Traka was no longer certain that he was the one controlling the battlefield.