Only sheer willpower remained, and neither combatant was finished yet.
The moment stretched not in silence but in tension so taut it felt like reality itself might shatter. Valeria faced the Crimson Abyssal Lion in a landscape that resembled the aftermath of divine punishment, a raw wound torn across the world.
The air trembled with residual mana; the ground beneath them defied natural laws, cracking and reforming under pressure beyond its limits. Ash drifted like snowflakes, glowing faintly where abyssal heat still lingered. Distant thunder rolled without clouds, born from mana collisions echoing over hundreds of kilometers.
Valeria exhaled slowly, blood dripping from her lips to sizzle against the scorched earth. Her vision wavered for just a moment not from fear but from exhaustion pressing at the edges of her consciousness.
The Exsanguinated Aegis had long since dissipated, her reserves were strained to their limit, yet she never loosened her grip on her sword.
