At this moment, within Seraphine’s 'eye,' the interior landscape of that parallel reality beyond reality unfolded—dreamlike and impossibly surreal.

  That parallel universe resembled a pane of frosted glass, its surface dotted with endless dewdrops.

  It appeared both near and far, empty yet dense, solid yet ephemeral, like drifting mist.

  “High-dimensional senses... can perceive other universes? That’s beyond miraculous.”

  Standing upon the moon’s surface, Seraphine sharpened her focus, ‘looking’ toward that translucent ‘glass.’

  Or rather, toward another parallel universe. Another real world.

  With just one glance, she saw that the universe stretched out to infinity.

  Above, below, to every side—it was without end.

  No matter the direction she scanned, this universe-beyond-the-universe seemed to encircle her completely.

  It appeared thin and fragile, yet carried a weight that felt immeasurable.

  Faintly, Seraphine could ‘see’ that within that reality flowed countless spirits, infinite lives wandering in a great stream of motion and energy.

  “The cosmos is boundless, its end unknowable; even vast nebulae are but drifting specks of dust.”

  The thought surfaced in her mind, wrapped in awe.

  Then, within her expanded field of vision—beyond that first layer of parallel reality—another one gradually emerged, drifting closer, enveloping her sight completely.

  Then a third, a fourth, a fifth… a sixth…

  Layer upon layer.

  Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands of alternate realities.

  Until—whether it was hundreds of millions, billions, or even trillions—these countless parallel universes filled the entirety of Seraphine’s awareness.

  At that moment, she was like a traveler suspended in the void.

  Gazing in every direction.

  In her ‘vision’ shimmered layer after layer of blurred yet infinitely vast alternate realities.

  With wide eyes, Seraphine murmured in awe:

  “To witness the universe from this vantage… it’s truly breathtaking.”

  Just then, she once again activated the light pattern on her forehead, gazing ‘farther’ and ‘higher,’ into deeper dimensions.

  Her perception sharpened—intensified.

  And finally, Seraphine beheld an even more transcendent sight.

  She ‘saw’ it—above this three-dimensional existence, above the countless strata of parallel universes, at a place of infinite altitude and unfathomable depth—a titanic expanse of spacetime stretched across the cosmos like a divine canopy.

  That space-time structure resembled a pyramid—layered, stacked upon itself endlessly.

  Seraphine could clearly feel the immense energy contained within.

  It was as if these higher worlds—composed purely of energy—had formed through the same mysterious process.

  “Higher Dimensions!”

  The term echoed in her mind, as if placed there by some primordial instinct.

  Then she looked ‘downward’—to the deepest recesses of existence.

  Between the folds of reality and unreality, an expanse the size of a universe suddenly emerged.

  It shimmered in and out of existence, seemingly acting as a bridge that linked this universe to an infinite number of others.

  “The Sentience Realm!”

  Letting out a slow breath, Seraphine steadied her thoughts and softly reflected:

  “The three-dimensional world is built from matter; the Sentience Realm void is structured from information; and the higher-dimensional realm is composed entirely of energy.

  This... this is the true structure of the creation.”

  Setting aside all distraction, she began attempting to absorb the mysterious, pure energy of that high-dimensional domain.

  Hum ——

  The light pattern on her forehead began to tremble faintly, pulling her awareness beyond the bounds of reality.

  Seraphine understood immediately: her high-dimensional perception was carrying her beyond the limits of conventional space, launching her into the vast ‘ocean’ of layered existence—to connect her directly with that infinitely distant high-dimensional space above all.

  Whoosh ~

  In an instant, dozens of parallel realities blurred past.

  Then hundreds… then tens of thousands… then hundreds of millions.

  Seraphine’s consciousness surged across unfathomable distances—piercing through layers upon layers of parallel worlds—until it finally reached a realm greater and more expansive than all of them combined:

  A true high-dimensional space.

  She gently reached out and grasped a wisp of its contained energy—and in a flash, it pierced back through the infinite layers of reality and poured directly into her body and soul.

  Boom!!!

  Seraphine felt her life essence ignite—elevate.

  Like a sightless, soundless chrysalis suddenly breathing in all four seasons in a single moment… and transforming into a radiant butterfly.

  At the same time, dazzling and otherworldly visions surged into her mind—strange alien phenomena of indescribable beauty and complexity.

  Everything around her went still—utterly frozen in time.

  Her body seemed to dissolve—disintegrating into invisible wisps of aura.

  These fragments floated, rearranged, and reconstituted themselves into a majestic, hidden force interwoven with the deep architecture of the universe.

  She had become something else.

  A vast and silent will.

  Soaring through the stars, embedded beneath the moon’s crust, gliding between worlds.

  Feeling the subtle, omnipresent fluctuations in spacetime across the whole cosmos.

  In that moment, Seraphine understood:

  Her physical and soul attribute values had not changed dramatically.

  Instead, she had broken through a limit—a cap on her growth.

  She was evolving—ascending—from a lower-dimensional being into a higher-dimensional one.

  And more importantly—

  From now on, she would no longer be bound by Ether activity levels.

  Wherever she was, in any time or place, she could absorb boundless high-dimensional energy, continuously uplifting and refining both body and soul.

  “The threshold for this Skyroot Codex is impossibly high,” Seraphine reflected quietly.

  “It’s very likely that only I can cultivate it. Any ordinary three-dimensional lifeform… the moment they receive pure high-dimensional energy, they’d be annihilated instantly—body and soul.”

  “Even awakening high-dimensional perception is something far beyond the reach of typical lower-dimensional beings.”

  Seraphine slowly opened her eyes — divine radiance bursting in all directions.

  Whoosh ——

  A vast, boundless, and utterly emotionless aura exploded outward from her body, flooding the entire moon in less than a second.

  Cultivation had begun.

  Here and now, Seraphine intended to unlock each of the Nine Heavenly Gates — formally ascending to the apex of the Martial Saint Realm.

  She anticipated that following this breakthrough, her attribute values would skyrocket beyond anything she had ever achieved before.

  For a typical cultivator, progressing from the early stage of Martial Saint to its peak might result in a several tens-of-thousands-fold increase in stats.

  But for her?

  That would be just the beginning.

  Clearing her mind of distractions, Seraphine entered meditation, voraciously drawing in high-dimensional energy.

  Yet just as her cultivation commenced, a massive shift erupted in the outside world.

  The ambient Ether, which had been flowing slowly, suddenly surged into violent motion.

  Boom!

  Every atom, molecule, and subatomic particle in the surrounding environment began vibrating wildly, scattering shimmering light in every direction.

  It was as though every point in space had turned into a living Ether valve — endlessly gushing out torrents of energy.

  The entire moon began to hum and tremble.

  Even beams of Ether light—visible to the naked eye—began manifesting from nothingness, streaking across the void of space.

  “The second great Ether tide?!”

  Seraphine’s eyes snapped open, a trace of alarm flickering within them.

  This was far ahead of schedule. Even with deviations in the plot, this was… absurd.

  She let out a dry laugh, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “I created the Skyroot Codex specifically to free myself from Ether dependency… and now, right after it's completed, the Ether decides to fully recover?”

  Even so, it was oddly convenient. With the Skyroot Codex in hand, she was now immune to fluctuations in the external Ether environment.

  No matter where in the universe she found herself, Seraphine could absorb pure high-dimensional energy without restriction — cultivating without hindrance.

  Having come to terms with it, she ignored the turbulence outside and refocused on her breakthrough.

  But only a few minutes passed before the Ether surged again — this time by another hundredfold.

  “A third Ether tide? A double-tide overlay?”

  Her brows furrowed slightly.

  “What is this? Repeated Ether recoveries? If this continues, Earth is going to spiral into total chaos…”

  Her gaze turned toward the distant blue planet, 380,000 kilometers away.

  She murmured softly:

  “Fine. Once I finish cultivating, I’ll unify Earth. If anyone resists… I’ll just wipe them out. The plot has already mutated this far — the Mercury race or even greater threats could descend at any moment. There's no time left.”

  Resolving herself, she returned to a state of calm and resumed her breakthrough.

  Suddenly, her clone stationed at the Sapphire Research Institute received a transmission from the Imperial Palace—

  【Emperor of Emberlight, Dead】

  Back on Earth, Ether activity surged at an unprecedented rate — and global chaos followed immediately.

  In just a short span, the Ether density increased ten-thousandfold, triggering a biological frenzy across the planet.

  In the Amazon rainforest — already a paradise of dense growth — trees thickened by several layers and shot up to many times their original height in mere minutes. Some grew seven or eight times taller.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A few ancient trees, thousands of years old, reached heights of several hundred meters.

  And at the very core of the rainforest, the oldest and most colossal giants suddenly erupted skyward — growing to an unfathomable one thousand meters in height, their titanic, serpentine roots lashing out to consume vast tracts of jungle.

  Even more terrifying — the trees began to exhibit terrifying aggression.

  Mutated animals in the area were instantly ensnared, constricted, crushed, torn limb from limb, and devoured by thousands of writhing branches and vines.

  Within moments, the Amazon had transformed into a nightmarish biomechanical slaughterhouse.

  Tens of thousands of humans — hunters, explorers, botanists, backpackers, traders — found themselves trapped in this hellscape, caught in scenes more gruesome than any outdated jungle horror flick from a bygone Hollywood era.

  Simultaneously, wildlife across the planet — from forests to plains — began howling to the skies, their bodies undergoing explosive transformation.

  In the vast plains of Flameland, mastiffs larger than elephants emerged; pythons as long as passenger trains; lions the size of military tanks; and giant elephants towering like small mountains.

  An overwhelming tide of mutated, monstrous beasts began flooding the land.

  Mass casualties followed — countless and unstoppable.

  Meanwhile, across the vast oceans covering most of Earth’s surface, countless deep-sea beasts once again began to swell in size.

  Some terrifying leviathans lurking in the deepest oceanic trenches even entered a frenzied state of cerebral evolution—vaguely beginning to show signs of intelligence.

  At the same time, dramatic changes were erupting within the human population as well.

  The majority—those with limited potential—might not have awakened any superpowers. Yet their bodies overflowed with surging energy, to the point of feeling like they were about to explode. Many became hyperactive, irritable, quick to anger, even bloodthirsty.

  Under such influence, societies in various nations rapidly spiraled into chaos.

  Fights broke out on streets in every city. "Martial virtue" ran rampant, with Beaconreach martial arts being "exchanged" through brutal brawls.

  Robberies by small groups, mass zero-dollar “shopping” sprees by hundreds, even large-scale armed raids on financial institutions—these became increasingly common.

  In warlord-controlled territories, mass extermination campaigns targeting civilians began to emerge, with victims numbering in the thousands—or even tens of thousands.

  Blood and chaos rapidly engulfed fragile nations and the more “free” developed countries alike.

  At the same time, existing innate superpower users—along with the newly awakened ones from the first great Ether tide—all experienced another explosive leap in strength.

  And this time, the increase was even more outrageous.

  Hundreds to thousands of times, tens of thousands of times…

  Some individuals even experienced instantaneous growth at a scale of tens or hundreds of thousands of times their previous power.

  Take for example: Supreme Leader Tom, holed up in the Gray Palace, scheming to plunge the world into total ruin.

  —Capital of Beaconreach.

  Inside the Gray Palace, in the supreme leader’s office.

  At this moment, Old Tom was leaning back in his recliner, one arm behind his head, gently rocking. He was humming an old Greek folk tune, clearly in high spirits.

  “Ether burst, ah ah ah ah~ the blessing of the Great Eye…”

  Grinning wide, his mouth full of sharp fangs, he chuckled darkly: “Slaughter, destruction, annihilation… Let it all flood toward me, make me stronger!”

  Hum ~~~~

  Centered on Old Tom’s relaxed frame, countless blood-red lines—imperceptible to normal eyes—began to rapidly slither outward.

  Like a massive, endlessly expanding spiderweb soaked in blood, it spread across the entire office in the blink of an eye. Walls, doors, vehicles, gardens, vegetation, stone—nothing could resist the tide of blood-patterns oozing outward in all directions.

  All were engulfed. All were penetrated.

  Moments later—

  The blood-veined markings, now faintly emanating a sinister aura, finally stopped spreading.

  Their reach now spanned over half of Beaconreach’s capital.

  Nighttime — coastal outskirts of the capital.

  “Cough ~ Ptooey!”

  A white man in an oil-stained mechanic’s uniform staggered out from a small pub, reeking of booze.

  “Damn it! Lost again!”

  The mechanic spat bitterly and turned, clearly wanting to kick the front door—but didn’t dare.

  He still owed the bartender money, after all.

  After a moment’s hesitation, he angrily kicked the support beam next to the side entrance instead.

  Creak...

  But the pillar was far too solid. His toes instantly screamed in pain.

  “OW! Ow ow ow!”

  Clutching his foot, the mechanic cursed under his breath, hobbling in place.

  Just then, a tall, rotund black man with a prominent beer belly casually strolled past.

  The mechanic—broke, drunk, and angry—blankly stared at the man’s thick golden chain. His eyes gradually reddened.

  Swallowing hard, he slowly reached behind his waist, pulling out an iron crank handle.

  He began to follow the man at a distance, his steps heavy and slow, gaze locked forward.

  A few blocks later, the two men—one ahead, one behind—crossed multiple intersections and reached the darkened coast.

  No streetlights. Just pitch black silence.

  Whoosh...

  Whoosh~~

  Aside from the ceaseless sea wind and the ebb and flow of the tides, behind the black man were only those crimson eyes—growing closer by the second.

  He suddenly sensed something was wrong. He stopped mid-step, frowning as he turned around.

  Unexpectedly, a crank handle came swinging straight at his head.

  Bang!

  Blood splattered. The plump black man's body stiffened, then collapsed like a sack of meat.

  Seeing his target fall, the white car worker rushed forward, straddled the man’s stomach, and with ragged breaths and a savage glare, began slamming the crank handle into the man’s bloated face.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Bang... CRACK!

  "Hoo hoo... Hoo hoo..."

  After more than a dozen brutal strikes, the white man was drenched in sweat, wheezing like a broken bellows. His face and body were streaked with red and white, a grotesque tableau of flesh, blood, and exhaustion.

  He gasped, reaching down into the gore to yank free a blood-slicked gold chain.

  "Hoo ~ Got money!"

  Staring at the chain in his hand, he let out a wheezing laugh. His face, still gushing blood and tissue, looked downright monstrous in the dim light.

  After a dazed pause, he hunched over and began dragging the corpse. His face was blank, his lip quivering in frustration. Grunting, he hauled the heavy body toward the seaside railing about ten meters away.

  Thick red-and-white sludge smeared across the rusted iron bars.

  He planned to toss the black man into the sea, to erase all evidence.

  "Ugh!" Puffing out his cheeks, the car worker shoved the corpse outward with a heave.

  But just as the body was halfway over, teetering at the edge, he looked up—only to meet the shattered, twisted head.

  The black man's remaining eye stared straight at him.

  Locked onto him.

  "Ah!"

  The white man nearly had a heart attack. Screaming, he threw his full weight into the push and flung the corpse over the railing.

  Splash!

  The stiff body hit the water, floated for a breath… then began to sink.

  But even as it descended into the dark waves, the eye stayed fixed on him—relentless, vengeful, unwavering.

  "Hoo... Hoo..."

  "Illusion! It’s just an illusion!"

  The car worker began punching his own head, muttering under his breath, trying to shake it off.

  After a few more ragged breaths, he staggered away, vanishing into the night.

  A moment later—

  Once he was gone, web-like blood-red lines began to emerge from the shadowy corners of the ground and railing.

  These linear markings—almost alive—split open with eerie silence. From within, slender crimson tongues slithered out, licking up the spilled blood and chunks of gore left behind.

  Some tongues stretched impossibly far, writhing through the air like feelers.

  "Ah... Ah..."

  From the swaying tongues came a faint, mournful wail.

  It was the black man’s voice.

  His soul—what little remained of it—was being devoured, licked away without mercy.

  And this was not the only place.

  All across the vast blood-marked area, similar events were unfolding.

  Every act of slaughter, every drop of blood, was feeding old Tom.

  And he was growing stronger.

  At that same moment—

  Far from the city, over a hundred kilometers outside Beaconreach’s capital, deep within the Great Waterfall National Park, a massive pyramid-like structure suddenly appeared.

  Inside, dozens of ancient consciousnesses stirred.

  The pyramid—nearly a full kilometer long—glowed with blinding light, hovering silently above the endless forest canopy.

  Below it, the earth churned.

  As if clawed by a thousand invisible hands, soil and stone were being torn from the ground in waves beneath the massive force field humming beneath the floating colossus. Trees trembled violently under the pressure.

  Then—

  With a thunderous crack, the massive doors of the pyramid slid open, and three colossal humanoid figures—each standing four to five meters tall—burst forth, slamming down onto the ground.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The impact shook the forest floor. Cracks snaked across the earth.

  The largest of the giants slowly rose to its full height. It opened its massive mouth and took a greedy breath.

  "Hiss ——"

  As it inhaled, countless dark holes appeared all over its body. In unison with its mouth and nose, they began sucking in air.

  Whoosh!!

  In an instant, the hundred-meter radius around them turned into a tempest. Massive trees quaked violently, their leaves and branches ripped away by the howling wind. Everything was swept into the storm, swirling madly around the towering giant, feeding the already-chaotic vortex with even greater ferocity.

  Whoosh ——

  The giant exhaled.

  Bang!!

  The surrounding winds compressed into a dense ring, which shattered instantly—unleashing a devastating shockwave that thundered outward in every direction.

  Bang bang bang bang bang!!!

  Trees cracked like matchsticks and toppled in droves, shaking the earth with every crash.

  Nearby, a slightly shorter humanoid giant—its entire body crawling with shifting, grayish-white insect eggs—let out a raspy, malicious chuckle:

  "Fengao, looks like you’ve gotten stronger."

  Fengao’s body pulsed with rhythmically expanding black voids.

  Turning to face the egg-covered giant, he chuckled:

  "This planet’s Ether density is over a hundred times greater than in our era. I’m at least fifteen times stronger than before. And I’m still getting stronger."

  The third giant—its head a writhing mass of blood-red tendrils—cackled wildly:

  "With Ether this thick, I bet the humans taste even better now, don’t they?"

  The other two burst into loud laughter.

  "Hahahaha! That last batch of intelligent life was so scarce, we devoured them before we even noticed. This time, I’m going to savor it slowly."

  "No worries, Cengmu. This planet’s current species breeds like mad. I’ve heard they’re impressively reproductive."

  At that, Fengao’s expression grew more solemn.

  "The King and the Lords… they’ve fallen into deep slumber because of this Ether surge. Once they awaken, how much more powerful will they be?"

  Cengmu, the insect-egg giant, stopped laughing as well.

  "Who knows? That’s not for small fry like us to worry about. Let’s focus on the mission."

  "The mission... just surface cleansing, right?"

  The blood-tendril giant—Manzang—grinned, baring rows of dagger-like teeth.

  "Those weaklings aren’t even worth our time. Let the Mist Demons handle them."

  Fengao nodded.

  "Manzang is right. The Mist Demons are a battle force we cultivated ourselves—fearless, savage, and born for slaughter. They’ll do fine. The three of us just need to hold the perimeter."

  Cengmu’s tone turned cold and low.

  "That said… Manzang, did you bring the Wild Nest?"

  Manzang ran a hand through his blood-soaked tendrils and grinned wickedly.

  "Of course I did."

  Without hesitation, he raised his arm—and splorch!—jammed it deep into his own abdomen.

  Gurgle squelch gurgle squelch ~

  Amid the disgusting squirm of wet flesh and viscera, he slowly pulled a half-meter-long black hexagonal stone pillar from his gut and slammed it into the ground.

  The moment the black pillar touched down, it was as if a dormant circuit had been triggered. Crackling, twitching, and expanding rapidly, the pillar began to transform—growing in size at an alarming rate.

  Meanwhile…

  Back in Beaconreach, military satellites and the panoramic defense system had already detected the massive floating pyramid structure.

  The response was immediate.

  Thump thump thump thump ——

  Dozens of military helicopters roared across the sky, blades chopping the wind as they banked sharply toward Great Waterfall National Park.

  Clank clank clank clank clank ——

  Below them, tanks and armored vehicles rolled out in formation. Their treads crushed concrete as entire regiments of armed soldiers mobilized, racing toward the looming threat.

  This force was just the initial response—a probe and containment unit sent to encircle the alien pyramid.

  Even more reinforcements were already en route from every direction.

  Because make no mistake—

  If a thousand-meter-tall, pyramid-shaped flying object suddenly materialized within a nation's borders, no government would sit idle.

  Whether it was a potential threat or a monumental scientific discovery, it demanded full attention.

  Thump thump thump thump thump thump ——

  Moments later, the first wave of helicopters arrived.

  By now, the black pillar had already expanded into a hundred-meter-high, purplish-red, pulsating sac—constantly swelling and contracting like a colossal alien heart.

  It throbbed and gurgled with life, and the grotesque sight sent a chill through the bones of the helicopter crews observing from a distance.

  They clenched their teeth, swallowed their dread, and radioed in for orders.

  "Target spotted! Do we engage?!"

  "Target spotted! Do we engage?!"

  "Target spotted! Do we engage?!"

  "..."

  "Permission to engage!"

  A stern voice crackled over the radio.

  "Understood!"

  "Understood!"

  "Understood!"

  With orders confirmed, the helicopters unleashed a barrage—dozens of rockets screamed toward the pulsating, purplish-red sac.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!

  White trails streaked through the air as missiles tore toward their targets—both the sac and the three towering giants standing calmly nearby.

  Boom! Rumble rumble rumble!!!!

  Explosions erupted across the landscape, ripping through soil, stone, and trees. In an instant, the park was engulfed in a sea of flame.

  Whoosh ——

  But only moments later, an enormous force burst from the heart of the inferno, rocketing skyward.

  At the same time, Beaconreach’s ground forces arrived on scene. Over a hundred tanks and armored vehicles rolled forward with thundering groans, surrounding the area in a tight perimeter.

  Then it came.

  Hum ~~~

  A strange, rhythmic vibration echoed from above, pulsing through the thick cloud cover.

  "Huh?"

  A Beaconreach soldier, riding in the back of an IFV, poked his head out the hatch. He squinted at the sky and murmured:

  "Why does that sound make me feel sick to my stomach...?"

  He looked up—and froze.

  A pitch-black vortex was blooming across the heavens, expanding rapidly and blotting out the sun. His face, already pale, dimmed further under the growing shadow.

  All around him, Beaconreach soldiers halted in place, stunned, gazes lifted toward the sky. The massive dark cloud had grown to several hundred meters wide—and it was still spreading.

  "What... is that?!"

  At a command center near the hexagonal structure, a group of high-ranking officers stared at their monitors, unease crawling up their spines like ice.

  Whoosh whoosh whoosh ———

  Hum!!!

  The black cloud, now several kilometers wide, abruptly halted. Then it began to pulse—emitting sharp, grating buzzes that drilled straight into the ears and hearts of those below.

  The sound intensified rapidly, like a swarm approaching at terrifying speed.

  "My head—!!"

  "It's unbearable!"

  "What the hell is that?!"

  Soldiers below clutched their skulls, grimacing in pain.

  Then, with a blinding crimson glow, the black cloud ignited.

  CRACK!!!!

  A heavy, deafening sound rippled through the air.

  And from that blood-red, spinning disk-cloud, tens of thousands of humanoid figures erupted—made of mist and fire, screaming as they plunged toward the stunned Beaconreach forces.

  They were Mist Demons—the Aurora Clan’s brutal, bioengineered warriors.

  "Heh heh."

  Below, amidst clouds of rising dust, Manzang stood with arms crossed, smirking. Beside him, Fengao and Cengmu watched eagerly, their cruel eyes filled with anticipation.

  "Roar!!"

  "Howl!!!"

  "Yell!!!"

  The helicopters were the first to be hit. Screaming Mist Demons collided with the aircraft mid-flight, tearing them to shreds, sending debris spiraling down in fiery ruin.

  Then the ground forces fell under siege.

  Panicked soldiers raised their weapons, opening fire on the incoming swarm.

  Clatter clatter clatter!

  Clatter clatter clatter clatter clatter!

  But it was no use. The bullets passed through the demons without slowing them down. In seconds, the frontlines were overwhelmed—soldiers were ripped apart, burned alive, reduced to ashes.

  "Aaaagh!!"

  "Help!!"

  "What are these monsters?!"

  "They’re demons! Real demons!!"

  "This... this is Hell's army!!"

  Tanks and armored vehicles still untouched by the onslaught began to panic, ignoring commands. Their treads spun furiously, trying to flee the chaos.

  But the Mist Demons weren’t finished.

  They surged forward like living firestorms, surrounding the fleeing vehicles with ease. Some transformed into burning pillars of smoke and flame, slamming into steel hulls and melting through them.

  "What the hell are these things?!"

  Inside a tank, the driver shouted, hands trembling as he tried to load a shell. But then—the air around him grew red-hot. The gaps in the control console glowed.

  Sizzle sizzle sizzle ———

  Tiny, ember-laced wisps began leaking in through the cracks. His eyes widened in horror as they pierced his body.

  "AaaAAH!!"

  In seconds, he was a shrieking, flailing mess—until nothing remained but a smoking skeleton, charred and twisted.

  And this horror played out again and again.

  Some vehicles were cooked from the inside by smoke. Others were surrounded by Mist Demons, their hulls compressed and scorched, turning into warped, glowing coffins of molten iron.

  A few Mist Demons fused into a blazing torrent and plowed through the fleeing convoy, flattening tanks like soda cans—turning steel to lava.

  Within minutes, the Beaconreach forces in the park were utterly annihilated.

  At military command, grim-faced generals stared at the screens in silence.

  The operation to capture the pyramid had ended in total failure.

  In the center of the room, a general clenched his fists and roared:

  "Fuck! What the hell is this?! Is Hell even real?! Are those demons or aliens?!"

  The situation had spiraled far beyond their comprehension.

  Within Beaconreach's capital, emergency evacuation protocols began instantly.

  But not everyone was panicking.

  Old Tom, watching it all unfold, was positively giddy. He thrived in chaos.

  Feeling power swell within him, he laughed quietly to himself.

  "More... kill more... yes, yes, ah ah ah ah!"

  Whoosh ———

  Fierce, searing winds howled across the sky.

  Above the Great Waterfall National Park, the crimson vortex still spun violently, spewing forth an unending stream of Mist Demons.

  "ROAR!!!"

  "HOWL!!!"

  "SCREECH!!!"

  The burning mist-creatures shrieked as they swarmed together, forming a blazing wave of heat and hatred—and then surged toward the distant capital of Beaconreach.