This was not a fight between ordinary creatures.

  In front of Ale, the gigantic bird covered in black flames shot up from the ground and soared toward the temple’s sky. Its wings beat violently, scattering bursts of dark fire in every direction.

  Then it dove.

  Balls of molten flame rained down in waves toward the massive elk below.

  They fell at terrifying speed, slamming into the stone with such force that the ground shook with every impact.

  Ale stood frozen.

  It felt unreal.

  The elk—huge just moments ago—suddenly began to shrink. In less than a second, it was no bigger than a kitten.

  Tiny.

  It dashed forward at incredible speed, slipping between explosions with unbelievable agility. Flames crashed down all around it, but not a single spark touched its body.

  Then, at the exact moment the phoenix passed overhead, the elk leapt.

  Its body expanded instantly.

  It returned to its original size.

  Then it grew larger.

  Twice as big.

  Then three times.

  Its antlers stretched outward, enormous, oversized—like living spears.

  With a perfectly calculated motion, it struck toward the sky.

  The antlers pierced straight through the shadow phoenix.

  Ale held his breath.

  But…

  Lirden felt nothing.

  No resistance.

  No flesh.

  No impact.

  The phoenix’s body shattered on contact, breaking apart into countless fragments of black smoke.

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  Then the smoke swirled.

  Gathered.

  And slowly reformed into the shape of the phoenix.

  Unharmed.

  But it wasn’t over.

  Ale saw the black smoke tremble… then split apart.

  A second silhouette appeared.

  Then a third.

  Then ten.

  Then a hundred.

  The swirling shadows multiplied at a terrifying speed. All across the temple sky, black phoenixes began to form, rising like shattered reflections of the same nightmare.

  The ceiling disappeared behind a blazing mass.

  Within seconds, the entire sky was swallowed by a storm of black flames.

  Hundreds.

  No… thousands.

  Ale felt his heart tighten.

  “How… is this possible…?”

  His gaze shook.

  “I’m not… still dreaming… am I?”

  The wings opened in perfect unison.

  One single beat.

  The world trembled.

  But Lirden did not stand still.

  Still in his elk form, his antlers began to grow.

  They widened.

  They lengthened.

  They split and branched.

  The massive racks spread in every direction, covering the ground and rising toward the sky. They crossed, twisted, overlapped—layer after layer—forming a living structure.

  A wall.

  Then a dome.

  Then an entire fortress made of living wood.

  Roots drilled deep into the cracked stone.

  Branches thickened like pillars.

  A citadel born in seconds.

  Lirden stood at the center, unmoving.

  Ready to endure.

  High above, thousands of beaks opened.

  And the black flames began to fall.

  Like thousands of arrows fired at once,

  the phoenixes beat their wings.

  Black flames shot forward in perfect sync.

  A first wave.

  Then a second.

  Then a third.

  Each surge pushed the one before it, forming a massive tide of darkness that crashed down on the wooden fortress.

  The impact was apocalyptic.

  The living shell groaned.

  The outer layers tore apart.

  Chunks of wood were ripped away, shattered, burned to ash.

  Wave after wave, the sea of fire kept grinding the structure down.

  Layer after layer.

  The fortress was getting thinner.

  It was holding… but it was being pushed back.

  What a sight… Ale couldn’t help thinking.

  It was grand. Terrifying. Beautiful.

  But he didn’t have time to admire it.

  The black tide was overflowing.

  It slipped around the fortress, seeped through cracks, and began advancing toward him.

  Ale was still in the form of a golden sphere.

  Frozen.

  Exposed.

  “But…”

  He felt the heat getting closer.

  Instinctively, he tried to move.

  He focused.

  He forced himself.

  The sphere trembled…

  It barely shifted.

  Not enough.

  His heart tightened.

  This is the end.

  “If only… I had wings…”

  The moment the thought formed—

  A sharp pain exploded through his back.

  The golden light split open.

  Two shapes burst out from both sides of the sphere, breaking free like buds under pressure.

  Wings.

  Wide. Radiant. Alive.

  With one instinctive beat, the sphere lifted off the ground.

  Ale rose into the air.

  The wave of black flames swept through the place where he had been standing just a second before.

  He climbed higher.

  Faster.

  Wind brushed against his glowing form.

  “But…”

  He hovered in midair for a moment.

  I’m… flying?

  The realization hit him.

  This world…

  It answered his will.