The army pushed further and further. Massive spells fell from the sky as elves in flowing white robes began to land, cutting down hundreds of monsters with each swipe of their blades. The Celestial Elves committed to the fray, as the Immortal Sages arrived to enact the Celestial Emperor’s decree. Liulëa was reunited with Amulius’s party once again. Other warriors began to arrive from species and lands even the Empire had never encountered, from the far-flung edges of the world.

But even with their help, the advance began to slow. The further they pushed into the continent and the further the hole in the sky grew, the slower the flows of Holy mana empowering Ateia. She felt her connection to the Material plane grow dimmer and dimmer as they moved deeper into the wound in the world, even as the Rifts grew larger and more frequent.

However, they managed to make it within visual range of the center, at least for the advanced sensors of the CELIU units. Ateia’s organic eye narrowed as her robotic eye twisted and zoomed in. She flew over to Snuan’s flagship and landed on top of it.

She pointed to the center of a crater ahead, where the Herald of the New Dawn stood in the center.

“I want every gun we have to fire on that man.”

All of Seero’s airships turned to face the crater, charging up their railguns. Melion and Lilussees both landed on the airship. Melion’s railgun began charging as well, while Lilussees linked to every CELIU unit and drone she could to form as many Prismatic Bombardment circles as her maximum effort could sustain. Ateia began to glow as bright as the sun as she filled each and every spell, missile, and railgun projectile with as much Holy mana as she had available.

“Do it.”

The continent rumbled as every railgun in Seero’s arsenal opened fire at once, at maximum power. The dark sky lit up as the Prismatic Bombardment circles fused all of their beams together into a trail of light that split the heavens in two. Every drone, airship, and CELIU unit fired their entire missile arsenal. 00B fired his cannon up into an arc, while Uscfrea commanded the Dobhar to add more conventional artillery into the barrage.

And the Herald of the New Dawn…simply smirked.

Just before the barrage began, a truly massive Rift began to form in front of him. All of the spells and projectiles passed through the Rift, traveling into the Realms of Mana instead. Not one landed on their target.

And then…the temperature on the battlefield rose dramatically.

A massive foot made entirely of fire stepped out of the Rift. A hand made of flames grabbed the edges and pulled. A huge body emerged, towering over the battlefield.

This was no mere elemental. This was an incarnation of one of the Domides themselves. The Lord of Inferno, He Who Burns the Foundations of the World.

It lifted a hand, and a stream of fire exploded out. It set fire to every monster in its path. It set fire to the black stone of the continent. It set fire to the air itself. It even set fire to the mana pouring out from the other Realms.

It was no mere flame, but the very concept of burning made real. A fire that could burn down all that it touched.

Lilussees swapped to the defense, creating a massive barrier. But the fire spread across the barrier, burning it down as well. Ateia, Lilussees, and Melion were forced to jump away as the flagship was engulfed in flames. The spatial angling of the dungeon airship held out for just a moment before the flames traveled through, and set fire to the dungeon ship itself. Snuan's eyes widened as red lights began blaring.

Even a dungeon core’s regeneration could not outpace the flames of Inferno. The fires were burning through the hull at a frightening pace.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Quick, run-flee!”

Snuan and what crewmen were aboard abandoned their posts. They rushed to the room with the portal to the Primary Home Base, jumping through and sealing it shut just before the fire reached the ship’s dungeon core.

One of Seero’s invincible dungeon ships fell from the sky in flames. The rest of Seero’s forces opened fire on the enemy but their projectiles caught fire as they approached. Only the railgun shots managed to arrive, and they only created small holes that were instantly filled.

High-Archon Kurzal noticed and cast a huge Sunfall spell. The incarnation turned up and sent a stream of fire towards the bright light falling upon it. The sun itself caught fire, and burned to ashes before it landed. The High-Archon’s eyes widened as a burst of flame shot towards him as well, only for a Gravity spell from Lilussees to pull him out of the way.

One of the Celestial Elves’ Immortal Sages, the one known as the Greatest Warrior Under Heaven, flew across the field. Another blast of fire shot towards him, but he twirled out of the way with ease. He swung down a large glaive, and an arc of light shot towards the incarnation. A strike that was said to level mountains.

The blow cut into the incarnation, but its flames easily refilled the space. It then created a huge wall of fire and sent it forward. The Celestial Elf cut a path through the wall, but the two halves of it continued around him towards the army in the distance.

Ateia looked to Lilusses and drew up as much Holy mana as she could, even as she was still recovering from their first attack.

“Help me!”

Lilussees nodded and the two formed a massive Spatial Magic circle together. 00B-Beta rallied the entire CELIU network to help, as well as the subordinate dungeon masters. Every processor was made available to pull off the complex calculations for Spatial Magic, while mana to power it streamed in through the bonds between machines and dungeons. Ateia and Lilussees grunted and groaned but they held to their task. Holy mana, and even the world itself rushed to assist the command of the last Aesdes, and reshaped itself according to Ateia’s will.

The world itself split apart.

The black continent split into two pieces as a brand new space appeared between them. The walls of flames reached the end of the continent and then stopped and faded, finding nothing left for them to burn as even air was not yet present in the new space. Ateia and Lilussees then collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. The world trembled as the space collapsed and the two pieces of the continent slammed back together.

But Ateia and Lilussees were now out of mana. The Holy mana from the world rushed to replenish her but with the massive Rifts ahead and above it was slow and sluggish. The CELIU units themselves were drained as well, and moving slower due to the overheating of their processors.

The flying magical beasts such as wyverns and griffins rushed the incarnation at the world’s command, but they burned on approach and couldn’t get close. The Celestial Elf flew to the incarnation’s side before unleashing another strike, drawing its attention away for a moment. The Council of Archons now joined together, launching spell after spell at the flames, but nothing managed to stick.

***

The Herald of the New Dawn grinned as he watched the fight. The new little Aesdes had made a mistake. Ateia’s Holy mana was just about the only thing that could threaten the incarnation, and this close to its Realm it held the advantage over her. But she had foolishly spent everything on that attack of hers that the Herald had countered, and then burnt herself out afterwards trying to protect all of the people around her. She was now running dry, and until she recovered, no one present could truly harm their foe.

And that was a problem, for time was on the Herald’s side. The hole in the sky grew with every moment that passed, as did the black continent of Letoris. Every moment the boundaries of the Material Plane grew weaker and weaker, as evidenced by the presence of an incarnation. So the Rift empowering it also grew, and additional Rifts to the other Realms continued to form. The incarnation would only grow stronger as burned more and more of this reality, while Ateia would only grow weaker as the Herald tore down the original world.

She had one chance to take down the incarnation, and she had wasted it. And now, she was not likely to get another.

He would admit that the youngest Aesdes did better than he expected, rallying practically the entire world to her cause. He thought that she would have given up after he dealt with NSLICE-00P, so she was certainly showing remarkable resilience for one so young. But she failed in the end. Her inexperience showed, and she had quickly overextended herself. She could not overcome he who once fought with the Great Demon Lord, the Aesdes on par with Colleöne for most experienced in the art of war. Moreso now, after he had abandoned the Blessed Land and spent millenia walking the surface of Aelea.

And even if she had managed to interrupt him, his current efforts were only to expand Letoris. The hole in the sky would continue to grow with or without him. The most she could do was cost him some time. No matter what she did, the old world would fall, and the new world would come.