Merlin sauntered over, disdain like frost on his gaze, and cracked a thunder-slap across Aphelia’s cheek. Then, with a veiled pity, he fistfulled her hair and yanked her up.

"You’re a perfect mold—too fine a clay to smash. Even I’d hate to waste you."

"Mold? What do you mean?!"

Fear crawled up Aphelia’s spine, nameless and cold. Like a storm about to break, she pushed back, refusing the truth behind his words.

"Don’t you know what clay is?"

Merlin sneered and flung Aphelia back to the ground. Silver-white radiance spilled from the ink-black sky, pouring over her like a cold waterfall. The dense Aether, near-solid, hammered her pure-white Aether, and the corrosion quickened like frost racing over glass.

But Merlin wasn’t done. A silver pupil of the stars descended, aiming for Aphelia’s chest. Before it fell, Crimson Flame speared in from the flank, a wildfire surge that drove Merlin back several steps.

The falling star-pupil shattered under a figure wreathed in flame, the shock hammering Merlin back again, until he braced against his silver glow.

"Didn’t expect this at all~"

The figure shielding Aphelia chuckled softly and brushed the Crimson Flame aside. This time, not the small silhouette, but a queenly, tall, full-figured red-haired woman.

Her lazy, sultry voice snapped Aphelia awake; joy flooded her eyes. "Lilo?!"

Every gesture, every smile—who else but Lilo? Lilo wore a robe woven from crimson Aether; vast dragon wings unfurled behind her, wide enough to veil the sun. Even Merlin’s starry river dimmed before her.

"Hmph… Red Dragon—rare as ever, still playing her lapdog." Merlin sneered. Silver radiance cascaded down, colliding with the wildfire wall. Silver Aether and crimson Aether tangled, refusing to yield, cracking the very air.

Lilo remained unhurried under his assault. Crimson flame roared up her arms; with a casual flick, the air shed all but the red element. Fire’s essence magnified, guided by crimson Aether, into a vast storm that slammed into Merlin’s pitch-black cosmos.

"Aphelia, this isn’t like you~"

After launching the storm, Lilo turned, helped Aphelia up, and lightly scraped her nose in a playful tease. Heat flushed Aphelia’s cheeks, but danger sharpened her focus.

"Careful! Get out of his domain first. He’s been a True God for gods-know how long. Don’t get careless!"

"Of course. Master Merlin—one of the Demon World’s greats; who doesn’t know? Since I’m lucky enough to meet him today…"

Crimson Aether lifted Aphelia gently, shielding her behind Lilo. Seeing her storm torn by silver light, Lilo laughed coldly at the unscathed Merlin. Gold brightened in her eyes; she stepped forward.

"…then let me see just how strong he is!!!"

As Lilo surged, crimson Aether became a wing-beating dragon, fused to her form, and loosed a soul-shaking roar at her foe.

Merlin’s face didn’t flicker. His arms twitched; starlight across the sky hardened into the sharpest spears, shooting down from the firmament to pin the crimson dragon.

Lilo kept calm under the rain of stars. No staff—just a cavalier sweep of her hand. Crimson flame erupted from the ground, shaped into crimson flame-spears. Tip to tip, they met midair and exploded.

Alternating crimson and silver lit the black sky, bleaching the faces of the two Merlins, and gilding the arc of Lilo’s smile.

Lilo’s flame-wreathed fists drove for Merlin’s face. But he wasn’t just a caster. His withered palms took on silver starlight, like ghastly claws, scoring bright scars in the air. They met her fists, and sparks burst again.

Lilo feinted back, but Merlin pressed, ruthless. His hands shaped into claws, snapping for her throat. The starlight on them honed into blinding blades—his Aether struck before his palms.

Yet Lilo was a True God; her play was never that simple. With star-blades inches away, she showed no nerves—only a spark of delight. Crimson Aether flared, and countless intricate crimson arrays unfolded, snaring Merlin without warning.

Wrapped by the array, Merlin hadn’t expected a trade of lives. His face darkened; lines of Runes welled across his wide white robe. Before his withered hands could shape Aether for a counter, a crisp snap sounded beside his ear.

"Domain of Flame—"

Countless Runes split from the crimson Aether and, with Lilo’s soft chant, floated before her. The fire’s Arcane Power in the air drained in a breath, coalescing into several pure crimson crystals. Their glow was hypnotic.

At Lilo’s incantation, Merlin finally lost his ease; the Runes on his robe peeled away. In that instant, Aphelia, Lilo, and every soldier still breathing felt a strange lurch in their hearts—like a beat skipped.

"Trying to unfold a domain?" Merlin’s pale face seemed to age another notch—youth weathered to a haggard middle-aged man. The eerie smile stayed, chilling to the bone.

In the black firmament, the brilliant stars sank into darkness. Silver light and Aether felt swallowed whole. Aphelia and Lilo, closest, shivered; behind the sky, something seemed ready to break its cocoon.

Pressure crushed down so hard Aphelia could barely breathe. The pure-white Aether’s corrosion sped again, crawling past her legs, climbing to her waist.

Floating behind Merlin, Lilo also felt an unnerving pressure. The crimson Aether around her flickered, as if disturbed, trying to slip her grasp and stream upward into the sky.

Lilo, poised to unfurl her domain, found to her shock some force blocking her. She couldn’t draw out the Aether-field within.

That nameless thrum in the black sky beat faster, wilder. Aphelia was suffocating under it. One word rose in her mind, cold as a tomb: Eldritch Gods.

Like a doom poised above her head, the feeling wiped out all thought. Yet the crimson Aether around her, held steady by Lilo, fought to shield her from the crushing dread.

Victory, seemingly within reach, flipped in a heartbeat. The weight pressed Lilo so hard she had no strength left to strike at Merlin.

Merlin, striding under the firmament, seemed untouched. The Runes on his white robe peeled away, streaming toward the sky. Once freed, they twisted into unseeable shapes. Under their pull, the tall knight Aphelia had beheaded lurched up from the rubble like a puppet on strings.

Soldiers slain by crossfire also twitched under some unseen tug, life slithering back. Yet every revenant moved like a walking corpse, stripped of a living spark.

Horror spiked. "No—stop! Merlin, stop!!!"

Crimson crystals covered Aphelia; a terrible possibility had struck her. She stared at the body still sheathed in blood-red armor and screamed, hysterical.

At Aphelia’s helpless, anguished cry, Lilo could do nothing. Under twisted Runes, the headless body trembled and slowly rose from the ruins.

Merlin’s face split with mad delight. Watching Aphelia’s despair, he looked like a miser clutching treasure—giddy beyond measure.

And the headless body seized the blood-hued Demonic Spears again, and staggered toward Aphelia, who lay under the crimson Aether’s veil.

Violet’s corpse shuffled toward her. Aphelia’s vision burned red with rage and grief, yet she could do nothing—only watch it draw near, inch by inch.

"Hahahahaha!!!" Seeing Aphelia driven closer to the abyss, Merlin clutched his sides and laughed, muttering: "Yes, that’s it—deeper despair, deeper still!"

His words had barely fallen when a clear shatter rang from the black sky. A tide of Crimson Fire followed, ripping the darkness apart and sweeping down to burn the resurrected corpse.

The black firmament vanished. Warm sunlight spilled again. A stunning woman, also robed in white, rode the Crimson Flame and drifted down from midair.

"Valkyrie… milady?"

"Master?!"