The entire battlefield trembled as a bolt of lightning cracked through the sky. The light tore down from Cerberus's central head like divine judgment, smashing the falling boulders that Reyon had summoned. The impact shattered the ground beneath in a spiderweb of craters, shaking the trees and sending flocks of birds screeching into the sky.
Reyon stood at the edge of the hill, his cloak flapping violently in the wind caused by the aftershock. His lips parted.
"Haa... he is strong," he muttered, fingers tightening. "Much stronger than I thought."
He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing on Cerberus, who remained still—regal in terror, monstrous in scale. Its middle head crackled with lightning, while the left head hissed faint trails of crimson flame hellfire, and the right head dragged its jaw along the rocky earth, soil trembling from the weight of its earth element.
"I was thinking his strength is around veteran 8th circle," Reyon mumbled, voice barely audible under the thunder. "But if he uses all his heads to attack... it might reach the peak."
Behind the monstrous beast, smoke still curled from the wreckage of the crushed meteors. Evelyn had halted mid-run, jaw clenched as she gazed across the broken battlefield.
Cerberus stood unbothered. Watching. Calm. Entertained.
Reyon's glare sharpened. "Tch. He's mocking me?"
He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward.
"Let's end this… you beast."
[Evelyn's Arrival]
Evelyn dashed past cracked stones and broken trees, blades of wind still swirling around her. Her opponents—the two remaining S-ranks—roared in rage.
Evelyn didn't spare them much thought anymore. She knew what was happening at the center.
Her eyes darted once to Reyon, then back to the beasts ."I'll handle this quickly."
Wind gathered once more at her heels.
[Reyon vs Cerberus]
Reyon's hand slid over the gem of the Ring of Ferica, fingers pulsing with mana. He began chanting softly, breathing deep, slow.
He stacked.
σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ
Twelve symbols lit around his fingers, pulsing in a slow, spiraling pattern as if orbiting an unseen core.
"Laser."
Light vanished from the world.
No—was being consumed.
The shadows deepened. Even the glaring daylight dimmed as mana from the air bent, shuddered, collapsed into a single brilliant point on Reyon's fingertip. The surrounding battlefield fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the distorted hum of compressed energy.
Then the light launched forward.
A beam—blinding, white-hot, and screeching through the sound barrier—pierced the air like the wrath of the heavens.
Cerberus moved. Its middle head opened, lightning roaring forward.
But the beam pierced.
The lightning scattered.
Two heads burst.
Blood splashed skyward in an arc of glowing violet and obsidian smoke.
Cerberus screamed. The single remaining head howled in pain and hatred. Flames burst from its mouth in retaliation—but Reyon had already moved back, breathing heavy, sweat dripping from his chin.
"That should've…"
Then, he froze.
The two severed heads—twitched.
Flesh grew back. Bones cracked. Skin bubbled.
And within seconds, they were whole again.
Reyon's mouth fell open.
"What…? It has such regeneration?"
The fully-formed Cerberus stood tall once more, unbothered, the heads now snarling and fuming with triple elemental fury.
"If it won't die like this," Reyon muttered, wiping blood from his lips, "then I have to go higher. I have to push…"
[Scene Shift — Evelyn vs S-Ranks]
Evelyn gritted her teeth.
"Damn it, I have to save my ultimate for him…"
Her eyes flickered to the center, where Cerberus now began launching all three elemental attacks at once—lightning, hellfire, and earth spikes scattering in three directions. The sheer heat of the attacks dried the blood on her cheek in seconds.
"I can't wait any longer…"
But before she could move—
"Reyon!!"
The hellfire came first.
A sea of red and black flame surged toward Reyon, warping the air, charring the earth into molten slag. Reyon's knees bent.
"I remember this…" he whispered, eyes flashing to the past.
That time… Berth.
That monsterous leader who nearly killed him with a similar self-sacrificial flame attack.
But this time… he wasn't the same.
"I've learned the perfect thing for this."
He raised his palm.
∞
The Infinity symbol gleamed across his wrist, spreading outward. His hand twisted in the air, forming a spherical barrier as he poured mana into it.
σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ
Twelve stacked.
The void emerged, gently rotating, darker but firm.
The hellfire struck.
And vanished.
Absorbed.
The spell consumed not just the flames, but the lightning and boulders hurled seconds later as Cerberus unleashed his fury.
Reyon didn't flinch.
But his face… grimaced.
"Hmph… I may not suffer from this…"
His eyes turned to Evelyn—pushed back, barely holding off the other two S-ranks. Blood dripped from her chin.
"…But the aftereffects are injuring Aunt Evelyn."
He looked back at Cerberus.
"I have to do something…"
His hand trembled.
"Should I try it?"
He clenched his fists.
"But if I stack more than twelve… I might go mad due to corrupt mana…"
The ground quivered.
Flames returned.
Lightning followed.
Then came falling stone.
"…But I have to take the risk. If something goes wrong… after subduing Cerberus, I can use his gem to stabilize my mind."
The decision was made.
"I'm gonna do it."
[Breaking the Limit]
Reyon gritted his teeth. Mana flowed like a raging river.
His veins turned black.
The void still held, flickering but strong.
He raised his arm and began stacking again.
σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ
Fifteen.
Blood burst from his nose.
His eyes shook.
His brain—pounded, darkness creeping into the edges of his vision. Dark mana, corrupted and vile, curled around his mind like a parasite.
But he held.
"Aqua Slash…"
The spell—meant to be a single slash of water—shuddered as it formed. But this time, it wasn't a slash.
It was a storm.
No, an ocean of razors.
Millions of blades of water—spinning, shrieking—lashed toward Cerberus. The sound was like a thousand banshees wailing in fury.
Cerberus roared, all three heads retaliating.
But nothing could stop it now.
The blades sliced.
They tore.
They eviscerated.
In less than a second, Cerberus was cut to pieces—millions of fragments raining like black ash, so fine that not even his famed regeneration could take hold.
Silence returned.
Reyon stood.
Breathing.
Bleeding.
Barely.
Evelyn's spells collapsed.
The two S-ranks she fought recoiled—sensing their king's fall. They growled in agony, but she didn't flinch.
She wasn't looking at them.
Her eyes were on Reyon.
"Reyon!" she called, rushing forward.
But something was wrong.
She stopped.
A breeze passed.
Black smoke.
It leaked from his ears, his nose, his mouth.
"No…" she whispered, heart dropping into her stomach. "That's…"
A chill surged through her spine.
The darkness in his mana—too deep, too twisted.
He stood, swaying slightly, the Infinity orb fading beside him.
"Reyon…" Evelyn muttered, hand rising to cover her mouth.
The battle was won.
But the price...
Was only just being revealed.