The translucent black dragon hovered above the shattered remains of the half-destroyed fortress, its massive form flickering at the edges as abyssal energy leaked from cracks in its scales like smoke from cooling embers. It was severely wounded. One wing hung lower than the other, its outline unstable and struggling to maintain cohesion, and even remaining airborne appeared to tire it, as though the world itself resisted bearing its weight.

Strangely, upon its appearance, all of the abyssals on the field seemed to be strengthened, with the most noticeable boosts appearing among the high‑level abyssals.

It was subtle at first, almost easy to miss. Then abyssal domains began to bloom across the field, not just from the demigods, but from indigo- and even violet-grade abyssals that had previously been unable to manifest their domains under this world's suppression.

More importantly, the abyssal demigods that had already been able to exert roughly fifty to sixty percent of their domains—far beyond the usual ten percent permitted under this world's suppression—felt that strength surge again, their control sharpening as if unseen constraints had loosened further.

They were not fully restored, but nor were they crippled anymore.

The remaining three abyssal demigods found themselves able to draw on nearly eighty percent of their domains once more.

And all of this occurred while the black dragon abyssal remained injured.

If the black dragon had been whole, if it had not been imprisoned for millennia and hammered continuously in battle only mere moments ago, the battlefield would have seen the three abyssal demigods in their full unsuppressed glory.

The shift was felt immediately on the northern front.

The Wrath abyssal's manifested rage burned hotter, its domain no longer tearing itself apart under suppression. Waves of killing intent rolled outward in disciplined pulses rather than chaotic surges, each one heavy enough to make even seasoned defenders close to the demigod level feel their vision blur, enough to make even seasoned defenders close to the demigod level feel their vision blur as corruption gnawed at their senses.

Beside it, the horned gravity abyssal refined its control. Space twisted with deliberate intent now, pressure tightening around the dragon demigod contracted to the human side like invisible chains rather than crude crushing force.

For a brief, dangerous moment, the northern front threatened to collapse.

But it did not.

High above the battlefield, the human 9-star beast tamer—the demigod dragon's contractor—finally acted.

His aura flared, no longer restrained by caution. A complex spiritual pattern unfolded around him, what appeared to be sigils interlocking with practiced precision as he invoked a spiritual skill that could only be learned by the highest tier of beast tamers. Not only because of its stringent requirements to cast, but also because the skill's distribution was tightly controlled by the various powers on this continent.

Invisible threads of refined law snapped into place around the dragon demigod's massive form. The abyssal gravity that had been grinding against its body recoiled, bent outward as if it had struck an unseen frame. The skill functioned as a precise counterbalance to the enemy's sudden domain strengthening, blunting the weight and influence of hostile domains on the one it was cast upon. Such a powerful effect was precisely why it was not a widely circulated skill.

The change took effect at once.

The dragon roared, and the battlefield answered. It surged forward with renewed force, its movements decisive—each strike landing with enough authority to stagger the abyssal demigods outright. Gravity warped violently around its body as it forced its way through crushing pressure that moments earlier had threatened to tear it apart. It still did not overpower the two demigods, but it met them head-on without being driven back, holding the line through sheer, stabilized might.

But it was fighting two demigods alone, Aurem still choosing not to act.

Fighting the two demigods was like balancing on a knife's edge, where any lapse would still mean death.

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The eastern front was less forgiving with no demigod on the human side to hold back the abyssal demigod.

The liquefying abyssal demigod reacted immediately. Where its domain had once spread unevenly, swallowing ground at random, it now advanced with purpose. Black sludge surged forward in thick, measured waves, climbing walls instead of splashing against them, seeping into cracks before tearing stone apart. Fortifications collapsed piece by piece as the corrupted ground followed the abyssal's will with brutal precision.

The human defensive line buckled.

An 8-star tamer was swallowed whole as the ground collapsed beneath his feet, his scream cut short as the domain closed over him. Another was flung aside by a surge of corrupted matter, armour dissolving as he struck the remnants of a tower and did not rise again.

The eastern front bled.

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From atop the fractured battlements, the fort's 9-star tamer took it all in.

His gaze moved with ruthless efficiency, cataloging losses, measuring pressure, tracing the invisible flow of the battlefield as it reconfigured itself around the black dragon's presence.

Unfortunately, there was little he could do to change the situation quickly.

The abyssal dragon could not be killed.

If he had possessed the ability to do so, he would have done so within the relic. But all of the 9-star tamer's killing moves seemed unable to cause fatal damage to it, only superficial wounds.

Resealing was also impossible. The relic that had contained it was gone, and no structure existed that could contain even its weakened state.

He wanted nothing more than to kill the creature, knowing its threat would only grow with time.

Even wounded, it altered the field simply by remaining there.

That was when the human demigod prepared to strike again.

He stepped forward in the air, aura condensing, intent sharpening as he gathered power for another desperate clash—

—and was abruptly surpassed.

Space folded.

A pressure far stronger than any abyssal presence on the field dropped into the battlefield, forcing even the black dragon's domain reinforcement to falter.

Aurem finally moved.

The golden dragon's massive form interposed itself between the human demigod and the black abyssal, his eyes fixed on the translucent dragon before him, gaze cold and unmistakably affronted.

An abyssal dragon.

A distortion wearing the shape of his own kind.

Disgust rippled through his presence.

Aurem did not speak.

He struck.

Aurem's strike slammed directly into the space occupied by the black dragon, raw force crashing down without finesse. The pressure punched through the layered abyssal energy surrounding it, causing nearby domains to buckle and waver as their structure failed under the sheer weight of his presence.

Across the battlefield, every participant felt it.

This was no longer a war being fought by forces the world understood.

It was a collision of existences with profound abilities that stood at the peak of either side.

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