The sky of the illusion fractured. The screaming faces fell silent, frozen into ice sculptures. The Mind-Eater shrieked as its domain was forcibly overwritten. The purple reality shattered like glass, falling away to reveal the cold water of the Singing Shoals.

Alvian stood on the dais, unharmed. The damage he had felt in the illusion vanished.

The Mind-Eater hovered before him, its form flickering, weakened by the destruction of its mental world.

"Impossible..." it whimpered. "Your mind... it's a glacier."

"And you are just an ice pick," Alvian said.

He raised his hand. He didn't use the lance. He used [Voidpiercer], which had returned to his hand.

"[Void Corruption]: Soul Sever."

He slashed. He didn't cut the creature's body. He cut its connection to existence. A line of black nothingness appeared in the center of the glowing brain.

The Mind-Eater didn't scream. It simply ceased to be. The purple light faded, leaving only a small, grey husk that drifted down to the floor.

[You have slain Draconic Mind-Eater (Level 58 Elite)!]

[Experience Gained: 1,200,000!]

[Level Up!]

[Level 55.]

Alvian walked over to the unconscious Queen Liora. He checked her pulse. Strong. She was just exhausted.

He looted the husk of the Mind-Eater.

[Item Acquired: Psionic Cortex (Legendary Material)]

[Item Acquired: Siren's Song (Skill Book - S-Rank)]

"Useful," Alvian muttered. He looked out at the waking Sirens. They were confused, rubbing their heads, the red light gone from their eyes. They looked at their Queen, then at the man in black standing over her.

They bowed.

"One more faction secured," Alvian said, turning away. "Now for the heavy lifting."

---

The Hammerhead territory, known as the Iron-Jaw Fortress, was a stark contrast to the elegance of the Singing Shoals. It was a militaristic industrial zone, built into the side of a massive underwater cliff. Smoke stacks belched toxic fumes into the water, and the sound of forging hammers rang out constantly.

This was the home of King Sarkos and the Mercenary Faction. They were the brute force of the ocean, selling their swords to the highest bidder. And the Draconic Legion had bid high.

Alvian stood on a ridge overlooking the fortress. Beside him, Valeria looked grim.

"The scouts report massive activity," Valeria said. "Sarkos has mobilized his entire army. But they look... wrong."

Alvian peered through the gloom. The Hammerhead warriors patrolling the walls were larger than usual. Their skin was covered in red scales, and jagged bone spikes protruded from their shoulders. Their eyes burned with the same inner fire as the Dragons.

"Dragon Blood," Alvian diagnosed. "Sarkos didn't just ally with them. He let them experiment on his troops. He's turning his people into hybrids."

"Why?" Valeria asked, disgusted. "Why give up your own race's strength?"

"Power," Alvian said. "Inefficient, short-sighted power. But dangerous nonetheless. Those hybrids will have high physical resistance and fire affinity. Your [Titan] skills will be effective, but don't get surrounded."

"What's the plan?" Seraphina asked, sharpening her daggers. "Infiltration?"

"No," Alvian shook his head. "Sarkos respects strength. If we sneak in, he'll see it as weakness. We need to break his front door."

"I like the sound of that," Valeria grinned, hefting her shield.

"But we need to be smart," Alvian added. "The fortress is built on a thermal vent. They use the heat to power their forges. If we destabilize the vent, we cut their power and their morale."

"I can handle the vent," Alvian said. "Valeria, you draw their main force. Seraphina, hunt the officers. I want Sarkos isolated."

"Let's go," Valeria said.

They descended.

Valeria charged the main gate. She didn't bother with tactics. She activated [Titan's Size], growing to twelve feet tall, a golden giant in the water. She slammed her shoulder into the massive iron gates.

"BOOM!"

The gates buckled. The alarm horns blew. Hundreds of mutated Hammerhead warriors poured out, roaring in a language that was half-shark, half-dragon.

"COME AND GET IT!" Valeria shouted, swinging her claymore. A wave of golden light decimated the first rank.

While the army focused on the golden titan, Alvian slipped past the chaos using [Shadow Weave +2]. He moved through the battlefield like a ghost, ignoring the grunts. He headed for the massive thermal exhaust ports at the base of the fortress.

He reached the main vent. It was a grate the size of a house, spewing superheated water.

"Physics Lesson Number Fourteen," Alvian whispered. "Thermal Shock."

He placed his hands on the grate.

"[Frost Descent +2]: Liquid Nitrogen Cascade."

He dumped his mana into the vent. The superheated water flash-froze. The rapid expansion of ice inside the pipes created immense pressure.

"CRACK... RUMBLE..."

Inside the fortress, pipes burst. The forges exploded. The lights flickered and died. The environmental heat that the Hammerheads relied on vanished, replaced by a biting cold.

[Status Effect: Thermal Shock applied to all enemies in the Fortress.]

[Enemy Speed reduced by 30%.]

[Enemy Armor reduced by 20%.]

"Now," Alvian said, equipping his [Lance]. "We go for the King."

He kicked the frozen grate in. It shattered. He entered the fortress from below, moving upward through the ventilation shafts. He emerged directly into the Throne Room.

King Sarkos sat on a throne of dragon bones. He was massive, easily twenty feet tall, his body fully mutated. He had a tail, wings, and scales made of red iron. He looked more dragon than shark.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD COME," Sarkos roared, his voice shaking the room. "THE GODSLAYER. YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THE EVOLUTION?"

"I think you look ridiculous," Alvian said, stepping onto the floor. "You sold your soul for some scales and a tail? Bad trade."

Sarkos stood up. He grabbed a massive greatsword that burned with green fel-fire.

"I AM THE FUTURE!" Sarkos charged.

The clash between Alvian and King Sarkos was a collision of two eras. Sarkos represented the brute force of the old world, enhanced by the chaotic biology of the new invaders. Alvian was something else entirely—a player who had broken the system.

Sarkos swung his fel-fire sword. It was a clumsy, powerful strike meant to cleave the world in half.

"Inefficient," Alvian noted.

He didn't block. He stepped inside the guard. His speed, boosted by the [Greaves of the Tide-Runner] and his immense base stats, made Sarkos look like he was moving underwater—which he was, but Alvian moved as if air resistance didn't exist.

"Zap."

Alvian punched Sarkos in the stomach. The [Draconic Storm Bracers] discharged a bolt of blue lightning directly into the King's gut.

"ARGH!" Sarkos convulsed, dropping his sword. The lightning conducted through his new, metallic scales perfectly.

[-15,000 Lightning Damage!]

"You made yourself conductive," Alvian said, spinning his lance. "Dragon scales conduct heat and electricity. Didn't you read the manual?"

Sarkos roared, spewing a cone of green fire breath.

Alvian activated [Runic Aegis +2]. The purple runes formed a wall. The fire washed over it, absorbed by the void energy.

"Reflect."

The fire shot back, hotter and faster. It hit Sarkos in the face. The King screamed as his own fire burned his eyes.

"Blind," Alvian whispered. He used [Void Step] to appear behind the thrashing giant.

He drove the [Lance of the Void Winter] into the base of Sarkos's tail.

"Sever."

"CRUNCH."

The tail was lopped off. Sarkos lost his balance, crashing to the floor.

"You... you cannot kill me!" Sarkos wheezed, trying to crawl away. "The General... he is coming! General Ignis is coming!"

"Ignis?" Alvian paused. "The Blood Tyrant?"

"He will burn this ocean to ash!" Sarkos laughed, blood bubbling from his mouth. "He is already here!"

The wall of the throne room exploded.

"BOOM!"

A massive, armored fist punched through the stone. A figure stepped through the dust. It wasn't a shark. It wasn't a hybrid. It was a pure-blood Draconic Warlord. He stood thirty feet tall, clad in armor made of magma that cooled and cracked with every movement. He radiated heat so intense the water around him turned to steam instantly.

[Target Identified: Warlord Ignis (The Blood Tyrant)]

[Level: 60]

[Class: Draconic Warlord]

[Status: Raid Boss]

Alvian looked at the new challenger. Level 60. A significant step up.

Ignis looked at the broken form of Sarkos. He didn't offer help. He stepped on Sarkos's head, crushing it like a grape.

[Target Sarkos Eliminated.]

"Failure," Ignis grumbled, his voice like an earthquake. He looked at Alvian. "So. You are the insect stopping the Legion."

Alvian cleaned his lance. He checked his mana. Full. He checked his cooldowns. Ready.

"I'm the exterminator," Alvian said. "And you just stepped into my trap."

"Trap?" Ignis laughed. "I see no trap. I see a little man with a toothpick."

"Look outside," Alvian pointed to the hole in the wall.

Through the steam and the dust, the water shimmered. Thousands of forms were descending from the upper levels. The City Watch. The Vanguard. The Abyssal Guard. And leading them were Master Thorne, Master Kaelen, and Lady Ola.

The Guardians had arrived.

"I didn't come here to duel you," Alvian said, his eyes glowing with the light of the Void. "I came here to hold you until the cavalry arrived. You're surrounded, Warlord."

Ignis looked at the army gathering outside. He looked back at Alvian. For the first time, the dragon looked uncertain.

"Inefficient," Alvian mocked. "You overextended."

Alvian raised his lance.

"System. Activate [Genesis Mode]. Let's finish this war."

The white light of evolution engulfed him. The final battle for the ocean was about to begin.

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