The dark energy soared toward the battleground—an explosive strike launched by Gultron. Gultron himself harbored a seed of doubt, puzzled as to why his first onslaught had inexplicably vanished into thin air. This time, he intended to witness the exact fate of his second wave.

The descending devastation drew every eye back toward the sky. To the onlookers, it seemed Gultron had completely lost his mind, bent on unleashing indiscriminate destruction. Uncaring of ally or foe, he aimed to annihilate everything below.

As the dense, catastrophic wave closed in, the surrounding martial artists and dark operatives instinctively shielded themselves with layers of defensive aura. The energy plummeted closer—and then, at a velocity defying human perception, a silhouette materialized once more. To the naked eye, the figure moved like nothing more than a passing whisper of wind, charging headlong into the apocalyptic strike.

WOOOOSHHH!

A colossal explosion detonated in midair long before Gultron's magic could reach the combatants on the ground.

BLAAAARRR!

This time, Gultron knew beyond a shadow of a doubt: someone had directly intercepted and shattered his attack, just as they had done before. As his eyes locked onto the expanding fireball, a shadow burst through the flames at terrifying speed, using the flash of the explosion as cover.

Before Gultron could react, the figure materialized right in front of him. Directly behind the intruder’s back, a mysterious spatial rift trailed behind them like a swirling portal. What is that?!

His momentary hesitation proved fatal. Unable to mount a defense in time, the figure lunged forward as the surrounding air was violently sucked inward. Gultron felt his entire physical vessel dragged into an irresistible gravitational wave—an absolute void created by the portal itself.

SYUUUUNNGGGGG! WOOOSH! SPLASSH!

In an instant, he was gone. Nothing remained above except the dissipating shockwaves of the midair collision. On the ground, the combatants stared up in stunned silence, unable to comprehend the massive explosion that had just rocked the sky. Their eyes strained against the glare, searching for answers.

As the smoke cleared and visibility returned, the sky above was entirely empty. Gultron had vanished without a trace.

Below, the disciples of the Golden Crane Academy stood like headless chickens. They had openly declared their allegiance to the Demon Lord's army, only to watch one of the Five Gates unleash a indiscriminate assault and then vanish into thin air. Did he truly intend to abandon the Golden Crane Academy to its doom, leaving them to bleed in this chaotic battle?

That was impossible! The mass-produced armaments were still hidden on site—so what had just happened? Both Drakos and Sengturi struggled to process the sudden turn of events.

Now, they were forced to face the Sky Squad head-on, backed by Commander Gonan and Warrior Jiro. It was going to be a brutal, uphill battle. Fortunately, the Golden Crane Academy had mobilized thousands of their own disciples into the courtyard.

They still held a fighting chance before reinforcements from the righteous sects arrived.

Sengturi remained locked in combat against Alicia, who fought with an unbridled, furious rage, unleashing immense waves of energy. He wondered if she had been suppressing her true capabilities all along. Though her core cultivation was strictly at the peak of Rank 8, the sheer pressure she radiated felt as though she had already stepped into Rank 9. Even with his Soul Transform fully active, Sengturi barely managed to maintain an even keel against her.

Alicia's assault surged with renewed vigor. Her offensive had only briefly faltered during the massive midair explosion and the vanishing of Gultron. She had vanished for a fraction of a second before bursting back into the fray, driving her blade straight at him.

"We aren't finished yet, Sengturi! I will send you to join my father, and you will beg for his forgiveness in the afterlife!" Alicia's spellsword radiated a searing, blinding light, weaving through the air in lethal arcs, bent on reducing Sengturi to ash.

Sengturi parried her strikes with a blade shrouded in dark magic. He ducked, deflected, and searched frantically for an opening. Both fighters were locked in absolute concentration, waiting for the other to slip.

Sensing a momentary lapse in Alicia's lower guard, Sengturi drove a heavy, energy-infused kick toward her left flank. Anticipating the strike, Alicia stamped her foot against the earth and launched herself upward into the air. The kick met nothing but empty space. Spinning gracefully midair, she brought her spellsword down in a devastating, heavy overhead slash.

Sengturi dropped low, raising his blade horizontally to block her descending strike. Their weapons collided with a deafening crash. The wind howled around them as light and dark energies pushed fiercely against each other.

Spotting an opportunity, Sengturi channeled a surge of power into his legs, kicking upward at Alicia while she was still suspended in midair.

WOOOOSHH!

THUD!

Alicia brought both legs down to intercept Sengturi's kick. The mutual collision blasted them apart, creating a wide gap between them. Landing softly, they locked eyes with lethal intensity before lunging back into the fray, their duel remaining deadlocked.

On the other side of the courtyard, a clash of giants was underway: Warrior Jiro versus Drakos. While Drakos was a renowned veteran of the martial arts world, Jiro's combat prowess far exceeded that of an ordinary thirty-year-old warrior. He had tempered his physical vessel to perfection—and he had yet to unleash the supreme, lost art passed down to him by Aji, originating from the legendary Ganada.

The two were locked in a fierce exchange, with Jiro effortlessly matching Drakos's furious onslaught. Drakos wielded twin blades imbued with spectral magic, summoning phantom entity constructs that attacked Jiro in tandem with his steel. Yet, Jiro's dual short blades deflected every incoming strike with fluid, flawless precision.

Attacks rained down from the right, above, below, and left. Drakos unleashed a swift, relentless storm of slashes from every conceivable angle. Despite being in his fifties, age had not dulled his lethal edge; he fought with terrifying vigor. The blinding flashes of their clashing weapons sent shockwaves cascading across the battlefield, affecting every light and dark martial artist nearby.

Fierce gales whipped across the courtyard, but Jiro remained unfazed, perfectly composed. Looking back, he marveled at how accurately Aji had foreseen this outcome. It was Aji who had advised him to request custom armaments directly from the Golden Crane Academy through Dasatama—and upon arriving at the academy, Aji had warned him to prepare for an all-out war.

His predictions had proven spot-on! Indisputable proof of the Golden Crane Academy's treason was now laid bare. Drakos—one of the most revered senior figures among the righteous sects—was now exposed as a traitor whom Jiro had to strike down.

Jiro understood that Drakos possessed immense combat power, having once earned the title of God of Swords on the Orpris continent. He had slain countless villains and enjoyed widespread veneration; when the martial arts world learned that his heroism was merely a facade, the revelation would send shockwaves across the continent.

"No time for daydreaming, Warrior Jiro! Today marks your end!" Drakos roared.

Their blades locked in a heavy test of strength, each master channeling their core power against the other. In that critical split second, Jiro felt a sudden, explosive surge of energy erupting from Drakos's frame, blasting him backward.

"Demon Transformation!"

A terrifying shockwave of dark magic detonated outward, sending violent gales sweeping through the courtyard. Anyone who failed to reinforce their frame with defensive aura was instantly blown off their feet by the raw pressure.

Drakos's eyes flared a sinister crimson. His physical frame expanded dramatically as thick plumes of pitch-black energy erupted from his core. It was a power feared by every practitioner of the Righteous Path—yet how could Drakos undergo a complete transformation? Practitioners of pure light magic were fundamentally incapable of executing a full Demon Transformation!

Unless...

Jiro anchored his footing against the howling wind, bracing himself for whatever horror was about to unfold.

"That's right, Warrior Jiro!" Drakos howled, his voice distorted and heavy. "The truth is... I am a direct disciple of the Demon Lord himself!"

The wind whipped into a roaring tempest. Drakos's body mutated rapidly as dark, jagged scales hardened across his arms and legs. A suffocating mist of pure dark magic shrouded his frame as two curved, demonic horns erupted from his brow. The nails on his hands elongated into razor-sharp talons, and his feet transformed into talons covered in thick, heavy scales.

From Drakos's back, a pair of massive, pitch-black wings burst forth. It was a rare, horrifying demonic evolution—a state that far transcended standard Demon Transformations.

"Now, Warrior Jiro... you die!"

The terrifying evolution left everyone on the battlefield frozen in horror. Even the disciples of the Golden Crane Academy stood dumbfounded, completely unaware that the revered advisor of their academy was, in truth, a direct disciple of the Demon Lord.

The transformation sent shockwaves of disbelief through the ranks.

Sensing the monumental threat before him, Warrior Jiro recognized the sheer scale of Drakos's power. Dropping into an offensive stance, he prepared to strike first, determined to shield the Sky Squad members scattered across the courtyard.

WOOOOSSSHHH!