The training grounds of the Sun People's realm had grown quiet.
Warm golden winds flowed through the massive trees while sunlight filtered down from above, illuminating the shattered battlefield left behind from the previous exchange. Cracks covered the earth. Ice still lingered on broken stone. Faint traces of lightning and chaos energy drifted through the air like remnants of a storm that refused to fade.
Sera stood calmly in the center of it all.
Not a single scratch marked her body.
Her hazel-black eyes moved across the members of the Black Sun Syndicate as they slowly rose from the ground once more.
Then she spoke.
"Since you are now gods, the source of your power is all around you… and also within you."
She slowly released her folded arms and let them rest naturally at her sides.
"The more you understand yourself, the greater your mastery becomes over any power you control."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"I want you guys to learn better…"
"…so I'll beat you to death so you can learn more quickly."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Oh, and we're in a different realm, so the laws of Planet Nohr are irrelevant here."
"I'll only use three percent of my strength."
David suddenly smiled from the side.
"I wish you luck, Black Sun Syndicate."
The next second he vanished.
The atmosphere immediately became tense.
Eryndor took a slow deep breath as lightning flickered faintly around his body.
Kaelus drew Tempest from its sheath, the blade singing softly as rotating winds gathered around it.
Rein clenched his fists and coated them in dominion energy.
The rest of the team silently adjusted their stances.
Everyone focused completely.
Sera looked at them calmly.
"If you don't want to attack…I will."
BOOM.
She vanished.
A shockwave exploded across the ground.
Eryndor's eyes widened slightly. "Fast".
Sera instantly appeared in front of him and drove a punch into his stomach.
Eryndor reacted immediately and crossed his arms to block…CRACK.
The impact fractured both his arms instantly.
His body launched upward into the sky like a missile.
The air exploded behind him.
Rein attacked immediately afterward.
He rushed forward and threw a dominion-coated punch directly at Sera's head.
She slightly tilted to the side.
The punch missed.
Before Rein could recover Sera spun and kicked him in the ribs.
BOOOOM.
Rein flew across the battlefield, tearing through several massive trees before crashing into the ground.
Stellar moved next.
Cold air erupted outward as frost rapidly spread beneath Sera's feet.
Massive layers of ice rose upward and locked around her body.
For a brief moment she was frozen in place.
Then…CRACK.
The entire structure shattered apart effortlessly.
Sera stepped through the broken ice calmly and dashed toward Stellar.
Stellar immediately created a massive ice wall in front of herself—
but Sera was no longer there.
She had already appeared behind her.
Before Stellar could react Sera grabbed the back of her head and slammed her into the ice wall.
BOOOOM.
The frozen structure shattered violently.
Yet Stellar reacted instantly.
The ice wall suddenly opened apart before impact completely crushed her.
Using the momentum, Stellar placed both hands on the ground and kicked upward toward Sera's chin.
Sera leaned backward smoothly.
Her fist slowly folded.
But before she attacked a massive magic formation appeared above her.
Isly floated in the air with her staff glowing intensely.
"Chaos Lock Formation."
Dark chaotic symbols rotated above Sera while unstable energy descended downward to seal movement itself.
At the same time Darius extended one hand.
"Shadow Hands."
Shadows erupted from every direction and rushed toward Sera's body.
Yet the moment the shadows neared her they burned away instantly under divine light.
The chaotic magic formation shattered moments afterward.
Darius narrowed his eyes.
"She erased both abilities at once…"
A roar echoed across the battlefield.
Alucard transformed instantly.
White fur spread across his body while his head took the form of a lion. His hands became massive clawed paws overflowing with divine beast energy.
Without hesitation he charged.
Kaelus moved with him.
Tina followed.
Dova and Stellar attacked simultaneously from opposite directions.
The five of them launched into a coordinated assault against Sera.
Kaelus slashed with compressed wind arcs.
Tina aimed directly for the soul.
Dova attempted to ruin movement itself.
Stellar froze pathways to limit escape.
Alucard attacked with overwhelming physical pressure.
Their teamwork flowed naturally.
Yet none of it worked.
Sera moved through every attack effortlessly.
Her body shifted only slightly.
Every attack missed by the smallest possible margin.
far above the battlefield—
Eryndor finally crashed back down from the sky.
BOOOOM.
Dust rose around him.
He landed on one knee.
His fractured arms trembled slightly.
For a moment, he simply stood there silently while watching the others continue fighting.
Then slowly he sat down cross-legged on the ground.
The battlefield continued raging around him, but Eryndor closed his eyes calmly and inhaled deeply.
"It's not just about understanding power…it's also about understanding oneself."
Sera's eyes shifted toward him.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"You sure are Interesting".
Meanwhile, she casually struck the others away from herself with a single wave of force.
Bodies flew backward across the battlefield.
The world around Eryndor slowly faded.
Silence overtook him.
Inside his subconsciousness, a completely different world existed.
A merged realm.
Two domains existing as one.
The Astral Sky.
And The Black Sun Domain.
The Astral Sky stretched endlessly overhead, filled with countless stars and streams of arcane energy flowing like rivers through the cosmos. Time itself moved differently there. Every second felt distant yet eternal.
Below it existed the Black Sun Domain.
A world created from both arcane and aether energy merging together to form Storm energy—the perfect union of wind and lightning.
Darkness covered the realm.
Yet it was also filled with light.
Shadows blanketed the ground endlessly while a black moon hung silently in the sky. Above it all the Black Sun shined.
Its dark radiance illuminated the entire domain alongside the stars of the Astral Sky.
The realm felt alive.
Eryndor slowly walked through the domain in silence.
Then he heard something.
Vrrr…
Vrrr…
A vibration…Deep and Rhythmic, Calling to him.
Eryndor followed the sound toward the center of the realm.
Toward the heart of the domain itself.
Directly beneath the Black Sun he saw it. His God Crystal.
Floating silently in space.
Black and white energy rotated inside it endlessly like yin and yang—two halves of the same existence.
Yin.
The shadowed side, Darkness, Passivity, Cold and The moon.
Yang.
The illuminated side, Light,Activity, Warmth and The sun.
The two energies rotated together perfectly.
Not opposing each other but Completing each other.
Outside the subconscious realm, Eryndor remained seated in meditation.
The battlefield had gone silent.
One by one the others also sat down.
Kaelus rested Tempest across his lap.
Rein folded his arms while sitting heavily on the ground.
Stellar closed her eyes quietly.
Darius leaned back calmly.
Tina, Dova, Alucard, and Isly all began looking inward toward themselves.
And standing before them Sera smile and quietly watched.