The shockwave from the Falling Bolt finally dissipated, leaving a crater of scorched earth and glass where the Energy Sector once stood. Techyon skidded to a halt on the charred ground, his breath coming in ragged hitches. His White-Blue aura was flickering like a dying star.
Alya jumped down from his back, her hands still glowing with the last of her Hydro Refresh. She grabbed his shoulders, her eyes searching his face. "Techyon! Are you okay? Your mana circuits—"
"I'm okay," Techyon gritted out, wiping ash from his brow. "Just... a bit overheated."
As the heavy black smoke cleared, the sight was gruesome. Rax lay in the center of the crater, his massive bone-scales shattered and his back completely caved in. The dragon looked dead, but as Alya stepped forward, his eyes snapped open—burning with a final, suicidal violet light.
"If I go... you go with me!" Rax roared.
With the last of his strength, he lunged not at Techyon, but at Alya—his jaws unhinging to snap her in two.
Techyon's heart stopped. He was too drained to burst. But before Rax could close his teeth, a swarm of Pink Butterflies swirled out of nowhere, coating the dragon's face.
BOOM!
The butterflies exploded in a blinding flash of pink mana, staggering the dragon and veering his head off-course.
In that half-second of distraction, Techyon found his second wind. He vanished in a blur of 0.10ms speed, appearing above Rax's neck. His white-blue dagger hummed with the resonance of the Arax Bloodline.
SHING!
A clean arc of light severed the dragon's head from his massive body. Techyon landed softly as the head of the Blue Dragon thudded into the dirt.
He didn't look back. He just looked at the shadows where Lapis and Elisa were emerging. "You guys are late," Techyon said, a tired but victorious smirk on his face.
Techyon wiped the blue dragon blood from his blade, his chest still heaving.
"Nice shot, bro," Lapis said, walking into the crater with his hands behind his head. "You finally put that low-class dragon out of our misery."
Techyon looked at Alya, who was still catching her breath beside him. He looked back at Lapis and frowned. "Don't congratulate me alone. I wouldn't have landed that hit without her cooling my circuits. She saved me."
Lapis grinned and waved toward the shadows. "Alright, fine! Both of you did great. Hey, Elisa! Stop lurking and come here! We're going to celebrate this win!"
Elisa didn't answer. She walked slowly toward Rax's decapitated corpse. With a sickening squelch, she plunged her hand into the dragon's chest and ripped out the pulsing, violet Dragon Heart.
"Just as I thought," she whispered, her voice sounding strangely hollow. "He saved all the energy sectors inside it. It's the perfect battery."
"Hey, Elisa? You're acting weird," Lapis said, stepping toward her. "What are you—"
Suddenly, a swarm of pink butterflies didn't just flutter—they exploded in Lapis's face like shrapnel.
"What are you doing?!" Lapis roared, stumbling back, his goggles cracked. "Are you out of your mind, Elisa?!"
"Elisa?" Her voice suddenly dropped three octaves, turning into a deep, guttural, demonic growl. She gripped the edges of her own face. With a horrific tearing sound, she pulled the "skin" of her face upward like a mask.
"Elisa is dead, kids."
The body of the girl collapsed like an empty shell, and in her place stood a towering monstrosity of shadow and bone. The demon's eyes were like burning coals.
"I am Potash," the demon hissed. "I killed the girl long ago. I've been walking among you, waiting for this heart to be charged. And now..."
Potash crushed the Dragon Heart against the reality tear. The violet energy flooded the portal, turning it from a flicker into a gaping abyss.
"My Lord is coming!" Potash shrieked.
Techyon, Alya, and Lapis froze. From the center of the pitch-black portal, a hand the size of a palace pillar reached out, followed by a silhouette that blotted out the sun. It was not Monarch of Destruction it was something else