"SCREECH!"


    The deafening cry of the Phoenix Empress reverberated across the skies as she unleashed a ferocious firestorm of unimaginable magnitude. The fiery storm lit up the evening sky in a blinding, ominous red hue, turning the horizon into what resembled an apocalyptic scene. The golden mes twisted and roared like living entities, casting shadows of terror over the sprawling Phoenix Capital City below.


    "Oh... God!"


    Citizens from miles away froze in fear as they witnessed the radiant spectacle of their revered Eternal Phoenix soaring through the heavens, her majestic form dominating the skies.


    "Run!"


    Those closer to the epicenter—especially the nobles in the Royal District—abandoned all semnce of dignity and fled for their lives, their thoughts racing: Who could have provoked the Empress to such wrath?


    High above the city, Aengus, a mere silhouette against the raging inferno, stood unyielding.


    From below, Be, Vira, Chrystia, and others stared in awe and apprehension as the young Rebel Emperor faced the overwhelming storm with a calm that bordered on arrogance. His small figure seemed almost insignificant against the grandeur of the Phoenix Empress'' might, yet his presence exuded an unshakable confidence.


    "Shua shua shua..."


    As the firestorm approached, consuming everything in its path, Aengus prepared to meet it head-on.


    With a single motion, he summoned his weapon—the God yer Sword, Aegis, its de radiating a chaotic brilliance that seemed to pierce through the fiery chaos.


    "Chaotic Maelstrom (SS)"


    In a single, devastating horizontal arc, he swung the sword, unleashing a colossal storm of multicolored destructive energy. The energy roared to life, creating a violent maelstrom that swirled with chaotic, ovepping hues—red, blue, ck, and gold. Its raw, unrestrained power surged forward, tearing through the Eternal Firestorm with an overwhelming might that eclipsed even the Empress'' mes.


    "BOOOOM!"


    The sh of the two attacks was nothing short of cataclysmic.


    The multicolored Chaotic Maelstrom swallowed the firestorm whole, its destructive energy spreading outward like an unstoppable tide. A shockwave of energy rippled through the atmosphere, shaking the city and the surroundingnds. Buildings trembled, the ground quaked, and the skies themselves seemed to groan under the pressure of the opposing forces.


    As the dust and mes began to settle, the crowd below could see the Phoenix Empress hovering mid-air, her fiery wings ring out defiantly but visibly dimmed, a sign that her attack had been overpowered. Opposite her stood Aengus, his figure framed by the lingering remnants of the Chaotic Maelstrom, unscathed and radiating an aura of undeniable dominance.


    "The Eternal Phoenix is losing to a mere human?"


    "Unbelievable!"


    The onlookers, both allies and enemies, stared in disbelief. The scene unfolding in the sky was beyond anything they could have imagined.


    "Is this the power of my son-inw?"


    Celeste, sheltered under Be''s protective stance, murmured in awe as she watched Aengus stride across the sky with the calm authority of a deity.


    Be smirked, her expression radiating pride. "No, Mother. You don''t know the half of it yet. Just watch!"


    After that Celeste''s eyes widened as Aengus'' silhouette began to change. Shadows coiled around him, forming an ominous cloak that pulsed with dark energy. The very air around him warped and crackled, as though reality itself trembled at his transformation.


    "What is he…?" Celeste whispered, her voice filled with both fear and amazement.


    Under the stunned gazes of the Eternal Phoenix and the gathered warriors, Aengus'' form began to expand. His body reshaped itself into a monstrous dragon, the transformation so otherworldly it felt as though the heavens themselves had split open.


    First, a small, little draconic frame took shape. Then, it grew—100 meters, 500 meters, 2,500 meters, 7,500 meters… until it finally reached an iprehensible length of 10,500+ meters. The massive dragon loomed over the battlefield, its towering form dwarfing even the Eternal Phoenix, whose regal and majestic presence now seemed like that of a small bird inparison.


    The abyssal ck mes surrounding the colossal dragon were unlike anything anyone had ever seen. They twisted and writhed with malevolence, consuming light and radiating a heat so intense it distorted reality itself. The once-unstoppable Eternal Phoenix Fire flickered weakly against the overwhelming power of the Abyssal Dragon''s ck mes, like a fragile boat caught in a storm-tossed sea.


    The ground below began to melt as the dragon''s sheer presence caused the temperature to skyrocket. Buildings copsed, rivers evaporated, and even the most hardened warriors felt their resolve falter as waves of abyssal heat washed over them, scorching the weaker ones instantly. Survivors scrambled to escape, their faces pale with terror.


    "Run! Run for your lives!"


    The cries of fleeing soldiers and citizens echoed across the battlefield, but there was no safe ce to hide. Aengus—now a dark, abyssal dragon—was a force of nature, a living catastrophe.


    The Phoenix Empress, hovering in her Eternal Phoenix form, stared at the monstrous dragon before her. For the first time in centuries, she felt a chill of fear creep into her fiery heart.


    "Who...What… are you?" she asked, her voice trembling with a mix of fury and apprehension.


    Aengus'' dragonic form rumbled with a deep, gutturalugh, his voice resonating like thunder across the burningndscape.


    "I am your Salvation. Let me clear your head to give you some peace of mind."


    Aengus'' massive, abyssal wings mped shut, creating an imprable cage that encased the struggling Phoenix Empress within their ckened embrace.


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"


    The Empressshed out with all her might, her fiery attacks crashing against the dark barrier, but to no avail. The cage, fortified by Aengus'' immense power, absorbed her blows as though they were nothing more than flickering embers.


    Inside the suffocating darkness, a sinister shadow began to take form. It was the Shadow Monarch''s Dominion, a nightmarish construct born from Aengus. The ethereal shadow snaked its way toward the Phoenix Empress, reaching into her mind with tendrils of unstoppable purpose.


    "No… get out of my head!" she screamed, her voice trembling as the Dominion burrowed into her thoughts.


    But it was toote. The Shadow Monarch''s Dominion began to awaken the deepest parts of her psyche—those buried desires and fragmented memories of joy, love, and happiness that she had abandoned long ago in service to her throne. Images of a time before she became the Phoenix Empress shed before her eyes:


    Her younger self,ughing freely with her mother. Moments of tender affection with Vira, the sacrifices they made for each other.


    The love and happiness she had forsaken when she took her oath of duty and power.


    The overwhelming flood of emotions caused her fiery aura to waver, her resolve cracking under the weight of what she had suppressed for so long.


    Inside her mind, there was a different deal was happening between Aengus and udia.


    Meanwhile, outside the cage, Vira approached Be and Celeste with desperate eyes. His once-proud demeanor was now overshadowed by fear and anguish as he watched his wife, the love of his life, trapped in a battle of wills.


    "Be, Celeste… please. Stop him!" Vira''s voice cracked with emotion. "I know she has done terrible things, but she is still your family. She was very nice to you all in the past. I can''t lose her like this… not like this."


    Be looked at her grandfather with sympathy. "Grandfather, if he seeds, you might finally get her back—the woman you fell in love with. Not the Empress, but the real her. Trust him. Your Grandson-inw will fix this."


    "Ohh, Is that so..."


    Vira could only pray for her safety as Aengus'' clone stood like Imprable Wall.