Deep within the dark cave, the Mysterious Sorcerer sat against the cold stone, his eyes half-closed.
He looked still .. yet the energy around him never truly rested.
The air trembled.
Slowly, his eyes opened.
"Purple… gray… blue…" he murmured.
"And now red as well."
He raised one hand, tracing invisible currents only he could sense.
"Siron," he said calmly,
"I gave you a test.
You turned it into a killing field."
He stood at last, placing his palm against the cave wall.
As he walked toward the exit, faint traces of magic lingered behind each step.
At the mouth of the cave, he lifted his gaze toward the sky, now twisted with clashing auras.
A dark smile touched his lips.
"No matter.
Let him kill, if he wishes."
He turned slightly.
"At the very least… I will see whether that boy .. Ryan—
is worthy of being seen by my own eyes."
And with that, his presence dissolved into the whispering winds of the forest.
The battlefield was still boiling with chaos.
Ryan stood at its center, his violet-gray sword crackling with unstable sparks.
Across from him, Siron advanced slowly, his black cloak dragging shadows across the ground.
To the side, Sera held her ground.
Crimson threads of energy trembled along her wings as she stood before the wounded Eileen.
Behind her, the red healing barrier glowed faintly, tiny fairies fluttering around it.
Siron lifted his blade.
"Arkanis—Rift Spiral."
A gray vortex twisted into existence behind him, surging forward like a cyclone meant to erase everything in its path.
Ryan reacted instantly.
"Mirror—Phase Split!"
For a single heartbeat, his body fractured into shifting shadows.
The vortex tore through the false form, missing him entirely.
Ryan reappeared behind Siron and swung.
"Pulse Break!"
Violet energy slammed into Siron's back …
But Siron raised his palm, fury tightly contained.
"Break… Null Field."
Gray aura exploded outward, devouring the attack completely.
The power scattered like ash in the wind.
Sera moved.
She pressed both palms to the ground.
"Crimson Bind!"
Fiery red chains burst from the soil, wrapping around Siron's legs
Only to be shattered instantly as his gray energy surged again.
He turned toward her, eyes cold.
"A fairy dares restrain a sorcerer?"
Sera's voice came low behind her mask.
"As long as the girl behind me is breathing," she said,
"you will not touch her."
High above, the Shadow watched from the branches, his gaze sharp.
"The transformation… the violet mirror…" he murmured.
"It's fading."
He studied Ryan carefully.
The gray aura along Ryan's body began to dissolve.
The violet glow fractured into unstable sparks.
"So that's it," the Shadow whispered.
"A temporary shift.
Useless in a prolonged battle."
Below, Ryan staggered.
The gray energy slipped away entirely.
His hair returned to its original shade.
The glow of his sword dimmed.
He dropped to his knees, gasping, fragments of aura swirling briefly before vanishing.
Siron smiled.
"Impressive," he said coldly.
"For a moment."
He dragged his blade forward, shadows stretching beneath it.
"In the end, you're just a boy reaching for power that was never yours."
He lunged.
Ryan tried to raise his sword … but his arm trembled.
The strength was gone.
Before the strike could land…
Sera moved.
She threw herself in front of Ryan, red light flaring into a barrier just in time.
Siron's blade crashed into it.
The impact sent Sera flying backward, sparks bursting across her mask as she hit the ground.
"Move aside," Siron said sharply.
"This battle is not yours."
Sera coughed once, pressed a hand to the earth, and stood again.
Red lines ignited across her palms.
"As long as he cannot stand," she said,
"I will."
Ryan remained on the ground, breath ragged, fingers digging into the soil.
He could only watch.
From above, the Shadow whispered, unease creeping into his voice.
"This is the end.
Ryan cannot protect Eileen.
And the fairy cannot stand alone."
Then…
Something changed.
Sera lowered her hands, not toward the earth, but inward.
"…Not enough," she whispered.
She lifted her head, red energy thickening like fire under pressure.
"Then I'll use the one thing
I swore I never would."
She traced a circle in the air.
A burning red line formed, then dropped to the ground as a glowing sigil.
"Crimson Call… Rafa."
The earth trembled.
A pillar of red fire erupted upward … and from within it emerged a twisted fairy.
Hair of living flame.
Wide yellow eyes.
A grin warped by hatred.
The Shadow inhaled sharply.
"A fairy… summoning another fairy?
Impossible."
Even Siron froze.
Ryan whispered hoarsely,
"What… is that?"
Sera's voice shook … but did not break.
"This is Rafa.
All the anger I buried.
All the hatred I never released."
Rafa screeched and lunged forward beside Sera.
Siron laughed, fury burning bright.
"Good.
Show me what you can do."
The battle split apart…
Siron against Sera.
Rafa circling like living fire.
Ryan struggling on the ground.
The Shadow watching, no longer certain where this chaos would end.
Within the red barrier, the fairies gasped.
"The blue energy is moving," one whispered.
Another cried out,
"Her hair—look!"
Eileen's pale hair turned radiant blue, light flowing from root to tip.
At the place where her arm and leg had been…
Light formed.
A full arm.
A full leg.
Not flesh … but pure, living energy.
"They're not healing," a fairy whispered.
"They're becoming light."
Inside Eileen's mind, silence broke.
She stood in a blue void.
Mist curled around her.
A woman appeared … long blue hair, a simple crown, a glowing pendant.
Then the image shifted.
The woman lay dying.
Blood-stained.
The pendant pulsed once… then faded.
"Who are you?" Eileen whispered.
The woman reached out.
"Eileen," she said softly.
"Wake up.
It's time."
Pain pierced her chest.
And everything vanished.
Eileen's eyes snapped open.
"She's awake!" the fairies cried.
She stared at her glowing arm.
Her leg of pure light.
"W-what happened to me?" she whispered.
"Who was that woman?"
No answer came.
But for a single heartbeat, her eyes burned blue.
The forest trembled.
Far away, the Mysterious Sorcerer stopped.
His eyes widened.
"This energy…" he murmured.
"I know it."
He frowned.
"It belonged to one of the Seven Sorcerers.
How did it appear here?"
One truth settled in his mind.
This was no longer a test.
Back on the battlefield, silence fell.
Eileen stood within the fading barrier, blue hair lifted by unseen wind.
Energy traced along her neck.
Ryan whispered,
"Eileen…?"
Sera stared, red energy trembling unconsciously.
Even Siron paused, the blue light reflected in his narrowed eyes.
Eileen lifted her head.
Her gaze searched the battlefield …
for something she did not yet understand.
And the forest watched.