Siron laughed, the sound confident enough to irritate everyone standing before him.
"So," he said slowly, looking at each of them in turn,
"you've decided to stop my transformation?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Is it fear? You already know you're no match for my power."
Sera stepped forward without hesitation.
"Your transformation isn't complete," she said coldly.
"You're nothing more than a failed experiment… Zevyr."
Siron's expression changed instantly. His jaw tightened, and he bit his lip in anger.
"Silence," he snapped. "You know nothing about my master."
His voice lowered, darker than before.
"My body was never meant to hold this energy. That's why the transformation stopped halfway."
He placed his hand against the ground.
"Now… I'll show you who Siron is."
"And who Zevyr really is."
Energy gathered around him. The earth began to tremble, slowly at first, then stronger.
Sera turned quickly toward Ryan.
"Now! We have to act. Anything—before it's too late."
Ryan didn't move.
"My energy hasn't recovered yet," he said calmly. "My body is still trying to stabilize. I can't use the transformation again."
Sera frowned.
"Then decide. Who defends, and who attacks with everything they have?"
Ryan didn't answer.
Because inside him, frustration was building.
Why can't I control it?
Why does my energy disappear so quickly?
Is this my limit?
Old memories surfaced without warning. Training without results. Being overlooked. Being told he wasn't talented enough. Just another weak mage from an ordinary family.
His hand tightened around his weapon.
No.
I won't stay weak.
The thought burned inside him, stronger than fear.
I will become stronger.
Stronger than anyone.
If power is the only thing this world understands… then I will reach it.
Not for pride.
For ambition.
High above them, sitting on the branch of the magical tree, the Shadow watched silently. Its attention wasn't on Siron or Ryan.
It was on Eileen.
"What is happening to her…?" it murmured.
Blue light continued to leak from her body, unstable, as if her form itself was struggling to remain whole.
Then the whisper returned…cold and unavoidable.
"Either you intervene… or everyone dies. Including you."
Far away, the mysterious sorcerer raised his hands. Threads of magic spread outward like invisible signals, formed from small, shifting particles of energy. They moved through the air without sound, reaching the Shadow.
Through it, he observed the battlefield.
He did not see images.
Only energy.
Ryan's unstable violet aura.
Sera's restrained red power.
Eileen's overflowing blue light.
And Siron's dark transformation pushing beyond control.
The mysterious sorcerer smiled faintly.
"So," he said quietly,
"they're all afraid."