Chapter 254: The Dragon, The Angel and The Titan

Ivy had always been the weakest in raw star power among Eden's members, yet no one treated her that way. The reason stood in front of them all, her creation. The Battle Maiden. A weapon, a partner, and proof that intelligence could rival brute strength.

A zombie lunged at her from the left, claws wide and reckless. Ivy reacted instantly. Thrusters ignited with a sharp burst, launching her forward. She twisted mid-air and delivered a spinning kick that crushed through the brute's neck, tearing its head clean off.

She landed lightly, already adjusting her stance. The Battle Maiden wasn't just armor, it was a conduit of her skill. Every movement felt sharper, faster, stronger. It didn't replace her power. It amplified it, stacking directly onto her martial ability.

Unlike standard Conduits, which came fixed and unchanging, this was different. Battle Maiden evolved. As Ivy improved, it improved. The conduit fed off her growth, syncing with her instincts, making every strike more efficient, more lethal with each passing moment.

But Ivy hadn't stopped there. She broke the rules entirely. Conduits weren't meant to change after creation, once damaged, they were discarded. Yet she rewrote that limitation. Battle Maiden could be modified, upgraded, rebuilt piece by piece without losing its core.

That innovation came at a cost. Materials, energy, constant maintenance, it drained resources fast. Still, Ivy could afford it. As a top artisan in the mid-tier regions, her work funded her obsession, and she invested everything back into perfection.

Three zombies charged her at once, snarling as they closed the distance. Ivy didn't retreat. Her arms shifted instantly, mechanical plates sliding open as twin cannons formed. She fired without hesitation. The blasts tore through all three, dropping them in seconds.

She lowered her arms slowly, scanning the battlefield as smoke curled around her.

An adaptive conduit would have been better though. The thought passed quietly through her mind. Then she moved again, diving straight back into the fight.

Ivy surged forward again, rejoining the chaos without pause, while across the battlefield the other martial artists fought just as fiercely. Even so, their attention kept drifting upward, drawn again and again to the sky.

A massive white dragon cut through the air, its presence impossible to ignore. It radiated a cold, overwhelming pressure that made even seasoned fighters uneasy. "Is that Lady Eve's spirit?" someone muttered, their voice tight with disbelief.

Rumors had always surrounded Eden's leader, Eve. People speculated about an SSS-ranked cultivation talent. Back then, most dismissed it. Now, watching the dragon, doubt started to crumble.

The dragon swept across the sky, releasing waves of condensed, radiant light. Each pulse washed over the battlefield, erasing clusters of zombies instantly. Dozens fell at once, their bodies disintegrating under the sheer purity of the attack.

Yet despite the overwhelming display, Remedy's focus wasn't steady. Her gaze kept shifting, searching through the chaos below for Adam. She hadn't found him yet, and that absence pressed harder on her than the enemies surrounding them.

Something else felt wrong.

This situation didn't exist in any of her previous cycles. She was certain of it. Events like this didn't just slip through memory. When she encountered something familiar, the past always returned in fragments. But now, there was nothing. Just a blank space where understanding should have been.

The dragon unleashed another wave, cutting down a fresh surge of zombies, but the numbers didn't drop. If anything, they grew. Every fallen martial artist rose again moments later, their bodies twisting into new enemies.

The battlefield turned unstable fast. Unlike ordinary monsters, these creatures multiplied through conversion. Each loss fed them. Each fallen ally became another threat. The balance was breaking, and it was happening too quickly.

Worse still, the zombies weren't easy kills. Their bodies adapted mid-fight. Wounds sealed. Pain didn't slow them. Attacks that worked once lost effectiveness the next time. Every second they survived, they became harder to destroy.

Remedy saw it all from above, her expression tightening slightly.

Then the ground shifted.

Several zombies suddenly halted, their bodies trembling violently. Before anyone could react, they began to merge. Flesh fused with flesh, bones snapping and reforming as multiple bodies collapsed into one growing mass.

The fusion accelerated.

More zombies were dragged into it, pulled together by an unseen force. The mass swelled rapidly, rising higher and higher until it cast a massive shadow over the battlefield. The sky dimmed as it grew.

Clouds gathered unnaturally fast, dark and heavy. Thunder rumbled across the air, lightning streaking through the sky as if responding to the creature's birth. The pressure in the atmosphere spiked.

The Titan took form.

It towered above everything, its body grotesque and unstable, yet packed with overwhelming force. A deep roar shook the battlefield, sending shockwaves through the air as nearby fighters staggered under its presence.

Remedy didn't move.

The white dragon coiled under her, light gathering once more, but the Titan moved first. Its massive arm swung upward with terrifying speed, cutting through the air as it aimed directly at her and the dragon.

The Titan's arm crashed down with devastating force, but Remedy had already moved. She gave a silent command, and the white dragon twisted sharply mid-air, narrowly slipping past the strike as a violent sonic boom tore through the sky behind it.

The dragon didn't slow. It surged upward, gaining height in a smooth arc before turning back. Light gathered in its jaws, condensing rapidly, then it released a massive wave downward, bathing the battlefield in blinding brilliance.

The attack struck the Titan head-on.

Radiant energy exploded across its body, illuminating the entire area in a white haze. For a moment, everything disappeared in the glow. Below, fighters paused instinctively, shielding their eyes as the pressure rolled outward.

From different parts of the battlefield, mission hall managers and Francis watched in stunned silence. They were Lord-ranked, veterans of countless battles, yet what they witnessed now surpassed them. This wasn't normal Master-level power. It was something far beyond.

Then the light began to fade.

The Titan still stood.

A massive burn stretched across its upper body, from head to chest, but that was all. It endured the full force of the attack and remained unmoved, as if the damage barely registered.

The creature tilted its head slightly, then opened its mouth.

Dark particles began to gather inside. The energy compressed rapidly, mirroring the structure of the dragon's attack. It was adapting it and turning the same power into something darker.

Remedy's eyes narrowed.

"You want to use my attack against me?" she said calmly, her voice cutting through the tension. "How foolish."

Light surged again.

Beside her, a second presence manifested. A twelve-winged angel appeared in a burst of radiant energy, its form towering and divine. The air itself shifted as holy light thickened, swirling violently around both supreme spirits.

The dragon and angel moved in sync.

Energy gathered at an alarming rate, brighter and denser than before. Their power stacked, overlapping perfectly. Below, the battlefield trembled as even the surrounding zombies slowed, reacting instinctively to the pressure building above.

The Titan finished charging first.

It fired.

A beam of dark, condensed energy erupted from its mouth, tearing through the sky with raw force. The air distorted around it, the sheer density of power warping everything in its path as it surged toward Remedy.

She didn't hesitate.

"Now."

Both supreme spirits released their attacks at the same time.

Twin beams of radiant light shot forward, merging into a single overwhelming force as they collided head-on with the Titan's dark blast. The impact detonated instantly, sending shockwaves across the battlefield as the sky itself seemed to crack.