The battlefield was chaos. Screams filled the air—horrible, agonized sounds Damon never thought a human body could make. The sickening snap of bones, the crackle of flesh burning in cursed flames. Yet, those cries of despair were drowned out by the roars of rage—the furious battle cries of knights who watched their comrades fall to the spirits. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 Even so, they fought. They fought with the right morale. Men had died for foolish reasons before. Many had been lured to their deaths by fleeting promises—glory, honor, immortality in name. Damon had used that here. He had promised to immortalize them as heroes. And they had rushed to their deaths for him. How easily men die for intangible promises. Damon leapt off the steed just as it was engulfed in black flames, the knight atop it vanishing in the cursed inferno. The ground trembled beneath him as warriors clashed—some among them wielding power beyond normal human limits. Xander gritted his teeth as Damon yanked him down just in time, pulling him back up before sprinting toward the entrance of the abandoned building. "Come on! Stay close—we have to get inside!" Evangeline and Leona ran beside them, their faces streaked with soot and dust, their bodies marred by cuts and bruises from shattered earth—evidence of the violent clashes between knights and the dark spirits. The area ahead was untouched by the chaos of battle. Yet, despite its deceptive stillness, it was the most dangerous part of the battlefield. This was where the strongest manifestation of Rashi Ignath stood—guarding the doors like an executioner waiting for its prey. Leona bit her lip as she followed Damon, her body trembling at the sheer presence of the entity before them. Its aura was suffocating, a force so overwhelming it dwarfed everything else around it. She could feel death staring back at her. She could already see her end—her body reduced to nothing, not even a corpse, just ash scattered into the wind. And yet, despite her fear, she pressed forward. Damon, who led the way, did not hesitate. He did not slow. He showed no fear. Leona forced a wry smile, her intuition about him proving to be correct. He was reckless, ruthless, cold, and brooding, but beneath it all, he was worth trusting. He was worth following. And so, she ran beside him, leaving the chaos behind. The dark spirit raised its humanoid hand, black flames igniting like writhing shadows. In an instant, it conjured a massive sphere of fire—dense, compressed, a boulder of dark destruction. With a flick of its hand, it hurled the infernal mass toward them. Evangeline clenched her sword, her hands trembling as she channeled her magic, readying herself to intercept the attack. Damon remained impassive, his expression unreadable—as if he had foreseen this exact moment. "Brace yourselves!" he called out. Before the fireball could reach them, a red-haired young woman materialized in front of them, teleporting into their path with flawless precision. With a mere raise of her hand, space distorted, the very air bending around her presence. The fireball vanished—then reappeared, right in front of the dark spirit's face. It detonated. The spirit staggered back, momentarily disoriented. Lilith Astranova turned to glance at them. Xander clenched his fists, cursing under his breath. He had forgotten. Amid the chaos, all eyes had been on Damon—his commanding presence, his unwavering certainty—but they had overlooked the strongest asset in their group. Their trump card. The student council president. Damon barely spared her a glance as he rushed past. "Don't die," Lilith whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant roars of battle. Damon smirked. "Right back at you." And with that, he disappeared into the building. Lilith turned back to the dark spirit, her expression serious. She could sense its power. It was at the peak of the fourth class advancement—almost at the fifth. Worse, this fragment was dangerously close to the main source. It held an overwhelming amount of Ignath's will. The spirit smirked. "You have a peculiar aura…" Its gaze shifted to Damon's retreating figure, its voice dripping with confidence and eerie intelligence. "Ahhh… it was his blood that drew me here. The conduit to my summoning… a shame he has no spirit affinity. He would have made a perfect vessel." Lilith's eyes sharpened. "You can speak?" The dark flames of its body flickered, its form shifting like living shadows. It almost looked amused. "I am an intelligent lifeform, after all," it said smoothly. "I can express myself… though I only recently learned your language." Lilith didn't respond, her gaze flicking back toward the building. Ignath smiled. "No need to worry. I will kill him and his party soon enough. Even in my broken state, I am still a great spirit." Its burning gaze locked onto her. "As for you, touched by the divine… I shall feast upon your soul." Lilith's expression darkened. She didn't want Damon to worry about her. She needed to make this fight look easier than it was. Still, she could win. Even if she didn't like her odds. The spirit was ancient. It was one whole rank above her. And worst of all… That fire. That cursed fire. Her grip tightened. "You want my soul?" she said coldly. "Come and take it." The ground trembled. The sky dimmed, colors fading as darkness swallowed the daylight. And then, they clashed. Inside the building— Damon crossed the threshold just as an explosion shook the ground behind him. The abandoned structure had changed. The last time he was here, it had been different. Now, it felt… corrupted. And at the center of it all— Sylvia. She knelt on the floor, long hair veiling her face, glowing magical lines coiling around her body like chains. The power within them pulsed unnaturally, as if flowing against her will. Evangeline's breath caught in her throat. "Sylvia…" she whispered. Damon's heart twisted with pain. Slowly, Sylvia lifted her head. Her once-gray eyes were now pitch black. Her head tilted unnaturally to the side. Then, she raised her hand. "Die." A pillar of black fire erupted toward them.