The moment the fight began, it was as if we had all reached an unspoken agreement—each of us log onto an oppo and diving into battle without hesitation.

  I recalled Master’s advice about fighting smart, using strategy to gain the upper hand. But as I faced the Dark Phoenix before me, all those thoughts vahe only thing I cared about roving who was superior.

  Judging by my oppo's movements, he probably felt the same.

  I led him away from the other duel. He struck first, casting a [Fire o ensnare me. Familiar with the skill—it was one I possessed myself—I dodged with ease. But somethi wrong. Gng back, I saw the flying straight toward the Ice Dragon, aimed at catg my teammate off guard.

  This sneaky bastard had deliberately positioned himself to exploit my dodge, targeting Binryong in my stead. Sensing the increasi, Binryoated, her attention leaving her oppo and turning toward the ining attack.

  I vanished from my spot, reappeariwee and the female Ice Dragon, askio focus on her battle. With a powerful fp of my wings, I summoned a surge of wind, dispersing the [Fire ] and ensuring the surroundi dissipated. My teammate remained untouched.

  I caught a flicker of disappoi on my oppo's face before his expression hardened once more. Moving quickly, I asded a few hundred meters above him, positioning myself with nothing but the sky behind my back.

  For a brief moment, I lost sight of him. Then he reappeared directly in front of me, taloended. His cws gripped my belly, digging in just enough to hold me but not enough to pierce through my feathers.

  Gathering his strength, he prepared to unleash a devastating breath attack, bining fire and a strange, dark energy. However, I didn’t give him the ce.

  As the bst formed, I blocked it with my left wing, enduring the initial heat and energy. Using my other wing, I seized his beak and smmed it shut, cutting off the attack mid-bst. The backsh erupted inside him, scorg his own face.

  His shock gave me the perfect opening. With a rapid attack, I struck him with my talons, sending him flying through the air, stunned and disoriented.

  Taking a moment to shake off the dark energy on my left wing, I surged faiermio end this.

  As the Dark Phoenix recovered from his stuate, he attempted to retreat, spreading his wings as dark fmes fred around him in a defensive shield. But I was faster. My golden fmes surged like a wave, engulfing him entirely and ing his darkness with a blinding inferno.

  I watched him flinch, struggling to withstand my strength, until his aura cracked uhe relentless pressure. Blood trickled from his wounds, but I refused to relent.

  Seizing the opportunity, I advaaloeearing through his wings and leaving streaks of blood in my path. He cried out and attempted to ter with a densed dark fire bst, but a swipe of my wing scattered it into harmless sparks.

  With his strength nearly extinguished, I unleashed one final strike. The heat within me reached a new height as I released a fire breath, burning him entirely. His body was set on fire, uo resist my [Undying Fmes], until only ash scattered in the air.

  Expeg gratutions from my master, I turo meet his gaze, only to see in his eyes, focused elsewhere.

  A pang of disappoiightened my chest—Master wasn’t watg my victory.

  'Be careful ! They're dangerous!! Protect yourself ! Right now !' Listening to my Master who had never sounded sent, I focused, followed his gaze, and froze.

  Three oppos, having just fiheir battles, were now advang in my dire, their io er me clear.

  The massive, blue-scaled, eight-headed serpent had vanished, and in its pce stood the dragon, the fox with many tails, and the majestic blue beast I had noticed earlier. The st two bore light injuries, while the dragon appeared entirely unharmed. Their eyes locked onto me with a chilling iy.

  'How did those four idiots die in half a minute?' I thought, stunned. 'How did I miss so much while fighting?'

  'After dispersing that [Fire ], I didn’t evehe sounds of their battles… Was that normal?' I forced the thoughts aside, fog on the immediate danger and preparing my defense.

  As the three oppos closed in, I unleashed a furious surge of fmes, creating a sphere of fire around me. Heat radiated outward, filling the area with fire as I poured every ounce of power into keeping them far.

  'They ca-' Master’s sentence tly cut off, trailing into a distorted, inprehensible echo in my mind.

  My oppos were moving faster. Much faster. Faster than anything I’d ever entered.

  At first, they blurred—just fshes of movement in my field of vision. They would appear long enough to strike at my sides with cws and fangs, only to vanish before I could retaliate. I pushed my seo the limit, but no matter how hard I tried, they slipped through like phantoms, evading every effort to track them.

  'n slow' I couldn’t make sense of master's gibberish. It was as if his words stretched, transformed by some unseen force. Frustrated, I severed the telepathik to focus entirely on the fight.

  In the chaos, I mao catch a glimpse of the horned creature. My fmes had i, yet in the same breath, it had fully recovered, its wounds vanishing as if erased by magic.

  But the fox and the dragon were unscathed. They moved effortlessly through my fmes, striking me from all dires with astonishing speed.

  Each blow nded with crushing speed, using my inability to react. I was utterly defenseless uheir assault, and I couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of gratitude toward my master's tortu—no, training.

  Master’s focus on body f had pushed me to extreme limits, and it was that grueling training that kept me standing now.

  Even so, my feathers burned as pain coursed through my body. Wounds opened faster than I could prehend, their cws shredding my left wing before my talons snapped uhe pressure. Each hit drove me closer to the brink, yet I refused to surrender.

  Through the chaos, I noticed the blue-horned figure had stopped moving. It stood off to the side, breathing heavily, its chest rising and falling at an arming rate. The rhythm was too rapid. It looked strange.

  Then my gaze fell on Master.

  He ag bad forth with inhuman speed, his movements a blur as he helplessly observed the fight.

  And then it hit me—a truth so staggering that it felt like a physical blow. My oppos hadn’t sped up. I had been slowed down. Shackled. Trapped in a prison of time where every movement I made gged behiy.

  The realizatio a surge of anger and desperation flooding through my chest. My body, battered and torn, was failing me. Yet I refused to let it end here.

  With a roar that came from the depths of my soul, I unleashed every ounce of power within me, every ember of strength I had left.

  It all happened in a blink. Moments ago, su had been dominating, his fmes easily overp the Dark Phoenix.

  Then, as if reality itself had torn, part of the battlefield seemed to . A strange distortion enveloped the eight other beasts—a "time bubble" that bent everything i. What should have been a prolonged, brutal battle unfolded in a single heartbeat.

  The [Bck Tortoise] had mao take down the [Sapphire Hydra], but everyone else oeam had fallen, killed by the powerful [ailed Blood Fox] and the [Azure Dragon].

  As the bubble dissipated, the three remaining creatures locked eyes osu and charged. Sora barely had time to process the situation. He sent a frantic telepathic warning, the urgency of his thoughts impossible to miss.

  'Be careful! They're dangerous! Protect yourself! Right now!' he urged, pausing only to see su release a tremendous wave of fire. 'They slow time!!' he added, dread rising within him as the message barely made it through.

  Sora paced bad forth, frustration written all over his face as he sed the battlefield, desperate for a way to intervene. Even as he watched, it was clear the situation was getting worse—within seds, su was overwhelmed by thousands of attacks, each blow nding with devastating precision. Sora’s heart sank as he saw his familiar, defenseless uhe onsught, enduring a barrage of attacks.

  Just as his frustration peaked, fists ched with the urge to leap into the fray and save su himself, a voice broke through his thoughts.

  Klun him, one eyebrow raised. "You know he won’t actually die if we lose this, right?" he asked, clearly puzzled by Sora’s intense rea.

  Snored him, his gaze never leaving the battlefield. Every split sed brought more attacks, asu’s fmes were struggling to keep up.

  His eyes narrowed in admiration as he noticed the [Azure Dragon], exhausted from hitting his familiar, struggling to catch its breath between assaults. Then his focus shifted to the female[ailed Blood Fox] , moving in and out of the fray so quickly she was barely visible.

  Staring at the fox, Sora sighed. 'Emily's familiar really is overpowered. Its trol over blood is ridiculous—it’s slig right through su's defenses. She’s the one dealing the most damage, causing nearly all his severe injuries.'

  But Sora’s frustration deepened as his eyes fell on the fragile-looking dragon h at the edge of the battle, providing support and occasionally attag. 'And none of this would even be possible without that damime Dragon],' he thought, his teeth gritting. 'Kara, even your familiar has to mess with time, huh? You really got me this time. I swear… this just makes me want to master time myself.'

  mimou

  Join the discord server :https://disc/beVP9UaG5r

  Please sider leaving a ent / review / follow on the book if you like the novel! I'd appreciate the support

  ? Special Gifts for You:

  1?? I’ll randomly select readers on Discord to enjoy free Patreon access for a month or more EVERY MONTH! ? Check image below !2?? From now on, Patreon will offer a free additional chapter daily! So, if you ever feel impatient for the update, Patreon has you covered! ??