"How… how can this power exist!?"
The elven court erupted in panic. Their voices trembled as the air itself thickened with a crushing presence. Even Archduke Ehrag, usually calm and calculating, widened his eyes in disbelief.
'This… this can't be. The dragon that once protected Earth—she was supposed to be weakened, nearly at death's door.'
Yet the aura pressing down upon him now was unmistakable. Divine. Absolute. The kind of majesty that forces the soul to kneel.
Around him, the elves clutched their chests and gasped for air. Knees buckled. The weight of Anna Ferris's power was enough to bring an army to submission.
"Guh…"
"Can't… breathe…"
When their cries reached her, Anna finally waved her hand.
"I'm not the patient type. Don't expect me to repeat myself."
BOOM!
The overwhelming mana vanished in an instant. The suffocating pressure dissolved like mist. The elves slumped, trembling, as if they had woken from a nightmare.
Ehrag stared, stunned.
'That speed… that control. Has she already recovered her full strength?'
If so, then this wasn't a fallen dragon clinging to old glories. This was a predator reborn.
'So the Earth has changed…' he thought. 'And so have they.'
Whatever the humans of Earth had become, one truth was clear—only Anna Ferris, the Dragon of the Covenant, could stand against what was coming.
"Fortunately," Anna said coldly, "you still have some sense left. Now stop talking and gather your troops."
Her tone allowed no argument. Ehrag simply turned, bowed deeply to the Elven Emperor, and spoke.
"Your Majesty, please give the order."
Wihgrat's jaw tightened. He straightened his back and raised his voice, clear and resolute.
"As Emperor of the Rusotu Dimension, I command all elves capable of battle—assemble at the World Tree immediately!"
The thick trunk of the World Tree split open.
Chrrrk—!
From within the cocoon of living wood, Lee Seong-jun stepped out, eyes narrowing.
"…Nothing?"
He scanned the small, wooden chamber. It was about the size of a modest room, filled only with glowing strands of green light. No traps, no monsters, not even the faint pulse of an enemy.
Then the voice came, echoing softly through the air.
—Don't misunderstand. The final ordeal isn't a battle.
Lee Seong-jun frowned. "Then what is it?"
—Break through your inner wall, and step into a new world. That is your trial.
"…Tch."
A wry smile crossed his lips. An internal trial… of course.
To "step into a new world" could mean only one thing—to transcend into the Divine Realm, beyond the limits of the mortal path.
'So that's what Ehrag meant… a nearly impossible task.'
Even those blessed with immense talent might spend decades pushing against the wall of enlightenment. Most would fail entirely. For Lee Seong-jun, who had a family and a world to protect, this wasn't a challenge—it was a trap.
Yet instead of despair, he laughed quietly.
"You picked the wrong person to test."
For others, it would be an endless prison. But for him, it was a perfect opportunity.
This was the heart of the World Tree—the purest wellspring of life energy in the entire dimension. The divine aura of creation itself filled every breath.
Safety, serenity, infinite vitality—all conditions for transcendence were here.
"…Good," he murmured.
Lee Seong-jun sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. With each inhale, the living energy of the World Tree surged into his body, coursing through his veins like liquid sunlight. His senses sharpened to a razor's edge.
This was his path forward.
High above the forests of Rusotu, the sky began to twist.
Clouds spiraled into chaos, and the light dimmed. It was not an ordinary disturbance—it was a crack, the same phenomenon the Earth once called a Gate.
The air trembled. The omen was clear.
"...So it begins," Wihgrat muttered, his expression grim.
Behind him, countless elves stood ready, bows drawn and blades raised, but fear had already crept into their hearts.
"Please, World Tree… protect us…"
"We can win. We have to…"
They were skilled, yes—but few had ever faced true war. Generations of peace had dulled their instincts.
Then the sky split.
CRACK!
A blinding light tore through the heavens, and from it descended a swarm of winged lizardmen—scaled beasts with twin wings sprouting from their backs.
"Kill the elves!" one shrieked.
"Leave nothing alive!"
The first wave dove, but before they could reach the ground—
Swaaaaaash!
A hurricane of wind blades shredded the sky. Dozens of monsters fell in a single breath.
At the forefront stood Sharuah, the commander of the Wind Knights, her eyes glowing with emerald fury.
"Comrades! Show these beasts the pride of the elves!"
"Uraaaaah!"
The army roared and charged, their blades flashing with spirit light.
But even as the tide turned, the gate trembled again.
From within the rift emerged abominations—chimera monstrosities stitched from dozens of creatures, their bodies writhing in grotesque shapes.
"Push them back!"
"Protect the World Tree!"
The forest erupted in chaos. Lizardmen and chimeras fell one after another beneath the elven onslaught. On the surface, victory seemed certain.
Yet Anna Ferris's gaze did not soften.
'No… these are only pawns.'
Her instincts screamed. The true calamity hadn't appeared yet.
Moments later, the gate flared violently—light bursting like lightning across the sky.
BOOM!
From the widening rift emerged monsters far greater than before.
A hulking brute, five meters tall, whose wounds healed before the blood could fall—Kashas.
A serpentine fiend with three heads and ten writhing tails—Epica.
A flame-breathing sorcerer-beast with burning eyes—Dioreagi.
And the steel-skinned colossus, Ures, whose body defied every attack.
Each one a being of legend. Named monsters—the generals of destruction.
But Anna did not move. Her eyes remained fixed on the heavens.
'Not yet. The true ones… haven't arrived.'
Then, the gate convulsed.
KRAAAAK!
Darkness spilled forth, blotting out the sun.
A colossal figure descended, its shadow consuming the world below. Two horns pierced the clouds. Its scales glimmered like black iron, and its gaze carried the arrogance of a god.
"Emperor of the Abyssal Sky—Gorgon," Anna whispered.
The ruler of the Lizardmen. His presence alone made the land quake.
But Anna's frown deepened.
"Not enough… the true calamity is still coming."
Then—
CRAAASH!
The gate tore apart completely, as if ripped open by something far greater than creation could bear.
From the rift emerged a figure of impossible beauty. Her crimson hair flowed like molten flame, but her lower body was made of shimmering water that glowed with divine light.
The aura that rolled off her was suffocating—elemental, eternal, transcendent.
"Water Emperor… Gastova."
The true destroyers of the Rusotu Dimension had finally arrived.
And with their descent, the war for survival began.