A chill ran through him, and he instinctively channeled his lightning to fly away from the spot, reappearing above his own army, sweat beading on his forehead.

'What was that?' he wondered, trying to catch his breath. Whatever it was, it had nearly taken him out.

Lois’s voice came through his earpiece, slightly annoyed. “Why are you back already?”

He quickly explained the sensation he’d experienced, and Lois responded, her tone serious. “That was Sarsha, the Dark Elf Colonel you faced before. No wonder we could not find her yet. She’s lying in ambush, hidden among the companies. When she strikes, her first hit is nearly impossible to defend. " Pausing for a moment she added, with a different tone "She wants to assassinate you? Let her try again. Keep targeting Captains, and if you meet her again, make sure to survive with your lightning fast reflexes, and tell me immediately.”

Sora took a deep breath, nodding to himself. This battlefield was vast, chaotic, and dangerous even to him. But he’d made his choice, and he would see it through. With renewed focus, he resumed his mission, darting back into the fray.

From the early probing, the battlefield had transformed, with powerhouses from both sides locked in combat, effectively holding each other back. Meanwhile, he roamed the field freely, harvesting lives without opposition.

As Sora continued cutting through Company Captains one by one, and he was starting to feel the effects of his harassment. The might of the enemies, who had much higher levels due to the debuff on humans, was starting to show signs of weakness, as their officers died and their companies were crippled.

He wondered how Kara was faring on her end but trusted in her resilience and skill. As he approached his fifteenth Company Captain, a familiar, and overwhelming, pressure bore down on him.

Sora immediately reacted and used lightning movement to evade Sarsha's attack as he had before. But this time, the tactic failed. Just as he attempted to disappear, a strange barrier appeared around him, stopping his movement skill.

He quickly contacted Lois, who replied, “Stall her—We have a way to kill her.”

Acknowledging her command, he paid attention to the notification.

[The enemy has used {Cut Retreat Scroll}]

[You are bound to this space for 30 seconds. You cannot exit this area]

He glanced around, realizing he was trapped within a limited space. Turning to the area where Sarsha had aimed, he smiled. “You don’t remember how it ended last time, do you? I’m not the one trapped here with you. You’re trapped with me.”

Despite his challenge, he was disappointed to see that Sarsha ignored him, staying out of sight. He activated his [Mana Eyes] and scanned the area, only to find—nothing. The space around him was empty. He could only see ... Mana ?

‘She must have figured out how I kept tracking her and started letting the mana flow through her differently. How can she adapt so fast? Is this the effect of an item from the [War Shop]?’ Sora mused, unfazed by the challenge.

While Sarsha's ambush technique was formidable, he wasn’t intimidated. With a calm resolve, he summoned thousands of [Wind Blades], commanding them to spin around him in a relentless storm.

Hidden nearby, Sarsha watched him, shocked. ‘He dodged my ultimate skill... twice?! How can a player who hasn’t even reached level 100 have such reaction time?’

She charged again, preparing to launch a different strike. But as she approached, her gaze fixed on the wall of [Wind Blades] that appeared. ‘How does he have so much mana? Controlling so many blades takes insane compatibility with the Wind Element, not to mention mana reserves and precision control.’

Frustrated, she gritted her teeth. ‘This [Cut Retreat Scroll] was totally wasted on him. There's no way I can break through that storm. Argh, I hate this!'

She made the decision to wait out the remaining time, blending back into the air around her.

Sora stood alert, sensing no immediate threat. After a moment, he sent his [Wind Blades] outward in a sweeping wave, effectively scanning the space ahead of him. Suddenly, he felt a faint impact from the blades. Without hesitation, he rushed to the spot were blood appeared, grabbing Sarsha as she materialized, eyes wide with shock.

Through gritted teeth, Sarsha spat, "I let my guard down... Damn it!"

She quickly activated her [Damage Immunity Token], barely avoiding the deathly slap from Sora's hand, which glowed with the yellow light of the [Earth Element].

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Realizing her precarious position, she immediately sent a message to her faction, requesting help.

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On the human side, Sora reported to Lois, “I’ve got Sarsha, but she's immune to damage. Just let me know what you want me to do.”

Lois replied swiftly, “On my signal, bring Tom and get back here as soon as possible!”

Sora was puzzled 'Tom ? A signal ? What is she talking about?'

But before he could fully process, Sarsha vanished from his grasp—replaced by someone else entirely. Startled, Sora raised his other hand, ready to strike, until he realized he was holding onto a human, instead of the Dark Elf Colonel.

The man held up a hand, scared but smiling slightly. “Hi, I’m Tom.”

Sora’s eyes widened as realization dawned. Without hesitation, he threw Tom on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and flew back towards his faction’s side.

As they approached, he saw Sarsha in panic, desperately pounding at the walls of a familiar cage.

Nearby, Kara stood with five copies of ... his Ralph appearance, each one radiating with power and focused on Sarsha in her [Life Cage].

Around them, a team of players was diligently debuffing her, while a few others buffed the damage dealers preparing for the one final burst.

Overhead, Lois hovered, casting her gaze across the battlefield and preparing her skills for a devastating attack the moment Sarsha’s [Damage Immunity] wore off.

The terror in Sarsha’s eyes was almost palpable.

Dropping Tom, Sora readied himself, joining the team’s efforts, determined to finish this once and for all.

Sora charged his [Alternate Echo Strike], now capable of stacking up to 15 layers and positioned himself.

“Thirty seconds,” he relayed over the team channel.

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Suddenly, Lois shouted into the communication channel, her voice urgent and strained, “Stop him! Don’t let him get close! Oliver, I need you now—forget about Captone. You’ve got to hold Klunor off for a few dozen seconds! We can’t let him save Sarsha!”

It seemed that Asami, with her skills restricted to assassination and harassing enemies, couldn’t stop General Klunor from breaking through the front line, rushing straight for Sarsha.

‘Twenty-six seconds,’ Sora noted, checking the time in his head. 'No point reminding them; it’ll only add pressure', he thought.

He glanced upward, catching sight of Klunor tearing through their faction’s lines, his speed relentless and seemed unfazed by crowd control. He was bulldozing through them like a missile, unstoppable.

An explosion shook the air as Klunor’s path was intercepted by a bald warrior.

For a moment, Oliver held Klunor back, but the Dark Elf General’s power proved overwhelming. A few seconds later, Oliver was sent crashing to the ground like a meteor.

Wounded, Oliver scrambled to his feet, visibly exhausted from his fight with Colonel Captone. Low on mana, he resorted to physical strikes to hold his ground.

Quickly, support-class players flooded him with buffs, Kara and Sora among them.

With renewed strength, Oliver leaped back into the fray, charging to intercept Klunor once more.

Sora, keeping an eye on the timer, debated whether he should join in—but with only twenty seconds left, would he make it in time to stall Klunor and return to strike Sarsha?

He decided to send his [Blood Clones] to aid Oliver, hoping it would buy them precious seconds.

Seconds ticked by.

‘Fifteen seconds,’ he counted, feeling the tension rise.

Oliver held the line, but Captone soon reappeared, backed by hundreds of reinforcements. The battlefield erupted into chaos as buffs began raining down on Klunor, his strength surging as he sent Oliver flying once again, surviving only because of his allies impressive buffs, heals and shields.

The Dark Elves were breaking through—rushing forward with brutal momentum, sacrificing dozens of their elite troops.

Sora’s instincts kicked in the moment he saw the Dark Elves breaking through.

Without hesitation, he cast [Earth Dome], layering it thickly, pouring mana into it like never before.

He focused on reinforcing the Northern side where the enemies pressed hardest, even if it meant leaving the Southern side weaker.

The mana cost was absurd, and he could feel it draining him every second. But as soon as his mana dipped low, [Mana Evolution] kicked in, flooding him with fresh reserves, keeping up with the endless casting.

Simultaneously, he cast enormous [Wind Wall] spells, pushing his allies out of harm’s way and replacing their positions with more [Earth Domes], the barriers forming in quick succession, each one bigger than the last.

Klunor’s furious shout echoed across the battlefield, “Damn you, Ralph Eden! How can you have so much mana? This is impossible!! ”

Sora ignored the general, but understood his frustration. As soon as the enemy saw a sliver of hope, he snatched it away.

“Two seconds!” Lois’s voice crackled in their comms, her tone tense but relieved, seeing the dome imprisoning hundreds of allies with one lone enemy inside. “Get ready!”

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Inside the cage, Sarsha sat in eerie stillness, her earlier struggles proving futile against the powerful trap she was in. She had tried every trick to escape, but this cage was beyond anything she could overcome, even impossible to phase through.

Her heart raced when she saw her friend and general, Klunor, charging with Captone and reinforcements in tow.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she dared to hope. She even felt tears welling up as she watched them breach the outer defenses. 'Maybe… just maybe…'

But then, the sun vanished as something appeared above, casting a shadow over everything. The smile faded from her face as her heightened senses slowed the scene around her, each agonizing detail clear as day.

She saw the enemy captain, her nemesis, casting [Earth Domes] one after another, his mana reserves seemingly endless.

'So, this is it', she thought, tears streaming down her cheeks. 'To fall to a monster like him… it’s not the worst way to go, I suppose. But it’s a shame…'

She glanced at the timer, her heart heavy. Two seconds.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the inevitable and stood up. Her life had brought her to this final stand, and she would face it with dignity.

As her immunity disappeared, the cage vanished, and the sky seemed to explode with spells and weapons, each one aimed directly at her.

In that split second, she felt the crushing weight of Captain Ralph's staff among the barrage.

Her voice trembled over the comms, “I’m sorry for today’s losses. I’ll be… leaving first.”