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Elisa and Monica glanced at each other and nodded. Monica stepped forward quickly, and the two girls kissed, their lips intertwining as their tongues danced together. The sight left Anna and Elena stunned. Monica clearly savored the moment, while Elisa’s face burned with embarrassment, twisting into awkward expressions.

"H-Hey! T-This isn’t the time for making out!" Anna cried, her face flushing bright red.

But then—

FLAAASH!

A towering pillar of light shot into the sky, entwined with deep darkness and swirling phantasmal energies that fused and transformed.

Monica fully possessed Elisa’s body. Their souls and bodies merged temporarily into a single being.

Though they could not yet draw on one hundred percent of their combined power like Elena could, this fusion remained a powerful ace up their sleeve for the most desperate moments.

They had first discovered it over a year ago, when the Black Hand invaded Elayne’s home.

RUMBLE!

Elena and Anna’s jaws dropped. The sheer presence of the newly formed being was overwhelming, strong enough to draw the attention of every powerful combatant on the battlefield at once.

A massive silhouette over twenty meters tall emerged: a majestic black dragon with sleek obsidian scales, flowing blonde hair, and four sharp eyes—two crimson, two golden. Her long, razor-toothed jaw gleamed with deadly fangs, her spear-tipped tail lashed behind her, and each claw shone like polished gold.

Elisa and Monica had merged to give birth to their fused form—the Black Dragon!

If Elena measured everything by levels right now, she had finally returned to the 300s, while Anna sat in the 150s. Elisa and Monica had each been roughly equal to Anna, but their fusion now pushed them close to Elena’s level. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Yet the monsters battling across this field were far beyond that. Most towered above Level 500. The power of Heroic Spirits was truly formidable, even in their weakened states. Elayne stood as the strongest—definitely beyond Level 500 in her current form—while the two she fought hovered around Level 400. Berserker’s strange power made him far more dangerous and difficult to gauge, and though Assassin’s level was rapidly dropping, his masterful techniques still allowed him to keep pace... for now.

"Let’s go!" Elisa and Monica spoke in perfect unison, their voices overlapping into a single resonant dragon’s roar.

"Alright!" Elena nodded.

"Wow, this is awesome!" Anna exclaimed, riding atop the dragon with her girlfriend.

"Anna, do you have any trump cards left? Use them now!" Elena urged as the dragon soared swiftly into the skies.

"I can’t fuse them again—they’re too exhausted—but..." Anna replied. "I can become their vessel instead."

"Vessel?" Elena asked.

"Like this!"

Anna closed her eyes and held her breath. All her Familiars resting within her soul channeled their power at once, fusing it with her own soul and body.

She began to transform. Phoenix and crow wings burst from her back, her skin hardened like stone, her hair shifted to a vibrant green, emerald winds swirled around her, and white fur covered her legs as icy gales gathered at her feet.

"I know I look weird... that’s why I haven’t used this yet," Anna muttered. Her aura surged powerfully as she unleashed her Chimeric Form, attained through the "Familiar Spirit Soul Vessel" spell she had created during her year at the Clock Tower academy.

"It’s strong, though. This will do." Fully transformed, Anna gazed upward. "Mom!"

As they drew closer, Yasuke noticed them and immediately understood. He kicked Cain to the ground and vanished in a burst of thunder, narrowly avoiding a sharp claw from Tartarus.

"Girls! You’re trying to wake her up?!" he shouted, appearing behind them.

"We’re trying, but—Woah! Here she comes!" Anna screamed.

Tartarus glared at them with pure fury, rushing forward while flapping her enormous wings of dark wood and blood-red roses.

"Stupid children! I gave you a chance to leave, yet you dare stand against me?!" she snarled. "Perhaps you truly wish to die. I wonder... what would happen if I devoured my own Master? Could I prevent myself from disappearing that way? Let’s find out!"

Tartarus gave them no room to respond. Dozens of giant fists erupted from her body—dark wood covered in blooming red roses. The roses opened like eyes and fired searing lasers of dark sunlight.

Against such overwhelming force, what could they possibly do?

Yasuke and Elena knew exactly what to do.

They swung their swords in perfect harmony. Slash after slash, elemental auras exploded outward—flames, winds, water, mist, light, darkness—all blending with Yasuke’s crackling purple thunder.

The fists were shredded one by one, exploding into fragments.

Anna followed right behind them, bombarding Tartarus with powerful Elemental Spells to support Elena and Yasuke as best she could.

Meanwhile, the Black Dragon charged straight through the onslaught, unleashing her combined might. Chains of cursed black thunder raced toward Elayne, wrapping tightly around her body, electrocuting and cursing her simultaneously.

"Nnngghh?! Y-You dare...?! You dare think you stand a chance against me?!"

Elayne roared in fury and swung her massive claws, but Elena and Yasuke sliced through them. The Black Dragon pressed deeper, conjuring more chains to restrain Tartarus as much as possible.

They drew close enough to leap over her.

"Now what?!" Anna asked.

"Keep Berserker from interfering!" Elena shouted. "I’m going! Mom! Wake up!"

Elena leaped toward her mother. Tartarus roared and shattered the chains, launching a barrage of wooden spears to impale her.

But Elena was no longer weak enough to fall. She spun midair, swinging her sword and cutting down everything in her path.

Then—

"Abyssal Void Blade Arts!"

"First Form – Space-Splitting Blade!"

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

She unleashed dozens of devastating strikes. A single swing of her blade released hundreds of cutting waves that diced Tartarus apart, leaving explosions of purple and black void energy in their wake.

"Nnnggh?!"

Tartarus groaned, barely faltering yet still radiating confidence. She dodged Elena’s attack and countered her with hundreds of wooden fists surging upward from below.

But Elena was ready.

"Second Form – Void-Slicing Blade!"

She poured energy into her blade and delivered a single, devastating slash. A wave of void sword energy tore through the wood, decimating everything before it and splitting space itself—destroying nearly half of Tartarus’s endless demonic tree armor.

BOOOM!

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