Eugen turned naturally and defended the red beam’s blow.

For a moment, eye to eye, she looking at that helmet with the T-shaped visor, he looking at her hungry eyes.

It was Blandina.

The blow was so strong that Eugen took a half-step back, the first sign of real effort.

Blandina vanished, absurd speed, a red blur.

She appeared from another direction, began to deliver cuts that Eugen defended.

CLANG CLANG CLANG...

At first, Eugen seemed to have difficulty, delayed blocks, posture adjusting.

But then he got used to it, began to predict, defend with less effort.

"He’s getting used to it... son of a bitch! Who does he think he is...?" Blandina thought furiously.

She delivered one last blow and, using Eugen’s defense as momentum to go on the offensive.

[Skill: Dagger Drop]

In the air, Blandina came crashing down, performing a series of complex spins, her body rotating like a screw, her gleaming dagger charging with mana.

When she landed...

Eugen positioned his sword in a guard, counter-attacking, aiming at her.

But Blandina vanished, a vampiric teleport. She reappeared just below, crouching on the ground.

"I understand... the movements were never meant to finish me off. They were meant to distract me..." Eugen thought in the last second.

Blandina, who had already landed crouching, stood up, plunging the daggers into Eugen’s abdomen.

Her body tilted, like a snake sinking its teeth into its prey.

"Gotcha, you son of a..."

CLINK.

A glow at the point of impact, daggers against armor.

The armor was hard. Absurdly hard.

Blandina stood there pressing, releasing absurd amounts of mana trying to pierce through, but nothing.

Her rage grew.

And it exploded, red vampiric mana expanding in waves.

Eugen was thrown, falling, rolling, regaining his balance, then sliding with his sword on the ground to stop.

On the other side, Blandina breathed heavily, just staring at Eugen.

"Kill... kill... kill..."

It was clear she had already lost control of herself, Draconic Hunger consuming her reason.

Eugen stood up, looked at where Blandina had stuck the daggers.

It was slightly punctured, minor damage, but real damage.

He stopped in a pose, sword raised, serious combat stance.

"Let me show you now..."

Before he could advance...

A giant fireball came from the side.

Eugen instinctively turned, striking with his sword, nullifying the attack, flames dispersing.

That distraction caused by one of the twins was enough.

Blandina advanced, so swift now that she left trails of lightning embedded in her daggers, electricity crackling.

She appeared: "RAH!"

Eugen dodged by a hair’s breadth, his feet working in perfect coordination.

But then one of his feet sank into the earth. It transformed into iron where it had sunk, trapping him completely, preventing movement.

"Earth magic... iron manipulation..."

Blandina appeared and took advantage, delivering more than ten quick and precise blows to his face (Eugen’s helmet).

With the last blow, she grabbed his face and smashed it against the ground.

With her feet on Eugen’s chest, she tried to stab the visor of his helmet with her dagger.

Eugen reacted quickly, raising his hand, and a sphere of light exploded in her face.

It temporarily pushed Blandina away.

Before he could stand, he saw earth sinking him, creating more iron around him to hold him in that pose. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Damn, iron again... and of this caliber... it can only be dwarfs..." he thought, seeing the situation.

And when he tried to stand...

He saw one of the twins fall from the sky, a giant hammer raised high, descending with absurd force.

"Shit!"

He strained to free his arms, managed to do so, and formed a defensive X.

The twin struck, the impact explosion echoed, the ground trembled slightly, a crater forming.

Dust rising in a dense cloud...

The dust settled.

When the twin lifted the hammer... Eugen was not there below.

"Huh!? How did he escape...?!"

Blandina appeared there, pacing back and forth, searching for the slightest trace of Eugen, sniffing like a predator.

The twin who kept invoking spells to hinder Eugen’s mobility was also there, atop one of the cathedral buildings, searching for him. Standing still, looking around.

He felt a heavy breath behind him, and when he turned around...

He received an extremely strong punch, which echoed throughout the field like the sound of thunder.

That fist knocked him unconscious to the ground with absurd force, he flew, hitting where the others were (Blandina and the other twin).

"Rex!" said his brother, worried and startled.

When they noticed where he came from...

There was no one there.

Empty. As if Eugen had disappeared.

Neon emptiness. A young man sitting, conversing with a Goddess.

<>

"I choose Eugen... I’ve always played Eugen." "Eugen!" the young man said.

"Eugen!?" The Goddess, pure with white hair, not seated on the throne but on a floating cloud, exclaimed. "From what you told me about your ideologies... Eugen is a character that doesn’t fit them..."

"I said I always played as Eugen. Because of his powers. I know my limits."

He paused.

"And it’s not that I want to be Eugen. Although I’ll have to behave like him for a while..."

"Is it because of the Light Manipulation?..." the Goddess asked.

"Better: photon manipulation." The young man corrected, his eyes gleaming. "I clearly see Eugen’s power of Light. And this opportunity I have is to test what the game didn’t allow me to do while I was playing... and apparently now I won’t be playing, but living the game..." he said with an air of fanaticism.

<>

Eugen was still standing there on the roof, invisible, making no sound.

"The element of light is the strongest for me..." he thought, watching the Viper Eyes searching for him.

<>

"It turns out that what I did was manipulate the photons so that they would pass through my body. That way... I could become completely invisible."

"Only Eugen and Arthur possess this absurd affinity for manipulating light naturally..."

He joined his hands, aiming the Viper Eyes below.

He began to concentrate, light around him being sucked in, photons converging at a point between his palms.

[Light Compression: Radiation]

Blandina felt something immediately, her vampiric instinct screaming danger.

She turned and immediately spat fire, a lot of fire, onto the roof, clearing everything between the roof and herself.

A sea of red flames rose.

Eugen released the sphere, a ball of compressed light colliding with Blandina’s fire.

They stood there debating power, Eugen just pointing his finger, Blandina gasping for breath, spitting more fire.

"Hmm... As I thought, your limit doesn’t reach mine."

Eugen clenched his fist and the sphere exploded, causing a massive expansion of radiation, creating a field of toxic green light, a zone where everything slowly died.

The light in the area naturally turned green; it was pure radiation, light converted into destructive energy.

Plants withered, debris and stones cracked, and the air became heavier.

Gamers nearby began to feel burning skin, their eyes watering.

[RADIATION ZONE]

◊ Damage: 50 HP/second

◊ Effect: Cellular decay

Blandina screamed, not from pain, but from pure rage.

She ran through the radiation, her vampiric body regenerating faster than the damage, her hunger ignoring danger and pain.

One of the twins erected an iron barrier imbued with mana, partially blocking the radiation.

"She’s going to kill herself!" thought the twin, taking out a potion and giving it to his brother, who was now waking up, still dizzy from the punch.

"We can’t stop her! Gral’s Draconic Hunger only ends when the target dies."

Eugen watched from above, Blandina advancing through the radiation like a demon.

"Interesting... vampiric regeneration is truly absurd..."

He prepared his next attack, gathering more light, more photons.

"Then let’s test your limits."

Around them, parts of the Cathedral began to collapse, structures damaged by radiation, walls cracking, towers swaying.

Custodians evacuating. Gamers and saints fleeing.

She reached Eugen and began to attack, increasingly chaotic, blows without pattern, at maximum speed.

Eugen dodged effortlessly, with minimal movements, perfect efficiency, looking her in the eye.

Blandina understood. "This guy is evolving during the fight..."

Her anger mixed with involuntary admiration.

Blandina made a sphere of ether and went to hit him.

Eugen caught the hand holding the sphere, ignoring the explosion that occurred on contact.

Hand catching hand, through the smoke.

Blandina admired, a clear shock on her face.

Eugen pulled her and headbutted her, his helmet hitting her forehead.

She recoiled, staggering, blood running down her forehead.

For the first time, Blandina felt real fear.

And Eugen didn’t even go after her, he just stood there staring at her staggering, waiting for her next move.

It was as if a predator were playing with its prey.

The twins emerged from the radiation zone coughing, with sunburned skin, but alive.

"Twins Dragloafs... dwarfs..." one of them thought about the avatars. "When they’re together, their power is immense..."

"Ever since we started playing, we’ve always looked for characters that matched us. And these... were them."

"Bro..." one of them shouted, "...let’s forge the Cathedral!"

The other nodded. "Blandina can’t win alone!"

They joined hands, one’s right hand with the other’s left. They stretched out their other hand, aiming at Eugen.

[LIVING FORGE]

Iron emerged from the roof, stretching like living tentacles to grab Eugen.

Eugen skillfully dodged, leaping, spinning, performing impossible acrobatic movements in that heavy armor.

But iron also emerged from the ground, trying to grab him from below.

He dodged, even climbing over the same iron.

The iron was solid but moved like rubber, flexible, fast, coordinated.

Weapons in the field began to rise, fallen swords, broken spears, shields, all made of metal.

They began to pierce him from all angles.

It seemed Effective, Eugen was stumbling with his steps, his room for maneuver was shrinking.

Blandina took advantage and began to attack as well, coordinating with the iron. Now Eugen was losing ground.

"We have to finish him off before he adapts!" Blandina thought, feeling her draconic power drain away; the headbutt she had received had brought her reason back.

"To manipulate iron like that, and for the vampire to move like that..." Eugen thought, performing somersaults with that rigid armor, "...they must be Maestros..."

He smiled inside his helmet. "But I happen to be a Superior Maestro."