Chapter 398: Battles of Life and Death (2)

Seris had been smart. She had concealed her trump card until the very last second, unleashing it only after breaching his defense.

But even her strongest ultimate skill hadn’t been enough.

"Let’s deal with this strange power of yours first."

His voice was grim, his face terrifying. Without hesitation, Baylor tightened his grip on her right arm.

Seconds later, a scream tore through the battlefield ... Seris’s scream .. as Baylor ripped her arm off, tearing it from her body in a brutal burst of violence.

She crashed to the ground, blood gushing from the wound without pause.

Baylor...

Held the tattooed arm—now severed and limp—before freezing it solid in one swift motion.

Then, just like shattering glass ...

He crushed it into pieces.

Seris stared up at him with bloodshot, defiant eyes, refusing to give in—even if it meant her death.

Clenching her teeth against the pain radiating from her severed limb, she stood once more with a scream of sheer will, forming ice around the stump.

Her breath came in rasps as she summoned the last dregs of her aura, forging a new arm of ice in its place.

Panting, trembling, Seris tried to fight back again.

Baylor looked at her, genuinely impressed.

"Your determination... it’s astounding."

"Shut the fuck up!"

With a roar, Seris conjured a blazing ice flame around her new hand and attempted to launch it ..

But Baylor was faster.

He appeared in front of her in a flash, and blood spilled once more.

With a blade made of his own power, he drove it into her chest without mercy, flipping her world upside down.

"I told you, all your desperate efforts are meaningless. You cannot defeat me."

With calm cruelty, Baylor slowly pulled the blade out, then whispered beside her ear:

"This world remembers only the victors. There is no place for the cries of the defeated."

"The winner writes the rules. The winner decides who is right and who is wrong... who deserves to live, and who must die."

Grabbing her by the throat, Baylor snarled:

"I am the victor, Seris. I am the one who survived! You fought for some ideal—tried to take revenge on me—and where did that bring you? To death!"

"You are the loser, Seris Moonlight. And in this world, there is no place for losers."

Coldly, he began tightening his grip around her neck. Seris writhed in agony.

And it was true.

Just as Baylor said ...

She had lost. And she was about to die.

But at that very moment...

Dawn Polaris had already emerged victorious from his battle with Maria.

Which meant... the "Last Survivor’s Blessing" was no longer active.

No longer were fate and probability being pulled toward Dawn.

And that’s when he appeared.

A pillar of flame crashed down from the sky like a waterfall of wrath.

Baylor’s eyes widened as someone ripped Seris from his grasp.

Icy blue eyes met burning crimson ones.

Phoenix Sunlight held Seris tightly in his right arm—and with his left, he unleashed a searing blast of fire that engulfed Baylor, launching him hundreds of meters away.

"Keep your filthy hands off her."

The impact of Phoenix’s fire was monstrous, blasting Baylor like a meteor strike.

Without warning, the young Lord of the Sunlight House took to the skies, carrying Seris in his arms.

When the dazed and wounded girl opened her eyes with difficulty...

She saw herself cradled in his embrace.

She recognized him—but he wasn’t the same Phoenix she knew.

His once auburn hair now blazed like wildfire, and glowing red auras burned around his eyes.

His very presence radiated such heat that Seris, despite her freezing constitution, found herself sweating uncontrollably.

"Professor... Phoenix..."

"Don’t speak. You’re badly hurt."

Flying at full speed, he rushed them both away from the battlefield.

"Let’s focus on getting out of here first."

In his ultimate awakened form, Phoenix was like a shooting star .. a burning comet ripping through the sky.

"How did you find me so quickly?" Seris asked, trying to freeze the gaping wound in her chest.

She had been ready to die only moments ago—until Phoenix appeared like a miracle and pulled her back.

His answer came brief, focused on the path ahead.

"I managed to repel one of their Lords... and then I moved right away to search for you. I felt your aura the moment you unleashed your final attack."

With a faint smile, Phoenix praised Seris.

"You’ve done well to survive this far. Leave the rest to me."

The young Lord of the Sunlight House was incredibly fast.

Even though he’d found himself up against Godfrey, one of the Ultras Lords equal to his level, he had still managed to drive him back—soaring like a blazing comet to rescue his students.

He wasn’t considered the greatest talent of his family for nothing.

But that didn’t mean the battle was over.

Because just as they began to gain some distance from the battlefield ...

The ground trembled.

A monstrous presence stomped toward them, shaking the earth with each step.

Lord Godfrey had returned—charging with sheer fury, his golden armor shattered, half his face charred black by Phoenix’s devastating flames.

Yet even now, he held onto his twin daggers, eyes locked onto the enemy who had humiliated him.

"This bastard... he just won’t stay down," Phoenix muttered.

Without hesitation, he turned around—still holding Seris in one arm—and raised his free hand toward the sky.

"This time, I’ll finish it properly."

His hand ignited, and within seconds, his flames had engulfed the heavens.

Godfrey, roaring like a beast, leapt into the air, cloaked in a terrifying violet aura.

He was a monster born for war, lacking in intellect but overflowing with killing intent.

Yet Phoenix showed no fear—completely unmoved by the lethal aura crashing toward him.

He wasn’t the most experienced. He wasn’t even a good leader.

But on the battlefield—he was a true monster.

A warrior who had never lost a single fight in his life.

"Eternal Flame Style: Eternal Blaze – Grand Phoenix Inferno!"

His fire surged and twisted, forming a colossal phoenix wreathed in divine flames.

The phoenix let out a deafening screech, illuminating the night sky before it dove straight toward Godfrey in a blazing fury.

Despite his massive size, Godfrey looked like an insect before that heavenly beast.

And then—without warning—

The fire consumed him.

All of him.

The earth around him, the sky above—everything was scorched in a sea of flame.

Phoenix’s fire was so intense, it could melt metal and burn flesh straight off the bone.

Godfrey found himself trapped in that hell, flailing, burning alive .. while Phoenix calmly soared higher, leaving him behind.

He didn’t bother watching his enemy writhe.

He had already done what needed to be done.

Still, the flames of the Eternal Blaze raged on, devouring Godfrey over and over again.

No matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t escape.

And death drew closer with each second...

Until ...

A wall of ice crashed down from above, smothering the inferno in one clean sweep.

Baylor had arrived—just in time.

Freezing the Eternal Blaze with every ounce of his power, he sighed while watching Phoenix fly off into the distance.

"That damned Phoenix... he’s grown far stronger than the last time I saw him."

He wasn’t called the brightest prodigy of his generation for nothing.

"Get up, Godfrey. We’re not done here."

Expressionless, Baylor began walking toward the direction their enemies had fled, while the scorched and half-burned Godfrey dragged himself behind him.

"They may have escaped for now, but they have nowhere to go. Our armies are already surrounding the region."

Wherever they run, the enemy will always be waiting ahead.

"This isn’t over yet."