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The Cat from the Other Side, Adora.

Isabel’s sword surged forth, cloaked in a blinding beam of radiant light as she faced Adora.

Her divine wings boosted her morale just by existing.

Through them, she wielded power akin to aura.

But her opponent was one of the Celestial Echo.

Adora's blade was already shrouded in a deep crimson aura.

Aura that, at a glance, radiated nothing but ominous energy.

That aura kept relentlessly lashing out toward Isabel.

Chaaang!

Their auras collided, sparks flying.

It was clear at a glance—Adora’s aura was superior.

Head, chest, spleen—

Adora’s flurry of thrusts came one after another,

and Isabel barely managed to fend them off.

Her eyes tracked Adora’s movements rapidly.

They were extraordinary.

Even her basic gait wasn’t human.

She could leap from a standstill or appear in front of you when you thought she was behind.

Her flexibility was also abnormal.

It was hard to believe a body could bend like that—Adora manipulated her body as if it weren’t bound by normal anatomy.

Because of that, her attacks were highly unorthodox.

Even the slightest opening…

Adora would exploit it with perfect precision, thrusting with her Gongdo blade.

BOOM!

A beam of light soared in, blocking Adora's thrust just in time.

It was Sharin’s support.

But it didn’t harm Adora.

She had seen through Sharin’s cloaked presence.

Proof: The moment the spell activated, Adora’s cat ears twitched atop her head.

Magic is an art of deceiving the world.

But divine beasts play by different rules.

Adora had devoured the Cat from the Other Side,

a being capable of leaping freely through space and one who deceives the world itself.

Naturally, she could see through similar magic.

Still, Sharin’s magic wasn’t something Adora could completely ignore.

Thanks to her divine regenerative ability, Adora had healed,

but the residual impact of Sharin’s direct hit lingered.

It couldn’t kill her,

but magic did work.

Adora and Isabel clashed over and over again.

Sometimes, Sharin’s spells landed effectively.

But they weren’t powerful enough to be lethal.

The wounds stacked up.

But no victory was in sight.

So what was missing?

‘It’s me.’

Isabel gripped her sword tightly.

Sharin had opened the gap.

Delivering the final blow was Isabel’s duty.

But defeating Adora head-on?

No clear path existed.

‘If it’s Sharin’s wide-range magic, Adora wouldn’t be able to block it.’

But Isabel would also be caught in it.

The only reason Sharin wasn’t unleashing her strongest magic was Isabel.

But Isabel couldn’t retreat, either.

Adora was waiting for a chance to escape.

She was aiming to recover and retrieve the lightning that Vikamon had embedded in her within the dimensional space.

If she got loose, she’d become uncontrollable.

So what now?

Keep her tied down and stall for time?

No.

That won’t do.

BOOOOM!!

A violent roar thundered from above.

Vikamon and the One Who Split Mountains, Dragos, were fighting.

Vikamon had entrusted Isabel with victory.

Which meant—

Vikamon alone couldn’t handle Dragos.

Even he couldn’t last forever.

If Isabel couldn’t take down Adora, the battle would be lost.

‘He never once doubted I could win.’

She remembered the unwavering belief Vikamon had in her.

He believed—no, was certain—that Isabel could win.

Her eyes changed.

No more weakness.

Vikamon would do whatever it took to win.

And Isabel, who loved him, had come to resemble him—perhaps without even realizing.

And so, she chose.

“Rin!”

As Isabel spread her divine wings, she gripped her sword.

The wind from her wings turned into a storm.

Adora crouched low and launched herself forward toward the storm.

She could tell Isabel’s aura had changed.

But Adora had few options.

Kill or be killed.

Her decision had been made long ago.

With elastic force behind her, the Gongdo pierced through the raging winds.

It was like a blade of air—but it wasn’t enough to stop Adora.

Isabel’s wings unfurled, blotting out the sun.

A long, trailing shadow wrapped around Adora.

But she didn’t care.

Her eyes were only on Isabel’s life.

Her Gongdo, like a serpent’s fang, surged up toward Isabel’s throat.

Isabel tilted her head back just in time, but Adora released the sword in her right hand—

then caught it in reverse grip.

Now both swords—left and right—closed in from opposite angles.

Isabel stumbled, her foot catching on a rock.

A brief moment—

but enough to cost one’s life in battle.

Her downward swing managed to block the upward strike—

But she couldn’t avoid the Gongdo plunging into her shoulder.

Finally—a chance.

Thud!

As the blade began to pierce her shoulder, Adora’s muscles swelled.

She was going to slice all the way down Isabel’s chest.

But—

Adora realized something.

It was too dark around her.

Even considering Isabel had blocked the sun—

the darkness was excessive.

Adora’s hair stood on end.

A chill crawled down her spine.

She sensed it instinctively—

A threat.

A deadly one.

Isabel's Goddess Wings unfolded.

The Goddess Wings were a blessing bestowed directly by the goddess.

Their overwhelming presence was enough to veil even the world itself.

No matter how powerful the divine beast's strength was, the divine beast was still a being bound to the earth.

It could not surpass the power granted directly by a god.

The reason Adora occasionally failed to detect Sharin’s magic—

It was precisely because when Isabel obscured Sharin with her wings, the magic became undetectable.

Adora instinctively sensed this and moved accordingly whenever Isabel blocked Sharin.

But that was purely an instinctual reaction.

It wasn’t something Adora comprehended with reason.

She relied on the divine beast’s instinct and therefore didn’t realize her mistake.

Only later did she understand why rationality was the most crucial aspect of battle.

Adora tried to withdraw after embedding her gongdo into Isabel’s shoulder.

Sharin’s magic, obscured by Isabel, carried a chilling power.

It was a high-level spell meant to wipe out the entire area.

If Adora were hit directly, even she wouldn’t survive.

But she had underestimated Isabel far too much.

Isabel pushed forward with the arm that had the blade embedded in it.

Her wound split open, blood gushing forth, but she didn’t even flinch.

Her hand twisted around Adora’s wrist, who had tried to pull away.

Their eyes met.

A chilling madness gleamed in Isabel’s gaze.

“Where do you think you're going?”

Her wings instantly contracted and wrapped around her body.

Goddess Wings, Stage 3.

The Goddess Wing Armor.

As a result, the light of Sharin’s magic was now clearly visible even to Adora.

The spell swallowed all light in the area.

The flow of mana was immense, enough to make one’s skin tingle.

Kreeeeeeeeek—

A ghastly roar echoed.

The very atmosphere distorted from the sheer magical force.

Air compressed in front of Sharin’s staff.

The gemstone embedded in the final staff flared up, burning brilliantly with magic.

Adora’s remaining gongdo swung toward Isabel’s arm.

Clang!

But in that brief moment, it wasn’t enough to sever Isabel’s arm clad in divine armor.

It left a wound—but didn’t cut through.

Adora’s eyes wavered.

Isabel’s hand refused to let go of her wrist.

And during that time, Sharin’s spell completed.

She swung her staff downward.

Grave of Stars.

A massive star collapsed, swallowing space around it.

Both Adora and Isabel were engulfed, vanishing into starlight.

――――――――――――――――!

The delayed shockwave flung trees like twigs.

The battlefield, now cleared of everything, became as still as falling snow.

“Kuhuk.”

Isabel coughed violently as she deactivated the Goddess Wing Armor.

It felt like a nail had been driven into her lungs.

She couldn’t avoid all the effects of Sharin’s magic either.

Her body trembled.

Maybe she had pushed herself too far.

Then she noticed her hand was still gripping something.

Looking down, she saw a single wrist hanging from her grasp.

The nearly charred wrist turned to ash and vanished the moment she let go.

There was a wrist—but no sign of Adora.

If she had been completely incinerated by Sharin’s magic, her entire body would have burned like the wrist.

But the surroundings were too clean.

“…No way.”

Isabel’s face stiffened.

Could she have severed her own arm and escaped?

There was no longer any trace of Adora’s presence.

She had completely vanished.

“Rin!”

Isabel called out to Sharin and turned.

But she had to grit her teeth at the intense pain from her shoulder.

Adora’s gongdo was still embedded there.

While Isabel pulled it out, Sharin flew over.

“Rin, that woman…”

“She crossed through space.”

Sharin frowned at Isabel’s question.

At the moment she was caught in the spell, Adora had used her remaining gongdo to tear open space and leap through.

And simultaneously, she closed the space at the very spot Isabel was holding her arm.

That’s how her arm was severed, allowing her to flee through the rift.

“There should be—”

“Residual lightning magic in that space. She’s probably charred black by now.”

Die by Sharin’s spell?

Or be scorched in the space charged with lightning magic?

Adora chose the latter, the option with even the slightest chance of survival.

In any case, Adora was now effectively retired.

Whether dead or alive, she wouldn’t be returning from that spatial rift anytime soon.

Isabel handed the gongdo to Sharin.

“Keep it. I’ll go check on it later.”

Instead of taking it right away, Sharin handed over painkillers and medicine.

Having once traversed the demon dungeon, she always carried such supplies.

“No painkillers.”

They dull the body.

Isabel poured some of the medicine on her wound, swallowed the rest, then raised her head.

While Isabel and Sharin were fighting fiercely below, the battle in the skies raged on.

“Rin, let’s go.”

Vikamon awaits.

“Bel, you’ve gotten so tough.”

Even now, Isabel joined the fight again without hesitation, and Sharin tightened her grip on her staff.

“I really don’t know whose fault this is anymore.”

She realized—because of one man who never held back, they had changed far more than they thought.