While the others tried to follow what Adyr meant, Selina put the logic into plain words and gave it shape.

"He is an enemy who is unbelievably resolute, willing to sacrifice his entire race," she said, and everyone understood she was speaking about Sevrak.

She went on, "Even if we run now, he'll come after us next. Without any doubt, he has enough power to find our newly built hideout and wipe it out."

Adyr watched her for a moment and nodded, satisfied that she was reading the field correctly.

They now understood what had to be done. What none of them knew was how to do it.

Adyr turned to Rhys and asked in a calm voice, "Commander Rhys, do we have heavier weapons available, the kind that can obliterate a city and crack the ground?"

He asked with a light tone, almost teasing, yet the meaning was not lost on Rhys, making a deeper frown settle on his face.

"Do you think we still have nuclear weapons?" Rhys said. "Two hundred and fifteen years ago, after the catastrophe, treaties were signed to ban that level of armament. You know that."

Adyr did not look surprised, and he did not step back from the point. "So what? Do you truly believe they learned their lesson?" His eyes moved over the exoskeleton wrapped around Rhys. "Is that not more advanced than what we had before World War?"

He next studied the STF soldiers and the rifles resting in their hands. "Those are far more capable than what we used to field, correct?"

Then he tapped his boot against the hoverjet's metal skin. "And do not tell me humans built this craft for peace."

With each detail he named, a slow pressure tightened in their chests. The argument was simple, and the truth inside it was difficult to deny.

Adyr did not let the moment drift. He fixed it with a final turn. "Since the war, humans have pushed forward in every direction. Construction, industry, textiles, genetics. What binds all of that progress together?"

"Military power," Rhys said on a low breath, now convinced.

On Earth, the most advanced institution since the nuclear war had become the military, carried under the STF name.

Adyr dipped his head in agreement. "So let us not pretend the 12 City Managers fully forbade the creation of weapons of mass destruction. I believe stronger ones exist, hidden in lightless bunkers underground."

Rhys met Adyr's crimson gaze and allowed a thin, rueful smile. "Henry may have mentioned something like that during one of our drunken talks."

He admitted it, then returned to the central concern. "Are you truly planning to use weapons like that in this world?"

Adyr laughed, genuine and amused, as if someone had told him a clever joke. "What do you mean, weapons like that?" He pointed through the window at the distant bulk of the Blood Dragon. "Look at that monster and tell me what kind of weapon it is."

The memory hit them at once: the red beam that had poured from the Spark's mouth, corrupting and destroying kilometers of land.

Adyr pointed toward three other figures outside. "And them? That ape just crushed an entire city."

"Rank 4 Practitioners are no different from nuclear weapons," Victor murmured, the truth settling over him.

Rhys finally accepted the scale of force they would need. "All right. However, you must speak with the 12 City Managers to get permission. Neither Henry nor I have the authority for this."

"I know," Adyr said. "I will handle that part. What I need from you is the transfer."

With that decision, the deadliest tools of humanity stood ready to surface once

more.

This time, they would not rise for blind ruin. They would rise for a larger purpose: conquest.

While the Humans were arguing over how to deploy their deadliest weapons, Liora, Zephan, and Throgar worked in silence, running sharp, rapid calculations of their own.

"So, what is our plan?" Liora asked, her heavy voice rolling over the crushed ground.

For a long while now, the two sides have stood facing each other, neither side moving.

The 3 titled Practitioners searched for the slightest opening to strike.

The Blood Dragon only watched, coiled in patience in a mountain of scarlet scales, as if waiting for a single command to move.

"The only plan we have is to stop this." Zephan answered in a way that didn't sound like a plan at all.

The Spark before them was not a Rank 5 Spark, which let them breathe a fraction easier, yet its presence still pressed outward, heavier and more dangerous than any Rank 4 Spark they had faced.

The worst part was Sevrak's absence. The Dragon's master had not shown himself, which kept every nerve tight for the ambush that might come at any

moment.

"I will take the defense and control role. I don't have enough attack power to bring it down," Throgar said, laying his cards on the table.

"Let me take that role." Liora moved without hesitation, placing herself cleanly into the 3-person formation.

She lacked in defense, buff, and debuff, but her raw output dwarfed the others'.

"Then I'll make the opening for your strike," Zephan said, and the Silver Whale beneath his feet began to glow, as if a tide of energy were gathering in its vast

frame.

Seeing he intended to waste no time and seize the first move, Liora and Throgar sharpened their focus, steadying their stances for what was about to

break.

The Blood Dragon simply waited, relaxed and unconcerned, showing no urge to attack as its eyes followed every motion without blinking.

The Silver Whale charged for a few more seconds. Light soaked through its hide until its form turned nearly transparent, like a creature cast from living

silver.

"Count to 3 and strike," Silverlight Zephan told Liora. In the same instant, his figure and his Rank 4 Spark thinned into a single silver line and vanished from

sight.

A heartbeat later the sky above the Blood Dragon prickled with light. Countless silver needles winked into existence, each the size of a spear, bright as forged

blades.

They started to fall in sheets, a silver rain hammering the Dragon's crown.

The barrage hit too fast for a dodge. Under the pounding weight, the Blood Dragon's massive body sank into the torn earth, silver spears drumming its blood-red scales and the ground in a relentless cascade.

"1..." Liora began the count, readying her move.

Two more pairs of arms burst from her shoulders, turning 2 into 4. Then she triggered another Spark skill, making her fists swell, and the fur along them hardened to a metallic sheen.

"2..." Her 4 fists soon settled into the shape of colossal hammers.

Deeming that not enough, her next Spark skill activated, and a deep tremor started building inside them-a tight, contained shiver that started to pass into the air and then the ground, priming with Colossith's power and holding a charge for an earthshake.

"3." As the count hit, the silver rain cut off.

Without delay, Liora drove both feet into the cracked ground and launched. Muscle and momentum surged as she arced toward the pinned, flattened Blood Dragon, ready to bring her strongest blow straight down.