"[Notice: Thank you for your purchase! A total of 5000 Coins have been deducted.]"
"[Notice: You have obtained A-Rank Items: 'Mana Recovery Potion' x3!]"
While Jean was desperately trading blows with the Black Hound, her movements growing jagged with fatigue, I wasn't just standing idle. I paced across the burning sand, my boots dragging along specific paths to etch a massive, invisible rune into the desert floor. As I moved, I flicked the caps off the glass vials I had just purchased from the System Shop.
"[Notice: Successfully consumed x3 'Mana Recovery Potions'!]"
"[Notice: 60% of your 'Mana' has been recovered!]"
The cold rush of artificial energy flooded my veins, clearing the fog of depletion. I couldn't waste a second. Jean was being pushed back, her golden armor cracked and stained with desert grit.
"[Activating the 3-Star Barrier, 'Triune Axiom Field'!]"
The runes I had carved into the sand ignited with a soft, pale blue glow. A shimmering dome expanded, swallowing the entire battlefield. The Black Hound's eyes snapped wide; he was a hunter by trade and recognized the frequency of a containment array instantly. He hissed, twisting his body to leap out of the field, but Jean realized my plan. If a monster like that wanted to leave, he had to be kept inside.
"[Activating The Exclusive Skill, 'Blessings of the Stars: Divine Reinforcement × Divine Restraint' Lvl 6!]"
"[Warning! Your 'Divinity' has reached the limit for your human body!]"
Jean ignored the system warnings flashing in her vision. She poured every ounce of her remaining power into thick, holy chains that lashed around the Hound's limbs. He snarled, his superior strength ripping the divinity apart like wet paper, but she wasn't done.
"[Activating 'Pillar of Light' Lvl 4!]"
"[Warning! Your human body is incapable of handling more 'Divinity'!]"
Jean coughed up a spray of bright blood as sparks of overcharged energy danced across her skin. Her body was screaming under the pressure of the Nebula [Eden], but she held the line. A massive pillar of Holy Light slammed down from the sky, pinning the Hound in place for the brief moment I needed.
"Damn it!... The rest is up to you... Miste—"
She collapsed, falling unconscious into the sand even before she could finish her sentence. She had done a hell of a job. Now the array was stabilized, and the Black Hound was trapped in a cage with a very angry occupant.
"[Activating the 3-Star Barrier, 'Eclipse of the Inner Gate'!]"
"[Activating 'Moon Imprint' Lvl 1!]"
"[Notice: Your 'Barrier' Skills have been greatly enhanced!]"
The [Triune Axiom Field] was more than a cage; it was an isolated space that cut off all surveillance and communication. No one outside could see what was about to happen. Then, with the second barrier, I tore a hole in space.
"[Notice: The 2nd Floor's 'Forge of the Ice Heart' has been successfully connected!]"
Using Cero's authority over his home territory, I opened a rift. A freezing, overflowing current of pure energy from the Ice Heart surged through the gate. I didn't have enough 'Mana' of my own, but I could certainly use the Tower's own natural resources as a battery.
"[Notice: The 2-Star Barrier, 'Sigil of Echo Containment' has been removed!]"
I touched the ring on my finger, letting the freezing surge of the Ice Heart's energy pour into it.
"[Warning! The 'Status' of a Higher Floor Being has been detected!]"
"[Notice: A huge amount of 'Pure Mana' has been consumed as the price for Manifestation and 'Probability'!]"
The air didn't just turn cold; it turned heavy with the weight of ancient royalty. From the ring, a shadow expanded into the form of a tall, muscular-fit man clad in blood-red aristocratic attire. His pitch-black hair danced elegantly in the artificial wind, and his crimson eyes glowed with a terrifying intensity.
"[Activating The Exclusive Skill, 'Blood Authority: Blood Field × Blood Roar' Lvl ???!]"
A thick, suffocating crimson mist flooded the barrier, turning the blue light into a scene of carnage. Melchior stood in the center of the desert, his posture radiating a mix of absolute elegance and world-ending fury.
"[Notice: The Former Patriarch of the 'Crimson' Bloodline, 'Melchior Von Crimson' has manifested!]"
The Black Hound, for the first time in his existence, looked truly small.