The river boiled around the flagship’s hull, sending thick plumes of white vapor into the crimson sky.
Sera Thorne shot into the air like a blue comet, Storm-Pike crackling with sapphire lightning.
Beside her, Mina Vance spread her arms wide, conjuring twelve interlocking sheets of glacial ice across the upper atmosphere.
Elder Sterling leaped from the forecastle railing, his heavy broadsword blazing with five rings of golden earth-force.
“Strike the core together,” Sera shouted over the roar of falling fire. “Break its momentum before it hits the water.”
Before their weapons could touch the falling sphere, the southern battlements of the Vermilion Capital flared with sickly green light.
Six colossal octagonal towers—each housing an Imperial Spirit-Cannon forged from dark spirit-bronze—swiveled toward the sky.
Six beams of concentrated void-flame tore through the clouds, striking Sera, Mina, and Sterling simultaneously.
