Chapter 504
Above them, the flame giant seethed. Its entire frame roared with fury, the heat distorting space around it. Unwilling to be overshadowed, it raised its sword once more. The blade, now radiating with intensified ferocity, was brought down in a sweeping arc—another planetary-scale slash, wide enough to carve the sky.
The starshield surrounding Ikenga flickered again, reacting not with force but with vision. It didn’t just block—it reframed reality. The surface of the shield shimmered like water, rippling outward to reveal an entire different world—another realm mirrored in place of their own. Through this conjured reflection, the path of the fire giant’s sword extended not into the present battlefield, but through the void beyond.
A moment later, somewhere in the vast black of space, the consequences were made visible.
A small, uninhabited planet—its rocky surface gleaming faintly in the starlight—caught the edge of the redirected slash. The result was catastrophic. The planet buckled, cracked, and then erupted in a shower of molten rock and fire. Chunks of superheated debris scattered into the cosmos like fireworks from a dying world.
The mages saw it happen. Even the flame giant paused for a heartbeat, its burning chest rising slowly, perhaps in awe... or silent fury.
Below, Ikenga’s feet sank slightly deeper into the cratered earth. His breath steamed from his nostrils. His eye locked onto all three of them.
The brilliant shimmer of the starlight shield—Ikenga’s final mirror against destruction—dimmed at last, its fractured surface rippling once before vanishing entirely. The celestial light that once guarded him was gone, scattered like dust among the stars.
The mages saw it instantly.
Their moment had come.