High above the mountain range.

  The Emir of the Emirates murmured Arabic phrases repetitively, his trembling voice eg as if the ts alone could shield him from the nightmare unfolding below.

  What y beh them was a monstrosity beyond prehension, a se that defied both imagination and reason. The sheer scale of it sent a chill through his spine, his hand instinctively clutg the robes of his ter part beside him—the Minister of Magic for his nation.

  ROAR!

  They watched as the mo like a mountain and engulfed in fmes as if it were the very ination of hell itself, let out a thunderous bellow, swinging its arms wildly like a mindless beast.

  Hot gusts of wind and shockwaves erupted from its ter, reag them even from nearly two kilometers above the ground. Fortunately, they were safe. A dome-like barrier of pure magic surrouhem, a protective struct crafted by the Arch-Magus woman at their side.

  "What in Merlin's name has Viorvain gotten himself into... this evil magic is..." muttered Minister Yasir, his voice trembling as he stared downward, his face a mixture of horror and shock.

  "This is... not just magi our world," the tall woman answered, her gaze fixed on the chaos below. Her voice was solemn as she addressed the entire group. "Demonology. Power drawn from other dimensions. That old man... it seems he has ties to the Zealots."

  She stood with her hands outstretched, a colossal barrier eng the entire mountain like a shimmering dome. This was no mere shield spell, but something tless times more powerful—a magily a witch of her caliber could jure.

  "Speaker Maxime... you mean..." Minister Yasir asked, his voice filled with shock as he turo look at her.

  "Teacher... what's a Zealot?" the little girl asked, uo help herself as she g to her robe. It was clear she wasn't familiar with the straerm.

  The tall woman gnced down at her, her tone soft but firm. "It's not something you o worry about, ma chère..." she said, her eyes quickly returning to the se unfolding before them.

  Just then, a wave of terrifying magic crashed into the barrier, making it shudder violently. The force rippled through the air, but just as quickly as it struck, the barrier stabilized, sileng the disturbance.

  "The mysterious man is finally showing his hand," said the tall woman, now identified as Maxime. Her voice was calm and steady as she waved her hand, effortlessly dissipating the shockwave that had rattled her struct.

  From their position, Morvain and Maverick were barely visible specks amidst the turmoil, the sheer devastation making it nearly impossible to spot them with sight alone.

  But for a witch of her caliber, this was no challenge. Her gaze remained fixed owo figures, and more than that, she had heard every word they'd spoken since her arrival.

  Her attention sharpened on the bck-cd figure, h defiantly as a faintly glowing shield protected him from the fiery winds and waves of force. A part of her couldn't help but feel curious as he used a magifamiliar to her to glide through the air.

  She watched as, with a swift movement, he flew backward, retreating hundreds of meters in an instant, moving with incredible speed, away from the t, fming giant.

  For a moment, he seemed to hesitate, h motionless as if lost in thought. Then, slowly, the figure raised his wand toward the sky.

  What came stopped her breath.

  A surge of fmes erupted from him, bzing upward with fiertensity. These fmes were nothing like the demon's e inferno—no, they were deeper, richer, a crimson red, like the color of blood. They expanded rapidly, growing rger with each passing moment, ing everything in their path.

  Her heart raced as she watched. She reized the magic. She had seen it before and even wielded it herself. But the skill, the sheer mastery, the trol—it had been decades since she had witnessed anyone and the unruly fire so effortlessly. Unlike Morvain, this masked figure was doing it with nothing but his mind and magic, with ernal force or entity guiding the power.

  The crimson fmes surged higher, growing until they towered over the desert like a sed sun, pulsing with raw, unbridled energy. Then, slowly, the shape began to shift.

  Wings.

  Massive wings of fire unfurled, their span nearly half a kilometer wide. They beat the air with slow, deliberate power, sending scorg waves of heat crashing down the mountainside. Even the bzing monster ushed back, the hurrie-like force from a few powerful fps shoving it toward the mountain side.

  And then came the body.

  The fmes twisted and shifted, shaping a massive, regal form. Within moments, a colossal bird stood t over the chaos, its fiery wings stretg into the sky. Its crimson glow bathed the ndscape in an ominous light, and the raw energy it radiated was enough to make eveall woman's hands tremble.

  Within the struct, shock was evident on every face. Even Maxime, usually so posed, showed signs of awe.

  For everyone else, their astonishment came purely from what they were witnessing. The raw power of the spectacle was beyond their uanding, something they could only imagihe Arch-Magus's barrier absorbed it all, shielding them from the overwhelming force.

  "P-professeur..." The little girl's voice shook as she g to Maxime's robes, fear evident in her eyes.

  Maxime k down, her gaze softening as she pced a gentle hand on the girl's trembling shoulder. "I'm here... you're safe," she murmured in their native tongue, her voice steady and reassuring. She paused, lifting the girl's so their eyes met. "Watch closely. Take in every detail. A duel like this... it's something you may never see again."

  Oher side, a simir se pyed out as Edward used his magic to shield the two Magus beside him. Unlike his colleague in rank, Edward repared to interve any moment. He stood ready, waiting for his pupil's signal to step in and put ao the chaos that was rapidly overwhelming the h them.

  ....

  IMPOSSIBLE!

  IMPOSSIBLE!

  The frantiwilling cries of Morvai unheard as he watched in disbelief, overwhelmed by the endless surprises this unknown figure had brought.

  His eyes locked onto the colossal crimson bird of fire, its cws lunging forward, pinning his creation to the mountain.

  His mind refused to accept what he was seeing, uo prehend how a Great-Magus like himself could overpower his owion—something he had summoned ience by eling evil magic after pledging himself to a demon.

  It wasn't just the sheer force that shocked him, it was the obedience of the inferno itself, a fme known to be the most forbiddeo its wild, untrolble nature. In the end, Morvain could do nothing but watch helplessly as his creation was torn apart.

  Behind it all, Maverick hovered above the Fiendfyre, his form a mere silhouette against the bzing spectacle below. Every ounce of his power was eled into the inferno, the raw magic flowing through him as his retly repleamina was rapidly draihe strain was immense—he could feel his body protesting, the exhaustion creeping in—but the power he anded was undeniable.

  His grasp on the destructive spell had grown into something far beyond his expectations. It felt as though the fme had bee aension of himself, responding to his every and with fwless obedience.

  And it wasn't just destroying Morvain's demonic creation, it was dev it. The crimson raven swelled in size and iy, growing fiercer with each passing moment. In trast, the humanoid fire shrank, its power diminishing rapidly.

  ROARR!

  ROARR!

  The two colossal fire behemoths cshed with apocalyptic force, their fmes as vast as the mountain itself. Each strike sent shockwaves through the air, redug the ndscape to ruin. The mountain trembled and crumbled uheir power, boulders turning to molten sg on tact. The heat was so intehat it could burn anything nearby, while the scorg winds spread out, strong enough to vaporize anything unlucky enough to be caught in their wake.

  "I DON'T ACCEPT THIS!"

  "This is impossible! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

  Morvain's desperate cries pierced the air, but they fell on deaf ears. He looked broken, both in mind and body. The once-lean muscles had vanished, leaving him resembling a malnourished old man, his appearance finally matg the age on his face. It was as if the price of his dark rituals had finally caught up to him.

  He watched helplessly as his twisted magic was crushed, pio the mountain like prey caught in a trap. The crimson bird's beak pressed against the demonic fire's face, and he could see the fmes being drawn in, like a bck hole. His creation's size and power shrank rapidly, while the enemy's grew ever more formidable.

  As the fiery humanoid shrank, its grasp on the magic holding its form together weakened. With every passing sed, it became more unstable, glowing brighter and flickering violently, as if it could erupt in a catastrophic explosion at any moment.

  Sensing the impending danger, Morvain, utterly drained, made a frantic bid for escape. He stumbled and scrambled across the shattered terrain, a miserable impression of the powerhouse he had once been.

  Maverick, oher hand, had been fully focused on obliterating the monstrous entity. But then, as realization struck, he abruptly unched himself backward, flying swiftly to create distance.

  The colossal fiery raven, as if se and respoo its master's will, unleashed a sihunderous beat of its wings. It released its talons from the monstrous humanoid and luoward Maverick with power and speed.

  Moments ter, everything colpsed into chaos.

  BOOOOOM!!!

  The unstable mass of fire erupted, expanding like a devastating explosion that shook the mountain to its core. The bst i its heart, carving out a nearly kilometer-wide k from the 26-kilometer-long, 5-kilometer-wide peak.

  It happened in an instant, fueled by nothing but raw, unstable magic—expanding and trag in a fsh, obliterating everything in its path. Boulders and rocks melted into molten streams or vaporized on the spot. All that remained was scorched ground and the bitter stench of burnih.

  —————

  Author's Note:

  Just a quick update — up to Chapter 88 is already avaible on P AT r30n!

  PAT r30n [.] / RyanFic