The angel flew towards the dragon. The curved silver blade in her right hand moved to the side as she prepared to strike her opponent.


    The dragon didn''t wait for his adversary. With one wingbeat, he flew at her too, sending everyone behind him reeling. The large gust of wind sent everyone flying and shook the city''s walls.@@@@


    Its strength was so huge, a few roofs got swept away, and the closer tanks got knocked over. Sera and a few others held out and tried to protect everyone behind them.


    They watched both in awe and terror, as Scarred Sera''s sword cut the air so quickly it was impossible to follow. Otto didn''t even try to evade the strike. He just turned a bit, so the strike hit him on the side, instead of the belly.


    Everyone expected to see blood flowing from the wound, but instead, all they heard was a metallic plink sound. It was loud enough to reach even the regular soldiers'' ears.


    The silver blade didn''t even penetrate Otto''s scales. Scarred Sera seemed just as surprised as everyone else, but she had no time to ponder. A growl vibrated through the dragon, and soon a massive maw tried to rip her wings apart.


    With an annoyed sigh, she moved away, dodging the attack with no effort. But the attack didn''t stop there. The dragon''s enormous clawed hand attacked with surprising speeds.


    Scarred Sera barely had time to react, and one gigantic claw managed to knick her feathered wing. It stayed pristine white, but a few bloody feathers fell away.


    She moved even further away, then turned towards the approaching dragon and summoned silver spikes from the ground. They were hundreds of meters long and were in the way of Otto.


    He flew straight into them. The silver spikes groaned in pain and broke apart. Otto roared in rage and pain as the spikes scratched his scales, but didn''t break his skin.


    A few went through his wings, though, which restricted his movements quite a bit. Scarred Sera tried to use this opportunity to attack and kill Otto, but as she approached him, a large cone of black flames headed her way. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    The silver spikes melted under the heat, freeing Otto from his makeshift prison. The mad lady had no chance of evading the flames, so she sent her own silver fire against the black inferno.


    The two flames met again, interacting with each other in an explosive manner. The two flames were exact opposites, one pure and cleansing, the other foul and corrupting.


    Many of Sera''s original group recognized the reaction between the flames. It was the exact same reaction Sera''s sword had when she used both the Dragon Pendant and her own flames on it.


    All of them remembered it like it happened yesterday. When Sera used her sword to strike down two Transcended and a Stellar, while she was barely an Ascended.


    The power between the blow was enough to send Damien flying, and it was only in small concentration. The flames Otto and Scarred Sera threw at each other were on a whole other level.


    Their destructive properties were extremely high without the exothermic reaction. But combined, they slowly melted everything in their proximity.


    James figured that much too, but there wasn''t anything they could do. The System had enough power to withstand the attack; the problem was its output. While it''s able to store a lot of energy, it''s unable to put out as much.


    Overloading the System would lead to its destruction. They had to find a solution that kept the System alive even after the attack.


    "What are we going to do, then?" asked James, and soon came the answer as the room''s doors opened.


    Bran questioned nothing. He just followed Mary''s instructions and ran onto the raised platform. He took his place near the main root and prepared to convert energy into the machine.


    "It''s easy! We can''t use the stored power, since the output would break the System, so we will power it manually!"


    James watched Bran grabbed the root, then raise his hand towards the red circle. He looked very pale. It hadn''t even been a day since his last conversion.


    "Are you sure? This could kill him! If too much power courses threw him, it will do permanent damage, mostly leading to a very painful death!"


    Whispered James to Mary as she prepared the machine for the sudden power increase. She sighed, but continued to work.


    "I know. He knows too. I wouldn''t have let him up there without giving him all the information. David told me they were already working on a solution at their end. We just need to make the shields last longer!"


    James didn''t say a word. He turned back towards Bran as he prepared to sacrifice himself if necessary.


    He saw Bran in a new light. To this day, James didn''t understand what Sera saw in this guy. He wasn''t that good looking, nor really powerful. In everyone''s opinion, Bran was normal and a bit boring.


    They talked a lot about this topic with the other group members, but they never found a conclusion. But now, James finally saw it. The man might not be exceptional in fighting or in looks, but on the inside, he was truly one of a kind.


    He was reliable for once, and he loved Sera more than anything else. Even now, James could''ve sworn that the small tremble in his outstretched hand wasn''t there because of fear for himself, but worry of failure.


    Bran was probably thinking; ''What if I fail?''; ''What if I can''t hold out long enough?''; ''What if I do something wrong?''.


    It was a pain to admit, since Bea was James''s close friend, but currently Bran seemed a much better partner than her. Even through all these hardships, he never once blamed Sera for anything, and always stayed by her side.


    As he got absorbed in his thoughts, Mary shouted, "NOW BRAN!"


    The green energy appeared and covered his left hand. It moved through his body and exited from his right palm. The black line hit the middle of the red circle and began transferring power immediately.