Above a vast land far away from the place where the war was going on.

Under the darkened sky, a thunderous and exasperating cry pierced the air, causing it to tremble in response.

"You pesky phoenix! Just let me get you once! Just once is all I need to pluck every last feather from your body!"

Bia cackled menacingly and the space around her shone brightly with vibrant crimson flames. The phoenix looked down at the woman opposite her, who was screaming in frustration.

Misha's pristine white clothes were soaked in dirt and blood, and her forehead throbbed with angry veins. She couldn't believe that as a true divine being, she couldn't handle a mere phoenix who had just barely touched the divine realm!

The woman let out a laugh, and her figure became blurry. She moved so fast that it almost left behind an afterimage as she lunged at Bia. But her eyes darkened with anger when crimson flames surged out to cover the phoenix's entire body in multiple layers of protective shields.

Misha cursed under her breath and tried to break the barriers with her fists.

However, apart from a few cracks, the barriers stayed intact, and to make things worse, the crimson flames left burn marks on her skin.

"Damn it! Damn it! Why the hell are this phoenix's flames so powerful? I'm a divine rank individual, for fuck's sake, and I can't even disperse the flames!"

She wanted to scream once again because her divine aura wasn't working on the phoenix. Whenever she spread out her divine pressure, the strange golden symbols on the phoenix's wings would shine and deflect her pressure away from the phoenix's body.

Bia snickered when she finally saw the woman's figure materialize beside her.

-"Now it's my turn! Hehe!" She flapped her wings, which shone with a mesmerizing blend of golden, crimson, and blue feathers.

Misha's eyes contracted when the many barriers surrounding the phoenix expanded in all directions with a deafening echo. The woman gritted her teeth and raised her hand to create several earth shields to protect herself.

But she had to retreat because the flames were too hot and melted the shields she had created. In a flash, Misha grabbed a double edged blade without a hilt from her mind space and fixed her dark gaze on the phoenix.

"Let's see how long you can hold on!"

In that moment, a sweet melody reverberated through the air, and the woman's eyes shone brightly with a crimson hue.

Bia narrowed her eyes when she heard countless roars echoing around her. The phoenix scanned the many monsters that started gathering around the woman.

Misha tilted her head and flipped the gleaming blade in her hand, like she was getting used to the sensation. Bia watched as the woman rushed at her with the sharp blade, and the many monsters followed suit, as if dancing to her commands.

Misha's stance faltered for a second when she didn't see a hint of fear in the phoenix's eyes, which annoyingly turned crescents. Regardless, she didn't pause in her actions even when the phoenix formed the familiar barriers around her body. The woman raised her blade, and with glowing eyes, a crimson light flashed from her fingers as she stabbed the blade into the burning barriers. The many barriers that enclosed the phoenix cracked and started scattering into countless pieces.

Misha let out a victorious smirk.

"Haha, finally, I got you..."

But when she raised her eyes to laugh at the phoenix, she staggered a little. The woman saw a mischievous glint inside the bright pair of crescent-shaped eyes staring down at her. The brightness amidst the darkness made the phoenix's eyes almost look overbearing with a hint of blue in between.

The phoenix's massive presence loomed over her, and in that exact moment, she felt a shiver run down her spine as she realized that her control over the monsters she had just summoned was nullified by another force. It was a powerful commanding force, completely different from her own.

No matter what, Misha could only control the monsters through their senses when she used the dark powers bestowed to her. But the force the phoenix used made them obey because the phoenix held a position that was rightfully above them.

"Haha... no way-!"

Her words got cut off when the phoenix opened her mouth and let out a cry. It was so loud that the woman's ears started ringing. The next thing she saw was a sea of pure golden flames that spread out from the phoenix's body, almost covering the entire space around them.

Misha's eyes trembled as she watched the flames. So, all this time the phoenix never used her divine energy? In that moment, the woman finally accepted the fact that she was fighting with a true phoenix—one that had touched the realm of the divine and had the power to go even beyond it if given the chance. But she didn't dare admit that she, a divine being, would lose to a mere phoenix! Misha wanted to prove that she was stronger, no matter what tricks the phoenix used. In the end, the phoenix could never defeat a true divine being with her lowly tricks! That's why she secretly took out an artifact and stopped to face the golden flames head-on. Her plan was to take out the phoenix in one go the moment the phoenix exhausted her divine energy. But that was her biggest mistake.

Bia laughed in her head and looked at the woman with a haughty expression.

-"It looks like you wanna get a taste of my beautiful flames, huh? Okay, enjoy~"

She spoke in a sweet voice that sounded too harmless for its own good. In the next second, the golden flames turned even brighter and enclosed the whole sky in a golden blanket. Misha's shocked eyes reflected the flames that enveloped her from all sides.

"Nooo! How can you have so much divine energy!"

The woman cried out and used all her divine energy to form one shield after another around her body. But the shields would melt under the heat within seconds, which turned hotter with each passing second.

"Wait, wait! I admit defeat! Retract the flames!"

Bia's breathing turned irregular because she used all her divine energy and remaining mana in that move. Her vision blurred for a second, but she shook her head and watched everything as painful, desperate screams echoed from inside the flames that shone brightly under the moonlight.

The many monsters watching everything from beneath whimpered with scared expressions and quickly ran off in different directions, so as not to disturb the phoenix.

Regardless, the golden flames burned brightly, and after a long time, when they scattered, nothing was left behind.

Bia let out a grin. Unlike the others, she could sense her stats very vividly, and she knew that Kyle wasn't the only one who had a high divine energy stat the moment he broke through to the pseudo-divine rank. Bia's divine stat also showed 2rd stage (low). Probably because of her bond with Kyle and because she's a phoenix, not any ordinary beast.

-"I did say it! I am majestic, and a woman who just appeared out of nowhere can never be superior to me in terms of controlling monsters! Tsk tsk, look what happened when you dared to challenge this majestic me!"

The phoenix's vision blurred with tiredness. She had used all her energy. Her body screamed with pain, even though she fought Misha head-on without showing any weakness. She was truly tired, so much so that she wanted nothing but to sleep for a long time. Bia let out a yawn.

-"I'm done with my job. So, I can sleep for now, right? Just for a while..."

.???