The Battle Royale

Boom! Boom!

Space warships rained orbital fire on the coordinates Hyacinth marked. Futuristic jet fighters dove in with bombs and strafing runs. Shadow Thralls shrieked as the barrage tore them apart, and the battle that had swung decisively toward Garuda when magic was nullified turned around in an instant.

Garuda, the Star Realm Behemoth, brought destruction and chaos to the world.

It pushed everything around it toward chaos and distortion, invading the rules of Mindscapes and even the Mortal World to draw immense power from those twisted rules.

When it invaded the Mindscapes above Rongcheng in an attempt to enter the Mortal World, it gained forms that could be perceived as physical entities—or existed as concepts of chaos. And when it invaded Red Rose's Mindscape and took its power for itself, it brought the "rules" of the other Mindscapes along with it.

If Garuda could use them, why couldn't anyone else?

Boom!

A bomb dropped by a fighter detonated at Garuda's feet. The blast knocked the behemoth, now stripped of magical protection, back several steps. The twisted power it had imposed on this Mindscape was being turned against it.

Hyacinth stood at the edge of the sea of flames, sweeping a heavy machine gun across the surrounding Shadow Thralls. A storm of bullets ripped through the dust thrown up by the bombs—and through the darkness Garuda had unleashed.

"Nice work! Where did you get the support beacon?" Nightingale called from beside her.

Hyacinth had no time to turn and talk. She pulled out another metal sphere and entered a code to call for support, then drew the pistol at her waist and blew the head off a Shadow Thrall trying to close in.

"Found it in Foxkov! I need to reload! Cover me!"

"On it!"

Nightingale laughed. A cannon-like report