After lingering for a moment, trying to grapple with his sudden hunger and surging blood lust, Alden’s figure faded from view.

Less than a heartbeat later, he found himself in the midst of a chaotic, frenzied flurry.

Alden stepped to the side just in time to avoid a spear of ice whistling past him.

...At the same time, an earthen projectile tore past his other cheek.

The Keeper’s Apprentice remained calm, though.

With the Defiled Salamander looming in front of him like a molten, fiery mountain and the strongest members of the Provisional Paladin Squad unleashing a dire fullisade behind him, Alden current position was quite foolish.

However, there was a reason he opted for it.

Just as the fluctuations of mana in the air spiked and the frozen, steaming plain shuddered, the vast golden web in Alden’s vision rippled - similar to the vibration of a spider’s web.

Following that disturbance, Alden shifted. His figure disappeared, shrouded within the chaos.

Reemerging, Alden hid himself within the shadow of a piercing, earthen lance.

Abyssal decay flowed down Alden’s arm like a stygian river before coalescing to form a dark dagger. As his weapon finished manifesting and the earthen lance slammed into the Fire Salamander, the Keeper’s Apprentice made his move.

Mana seethed within him as he slipped in behind the abomination. He sensed the Defiled Djinn swat away Avel’s attack with one of its webbed feet. Then, without wasting a single heartbeat, Alden struck, stabbing at its hind leg.

There was no hesitation in his lunge, only the tantalizing desire to devour his molten foe.

As the Fire Salamander bellowed and unleashed a furious roar which sent shock-waves bursting through the air, Alden moved again, his frame fading away like an illusion scattered by the wind. Chaining his momentum, the Keeper’s Apprentice stabbed the Salamander’s other hind leg, his decay surging onto the abomination’s molten expanse like a dark, frantic tide.

Satisfaction welled within Alden at the sight.

’More. More.’

He had to devour more.

As the maddening desire slowly consumed him, Alden stepped back, evading a vicious strike of the Defiled’s tail. The steaming ice where he had just stood a moment prior completely shattered, a web of cracks racing through the rest of his immediate vicinity.

Suddenly, one of the golden threads in his vision vibrated.

A moment later, a burst of hot steam exploded upwards, breaching Yuki’s frozen layer.

The time between Morrigan’s Art activating and the burst of hot steam exploding was almost less than a heartbeat. With impressive speed, Alden relinquished control of his current abyssal construct.

Just before the dark energy dissipated, though...

Alden leapt into the air, using the remains of his decay to create a dark shield, angling it down to block the scalding burst.

The Keeper’s Apprentice leaned into the dark buckler, bracing himself as he shot upwards, the force packed by the crater launching him high into the air. As he sailed upwards, Alden spread his mana sense out to see how the battle below was unfolding.

Currently, the Fire Salamander was beyond enraged.

Its once nimble frame now lacked its previous agility, courtesy of Alden mangling its hind legs. This allowed Avel, Clay and Terra to move in.

Surrounded by a mass of undulating earthen shards, the latter seemed like a possessed ancient spirit gone mad. The Expert Stonewardens were by no means any less fearsome, as well. Avel wielded a sledgehammer while Clay held a mace.

Both weapons shimmered with a plethora of runes, imbued with the Stonewardens’ essence.

The result?

...Truly devastating force.

Every time Avel and Clay slammed into the Fire Salamander, a dull boom rang out, the air exploding from the impact. As multiple consecutive dull booms rang out in quick succession and Inferno’s plain seemed to shudder, Alden felt as if he had been transported back to the Age of Prosperity where Giants shook the land and touched the heavens.

Taking advantage of the opening created by Avel and Clay, the mass of undulating earthen shards surrounding Terra shot towards the Djinn, arriving almost in an instant. Then, the mass split apart into four different directions, each flowing towards one of the abomination’s limbs.

From there, Alden saw the stone shards fuse together and constrict, forming four large shackles.

Unfortunately for Terra, however...

The Fire Salamander roared and almost immediately broke free.

Even though it was subject to a barrage of frozen spears and gelid beams at the same time, the abomination still had the strength to completely shatter the bindings.

As a result, the stone shards crumbled to dust. Alden sensed Terra sway, as if she was in great pain.

Then, his attention shifted, drawn back to his own plight.

As Alden descended from a great height, he relinquished control over his now useless dark buckler - the stygian shield had splintered into numerous pieces, having done its job.

The Keeper’s Apprentice fell back down, hurtling through the air.

However, suddenly, he spied something interesting...

His crimson eye gleamed.

Just before Alden crashed into the ground, his figure blinked, appearing beside a small fissure.

...And from that crack, a young reptilian form peeked out.

’What do we have here?’

He grinned.

As the battle grew more and more intense in the background, Alden bent down and plucked out the small, terrified Salamander.

It wriggled desperately in his grasp, trying to escape.

However, Alden didn’t let it.

Just then, he sensed a furious gaze lock onto him.

The Keeper’s Apprentice turned around and waved the Fire Salamander’s Spawn around.

The Defiled Djinn froze for a brief moment, almost in sheer disbelief, before it released a incensed, seething bellow so loud Alden felt his ears might bleed.

Still, he continued to dangle the terrified, little spawn with a mad grin.

With most of his thoughts consumed by the maddening desire to devour, the young man did not have the capacity to consider if what he was doing was right or wrong.

Abyssal decay hissed into existence, slowly flowing down his arm.

Very soon, the Fire Salamander’s Spawn was no more.

...And as if to display the Djinn’s wrath, the entirety of Inferno’s Plain suddenly erupted.