Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Larisa's body involuntarily flinched as she witnessed the monstrous transformation taking place before her eyes. The Dragon's Rage intensified the mutation, causing the dragon scales to spread like wildfire across the creature's body. The once humanoid form now appeared even more formidable, as if the very essence of draconic power coursed through its veins.

As the transformation continued, Larisa's instincts screamed at her to brace for the impending danger. The air became charged with an ominous energy, and the atmosphere itself seemed to tremble under the weight of the monster's fury.

In a breathtaking display of speed, the dragon charged forward with the ferocity of a dark lightning. Larisa, caught off guard by the sudden acceleration, had no time to react. The collision was unavoidable.

The impact was catastrophic. The monster's forceful charge struck Larisa with the full might of its enhanced power. The sheer force sent her hurtling through the air, a human projectile tossed by the wrath of the attack. The distance covered was staggering, with Larisa soaring through the landscape for several kilometers.

Once again, Rain felt his body being crushed down to every part… those memories were truly something and it was also suspicious that Zeus had them, but he didn't have time to think about them… Larisa fell and hit the ground, but before she could stop, the monster attacked her again…

The kick added with the power of the charge made Larisa's body hit and cross countles piles of rubble… it was amazing that she was still conscious after all that… she even managed to put her hands on the ground and slow down before the monster could reach her again… Still, while her wounds were healing fast, it wasn't fast enough to help her.

Larisa used her gloves and earth magic to harden her body and defend herself, but little by little, her body suffered too much damage and began to fall apart. Only her upper body resisted thanks to the defenses of the gloves granted her.

While bleeding from every corner of her body and standing up with a single leg while the other had been ripped apart by one of the monster charges, Larisa looked at the monster approaching once more… a single hit, was all what she managed to do.

"In the end… fighting those beasts was madness," Larisa muttered under her breath.

Rain already could tell what was going to happen afterward, so he just braced himself, but he was still annoyed by it when Larisa pierced her own heart and then the gloves began to absorb her essence and powers.

As Rain's vision began to darken once more, a realization dawned upon him amidst that event. The final act, Larisa's deliberate sacrifice, was not just an act of desperation but a crucial component of the spell for activating spirit transference. In order for the users to transfer their essence and powers to the relics, they had to willingly abandon their own bodies.

A heavy sigh escaped Rain's lips as he grappled with the gravity of the situation. The sacrifice, the intentional self-inflicted wounds, and the absorption of Larisa's essence by the gloves—all were steps in the intricate process to ensure the continuation of their powers within the relics.

In the face of such an act, Rain found himself reflecting on the depth of commitment and sacrifice exhibited by those who came before him. The question lingered in his mind—would he go to such lengths for the sake of others, for his family? The answer was unclear, for his current well of hatred and resentment was not yet deep enough to drive him to such extremes for his own sake.

"I am starting to get pissed, though… all this pain is annoying," Rain thought. "I might hate Suez rather than the real enemies," Rain thought. "Who is next?"

Once again, Rain started to see another memory starting… he found himself standing at the top of a mountain while lightning bolts were falling down left and right. It didn't take long before he was able to see the dark scepter in his hands… it looked like he was going to see Vanessa's end this time.

"Does that guy want me to see their end just to sympathize with them?" Rain thought.

While Rain was thinking about that, several flying monsters approached from the sky and surrounded Vanessa… they were quite weird, they looked like flying centipedes… but instead of legs, they had countless wings.

The beasts got closer and soon began to control the wind to fire wind blades at Vanessa, but she stopped the attacks with her dark scepter and absorbed them… in the next moment, she fired them back and split the beasts into countless pieces.

"Well… that sure was something," Rain thought.

Still, the memory was far from over… those were only mere spawns of a much more dangerous enemy. Crossing the dark clouds, a giant flying monster showed up… it was massive… it looked like a one kilometer long dragon fly… Rain could feel the shivers that Vanessa felt because he was seeing something similar too. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time for that…

Rain witnessed an insane spectacle at the top of the mountain where Vanessa stood, surrounded by the chaotic dance of thunder and lightning. The stormy clouds above seemed to converge their electric energy into a single, ominous mass directly over Vanessa. The atmosphere crackled with an otherworldly intensity as the air became charged with the imminent release of a torrential thunder storm.

Lightning bolts began to rain down upon Vanessa, each strike accompanied by a deafening roar of thunder. Incredibly fast, she raised her dark scepter with focus, absorbing the electrical onslaught. The scepter hummed with power as it channeled and contained the ferocious energy of the lightning.

However, the situation took a dire turn when the dark scepter, overloaded with the immense power it had absorbed, began to struggle under the weight of the surging energy. Before Vanessa could redirect the absorbed lightning toward the colossal dragonfly, more bolts descended from the clouds, relentless in their assault…