?The emerald dragon’s maw descended like a collapsing sky, but Agent X was no longer where the wind aimed. With a violent hiss from the vents in his legs, he didn't just move; he detonated. A localized kinetic burst propelled him sideways, leaving a vacuum that sucked the dragon’s snout into the frozen dirt.

  ?Agent X didn't stop to admire the spirit. He thrust his palm toward the sky, unleashing a series of rapid-fire purple fire bolts. Tempest, mid-air and momentarily weightless, spun his spear with dizzying speed. A green-tinted wind aura flared around him like a tornado, the spinning wall of wind deflecting the bolts into the air erratically where they hissed and died.

  ?The demon flared fire out of the vents in its body to move into the air.

  ?Agent X was forced onto the defensive, his offense hampered by Aurora’s creeping frost on the ground. He was constantly having to dodge the spear or wind spirit, while launching pillars of violet fire to create space. Tempest was relentless. Every time the demon tried to stabilize, the Lancer thrust his spear, summoning a spectral emerald wyvern that materialized out of the wind. These spirits slammed into Agent X with the weight of a physical battering ram before dissolving back into a gale-force wind.

  ?Maximus moved in lockstep below them, his heavy boots crunching through the permafrost. His mind was checking the remaining time on the Mach Speed Bash cooldown while keeping his eyes locked on the demon’s trajectory.

  ?Behind the glacial walls, Aurora stood as a pillar of absolute cold. Every few seconds, she raised her Frost Nova Staff, and a jagged spear of blue ice launched into the distance, serving as a fresh conduit for her permafrost to claim more of the battlefield. The more sand she froze, the less this demon could use against them.

  ?"He’s toying with them," Kaelith whispered, his eyes wide as he watched the blur of emerald and violet high above. "You have to pull them back. He’s letting them get too confident."

  ?Aurora didn't turn her head. A small, confident smile played on her lips. "Relax, Commander. You’re used to elven skirmishes. This is an S-Rank suppression. A Mage-type, even one as sturdy as that thing, can’t win against two close-range specialists once they’ve closed the gap. As long as they stay in his face and don't let him charge a high-tier spell, he’s a glass cannon waiting to shatter."

  ?Kaelith gripped the edge of the ice, his voice trembling. "You think he’s a caster... but I felt his grip. He caught me out of a teleport with his bare hands. Then he used me as a weapon to hit my teammates. He isn't afraid of fighting up close, Hero. He seems to enjoy it."

  ?Aurora’s smile flickered. She looked up, seeing Agent X parry a spear-thrust with an obsidian forearm rather than a shield.

  ?Maximus, Tempest, she relayed through the mindlink. The Commander says the target is high-tier in close quarters combat. Don't let your guard down. He might be baiting the engagement.

  ?Copy that, Maximus grunted. It's not likely to fight close up in the air. I need it on the ground to be more helpful. I’m pulling aggro. Tempest, get ready for the follow-up.

  ?Maximus slammed his fist against his tower shield, the gold trim erupting in a blinding, holy light. "Divine Provocation!"

  ?The skill was a literal weight on the mind. Agent X, mid-air, felt his focus forcibly wrenched away from Tempest. His vision turned gold, his instincts demanding he strike the Paladin below.

  ?So you want my attention that badly? Agent X thought, his vents screaming as he dove. You’ve got it.

  ?Agent X blurred, appearing on the ground feet from Maximus. He didn't use a weapon; he simply unhinged the vents in his chest and released a continuous, roaring torrent of royal purple fire. It was a flamethrower of demonic mana designed to melt steel.

  ?Maximus didn't raise his shield to hide. He leaned into the heat, his shield glowing with a retaliatory white light. "Counter!"

  ?The holy energy caught the purple flames, swirling them into a vortex before doubling their intensity and blasting them straight back at the demon. The recoil caught Agent X off guard, the sheer physical pressure of his own amplified fire pushing him back like a tidal wave.

  ?He didn't burn—fire was his element—but the force was enough to knock him off balance for a split second. It was the only second Tempest needed.

  ?The Lancer appeared behind Agent X like his shadow. His iridescent spear became a needle of emerald light, puncturing the demon’s back a hundred times per second. It was a frantic, surgical search for the "Core"—the heart of all Demon-class creatures.

  ?Tempest’s spear tore through the obsidian ribs, shredding the compressed sand as he hunted for the crystalline spark that gave the monster life. With each blow, black sand flew into the air from the demon's torso.

  ?Agent X let out a distorted laugh that echoed through the Lancer’s mind. With a violent jerk, his entire body burst into a cloud of loose black sand, drifting high into the sky and swirling away from the spear’s reach.

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  ?He reformed fifty feet up, hovering arrogantly in the air. He looked down at the "Heroes" who were so desperately stabbing at his chest.

  ?Looking for something? Agent X mocked internally.

  ?He felt a smug sense of superiority. Most demons kept their core in their chest or head—a glaring weakness. But Agent X’s core was different. Through his evolution, his essence had been condensed into a single grain of sand, no larger than a speck of dust. He could move it to his finger, his heel, or even leave it floating outside his body entirely. As long as that one microscopic grain remained intact, he was immortal.

  ?He watched the two Incarnates regroup below, their professional confidence starting to show the first cracks of frustration.

  ?"Didn't hit a core," Tempest yelled to Maximus, his voice strained. "It was like stabbing a hollow shell!"

  ?Agent X flexed his hands, the obsidian sand crackling with fresh purple fire. Let's kick this up a notch.

  ?Agent X didn't wait for them to plan their next move. He plummeted back to the earth, but he didn't land on his feet. He slammed into the frozen ground like a meteor, the impact shattering Aurora's permafrost in a thirty-foot radius. The "Mage" form they so confidently labeled him with was gone. Maximus though to himself this thing fights like an Overlord or maybe even a sovereign level beast. His assesment of the demon changing.

  ?He lunged at Maximus first. The Paladin raised his shield, expecting a magical blast, but Agent X delivered a spinning back-kick that carried the weight of a freight train. The impact rang out like a cathedral bell, the holy barrier around the shield flickering violently as Maximus was sent skidding back twenty yards, his heels carving deep furrows through the ice.

  ?"He's faster than before!" Maximus warned through the link, his arm numbing from the vibration.

  ?Tempest dove in from the side, his spear glowing with the fury of a hurricane. "Dragon’s Talon!" he roared, thrusting the weapon forward. A spectral wyvern head manifested at the tip, its teeth made of jagged wind.

  ?Agent X didn't dodge this time. He ducked under the spear and stepped into Tempest’s attack. He grabbed the shaft of the S-Rank spear with one hand and slammed his obsidian forehead into Tempest's face. The sound of the headbutt was sickening. Tempest’s wind-aura shattered instantly, and the Lancer bounced off the ground before going airborne, blood spraying from his nose.

  ?Before Tempest could recover, Agent X spun, his hand blurring as he snatched a handful of the black sand that had been loosened by the impact. He compressed it in an instant, forming a jagged obsidian javelin, and hurled it at the falling Lancer.

  ?"Sacred Exchange!" Maximus shouted.

  ?In a flash of light, he switched places with Tempest, putting himself into the path of the projectile. The obsidian javelin shattered against his shield, but the force of it knocked the Paladin further into the air.

  ?Agent X stood in the center of the clearing, his vents hissing, his body radiating a heat that made the air shimmer. He wasn't casting spells; he was using his raw physical attributes to a degree that defied the "Mage" classification.

  ?Is this all your team has to offer? Agent X projected, his voice a distorted rumble. You fight with structure. I fight with hunger.

  ?Behind the wall, Aurora’s face had gone pale. She saw the way Maximus’s shield was beginning to show hairline fractures. She saw Tempest struggling to wipe the blood from his eyes. Kaelith was right—the monster wasn't trapped in the pocket with them. They were trapped in the pocket with him.

  ?"Maximus, fall back!" Aurora commanded, her voice losing its professional cool. "He’s adapting to your fighting style! I'm going to try and freeze him!"

  ?Maximus looked at the demon, then at his cracked shield. He knew his shield was almost at its limit. Agent X was looking past him now, his faceless head turning toward the ice walls—toward the mage that had yet to be tested.

  ?"I can't fall back, Aurora," Maximus replied grimly, shifting his stance. "If I move, he’s through those walls in a heartbeat. Tempest, get your head in the game! My shield bash has ten seconds left!"

  ?Agent X watched them, a low, guttural sound emerging from his chest. It was a laugh. He began to gather purple fire in both palms, the heat becoming so intense that the frozen ground beneath him began to turn directly into steam.

  ?"Then let's see which breaks first," Agent X rumbled aloud. "Your shield... or your spirits."

  ?Agent X let loose a purple fire ball at Tempest and Maximus. Tempest evaded and dashed in. Maximus stepped in and cut the demonic fire with his divinity-infused claymore. Tempest began his rapid-fire assault with the spearhead. Agent X used his palms and forearms like a martial artist to deflect and block each attack. Maximus rushed Agent X from the back while he was locked in combat. He swung his sword in a downward arc, splitting the demon down the middle from the top of its head to between its legs.

  ?Unlike before, the demon didn't repair itself or dissipate into sand. The two halves of the demon instead remained fighting. One half remained locked in combat with Tempest while the other half shifted its features to face Maximus and begin a separate, yet simultaneous assault.

  ?What is this abomination? Maximus thought, horrified by the sight. Completely split in half and still fighting at full force.

  ?Tempest, seeing the split, ducked down and spun his spear faster than before, creating an emerald vortex that sucked the demon into the middle of it. As the demon got pulled into the center of the vortex, Tempest changed where the vortex was aiming. He set its sights straight at Maximus.

  ?Maximus, knowing his cooldown was finally over, pulled the shield back behind him in preparation. Tempest, seeing their tank ready, launched Agent X toward Maximus. Maximus instantly slammed his shield forward.

  ?"Mach Speed Bash!"

  ?The sound was deafening. The tower shield made a sickening crunch as sand was scattered from the impact, more spiderweb cracks forming in the gold surface. The same annoying message popped up in front of Agent X's vision: Stunned.

  ?Great, Agent X thought in annoyance.

  ?Maximus, not wasting a second of the stun, followed up with an uppercut slash from his claymore, sending Agent X hurling into the sky. Maximus mindlinked to Aurora. It's up in the air. Do what you can.

  ?Aurora didn't waste time responding. She began to channel an immense amount of energy, her eyes glowing a light icy blue. The visible air around her froze as she took aim at the demon with her staff.

  ?"Molecular Snap Freeze."

  ?The words escaped her mouth like a forbidden spell. Gusts of wind rushed away from her as the very water molecules in the air all around Agent X froze in an instant, leaving him in a frozen prison in mid-air.