The dark spear in the humanoid beast's hand was the first to disintegrate into wisps of black smoke, followed by its arms, torso, and head. One by one, each fragment crumbled away.

In less than a second, it completely disintegrated into countless drifting crimson specks and fine dust. Even the two points of scarlet flame were extinguished entirely.

The crushing pressure that had filled the canyon vanished. Only Dustin remained, standing with his sword still raised. His breathing was slightly labored in the dead silence that followed.

"Mr. Rhys won! He won," the onlookers exclaimed in delight.

Grace let out a long sigh of relief, her tense nerves finally relaxing.

But before the cheers had even died down, something strange happened again. Out of nowhere, something stirred in the dead silence, cutting the victory short.

The crimson specks in the canyon that hadn't fully dispersed seemed to be drawn by some invisible force. Instead of fading into nothing like ordinary energy, they b