15 minutes earlier…

  Friederich and Aurelia slid off the mech’s hands, landing softly on the edge of the dam crest. The ground trembled beneath them, swaying their bodies to the sides.

  The elven mage grabbed her arm, steadying her before she could fall.

  “Stay here, Aurelia! You don’t have the mobility to rescue them!” Friederich yelled over the deafening rumble, a sound so agonising it was as if the dam itself was screaming.

  Aurelia nodded, clutching her chest.

  “Please be careful!” she said, worry evident in her voice.

  Friederich blinked at her sudden concern, then his lips curled into a gentle smile.

  “Always.”

  With that, he vaulted over the white concrete fence, summoning his glowing blade as he sprinted toward the work crews.

  ***

  As Aurelia ran along the dam crest, workers in jumpsuits and lab coats scrambled toward the mountain ridge.

  Beside her, a female secretary slipped and fell, scraping her knee.

  Aurelia quickly hoisted her up, draping the woman’s arm over her shoulder.

  “Are you alright? Can you still run?” she asked.

  The woman nodded, though her face twisted in pain.

  After a few steps, she staggered again, nearly collapsing.

  Aurelia shifted her approach, gently lowering the woman onto the ground. Hovering her palms over the bleeding wound, she whispered,

  “Here, let me heal you! — Iasis!”

  A green leaf drifted down, dissolving into the wound, completely sealing it.

  “Thank you so much!” the woman gasped, her eyes glassy with gratitude.

  Aurelia smiled, pulling her up before resuming their sprint toward the mountain, still half a kilometre away.

  Then, the chaotic noises ruptured into a thunderous explosion, reverberating through the air.

  Aurelia braced herself as the ground shuddered.

  Scrambling to the fence, she peered down.

  “Ze~Jack!?” she almost blurted out, catching herself just in time.

  Two Armatus struggled against the monstrous force of the flood, desperately trying to clog the breach.

  Then her eyes shifted to the walkway.

  “By the glorious Sun… what?!?”

  Among the fleeing crowd, a towering figure stood on its hind legs — a massive wolf, dressed in a lavish tunic and tailored pants. Rare as they were, Aurelia knew exactly what he was — an Animori, a shapeshifting race.

  A floating magical scroll hovered beside him, where he frantically sketched with a flat pencil.

  Behind him, a deserting knight, Peter, guided the evacuees.

  “This way! Keep moving!” he bellowed, pushing them along the walkway.

  None of it immediately made sense to Aurelia, but she strode toward them.

  “A mage and an Animori…” she muttered.

  Then, Magistrate Petra’s words struck her — something about a great architect coming to save the dam.

  Aurelia cautiously approached Canis, who was so absorbed in his sketching that he didn’t notice her.

  “Are… are you the Renaissance Lunarius mage?” she called out.

  Taking another step, she realised just how staggeringly tall he was — easily over two metres.

  Canis’s mumbling ceased. He stole a glance at her before returning to his sketch.

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  “Oh! Princess Aurelia of Solis Aeternum! My name is Canis, um, a Lunarius mage of Capricorn and a humble architect!” he proclaimed theatrically, eyes flicking back to his work.

  “You know me, Sir Lunarius?”

  The wolf Animori smiled before resuming his sketching.

  He muttered, shaking his fur-covered head.

  “No, inefficient! I need to lower construction costs!” he grumbled, scratching his head in frustration.

  Aurelia tiptoed, trying to glimpse the floating scroll.

  “What are you working on?” she asked, frowning.

  “Oh, this?” Canis pulled the scroll down to her eye level.

  It displayed an intricate design of a dam’s structure.

  “I need the most efficient dam — mana-wise! I already spent over half my mana on teleportation,” he explained.

  “Please be quick, Sir Canis!”

  The dam groaned, shaking violently—

  BOOOOOM!

  The second explosion rocked the structure.

  Aurelia was flung to the ground.

  “Oww!” she groaned, scrambling to her feet with the help of Canis’s large hand.

  She pushed past a few fleeing workers, rushing to the fence.

  A second hole had ripped through the wall, water jetting 50 metres outward.

  Jack’s Armatus hovered above the flood, trying to plug the rupture with his massive frame.

  Aurelia spun toward Canis.

  “Sir Lunarius, can we channel mana?”

  Canis’s eyes widened, his lips parting to reveal sharp canines.

  “Harmonious channelling ritual?” He glanced back at the scroll, rubbing his chin.

  “That could work!”

  “Princess!” A voice called out.

  Lunice — the eldest Hoffmann mage — rushed toward her, gripping a glowing staff.

  “We don’t have time! The wall is collapsing!” she warned, grabbing Aurelia’s wrist.

  “Miss Lunice!” Aurelia gasped, pulling her closer.

  “Your Cryomax! Let’s freeze the water!”

  Lunice’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  “What? I can’t! I don’t have enough mana to freeze an entire river! Let’s—”

  “Please, have faith in yourself and in me!” Aurelia interjected. Her red eyes shimmered with fierce determination.

  “I will not let the dam collapse. Not when everyone is fighting with all they have.” A thought crossed her mind.

  Lunice hesitated.

  Then, after a beat, she nodded.

  Canis winked before furiously sketching the final details.

  Swiftly, Lunice leapt onto the opposite fence, steadying herself on the edge.

  “This is madness!” she faltered, exhaling sharply as mana surged through her staff.

  “Cryomax!” she roared.

  Her dark eyes glowed with power.

  Hundreds of snow moths materialised, twirling above the water surface, their movements mesmerising.

  Lunice pointed her staff at the raging waters below.

  “Freeze!”

  The moths dove, crashing into the river’s surface.

  Instantly, ice spread like veins across the water, thick frost enveloping the stream. The surrounding air turned into mist as temperatures plummeted to subzero.

  “Rinse and repeat!” She repeated the spell, bombarding the flood with relentless freezing magic.

  Meanwhile, Canis completed his sketch, admiring his work with a gleam in his pale eyes.

  “Another masterpiece of architecture!—”

  “Sir Canis!” Aurelia snapped.

  He flinched before nodding at her.

  “Are you ready, Princess?”

  “Ready before I was born!” she declared, her voice louder than the rumbling earth.

  “Guys! Whatever you’re planning, do it now! The Armatus are about to be pushed out!” Steve interjected, glancing below.

  Canis raised his hammer with both hands.

  The sketch hovered before him as he absorbed the intricate design.

  “Domoklasis!”

  As the pommel struck the ground, a divine chime resonated through the wind, echoing in everyone’s minds.

  Bronze grids surged across the dam’s surface in every direction.

  “Now, Princess!” Canis signalled, holding his hammer steady.

  The ground quaked as the dam began restructuring.

  Aurelia steadied herself, one hand reaching for Canis, the other for Lunice.

  Inside her, overwhelming mana erupted, seeping through every fibre of her being.

  Her red hair shimmered gold, floating weightlessly — radiating godlike brilliance.

  She became the Goddess of the Sun.

  The ethereal glow of the sun itself, yet not blinding. Calm and soothing, as if even time bowed to her will.

  Mana slithered from her body, splitting into golden tendrils that flowed into Canis and Lunice.

  “What is this?!” Lunice gasped, feeling an intoxicating surge of energy.

  Then, it clicked.

  She had felt this before—

  It was the essence of life itself.

  “This is mana!” she roared, unleashing Cryomax at full force — freezing the entire river.

  Canis burst into euphoric laughter.

  “Wait, are you high!?” Steve blurted.

  “Nuh-uh!”

  The dam transformed — metallic, reinforced, adorned with Roman-style engravings.

  ***

  On the scaffoldings, Friederich’s eyes locked onto the glowing figure atop the dam.

  “What in the sun?! Aurelia!” he yelled, ascending toward her.

  But it was too late.

  Every mage within a great distance could feel her presence.

  Aurelia Sol Solara had just announced her limitless mana to the entire world.