Crank wakes up in the eastern village, coughing up seawater as he rolls onto his side. Gasping for air, he slowly gets to his feet and looks around. Jen and many of the villagers are helping each other recover from the recent disaster.
Prekayda lifts her gaze toward Boa's building, where shimmering lights spiral upward. The souls of the fallen are still being drawn into the structure. Her eyes widen in realization.
"Their spirits are connected to our leader," she says. "He's placing them into his own very soul. I get it now. Everyone, we shall not fear death! Even in death, we'll be together through the power of our leader, Boa!"
Crank and Jen stare out toward the ocean. What was once half the village now lies in ruin beneath the waves.
Inside Boa's building, the air pulses with intense magical energy. Boa sits cross-legged, completely enveloped in a radiant aura, deep in spirit meditation. In the spirit realm, his spectral form weaves through drifting souls. With controlled precision, he gathers them, forming a massive soul orb in the air.
He glances toward the horizon and senses the overwhelming presence of all the dragons on the planet. Taking a deep breath, he raises his hands. Five distinct spirit threads—each representing a dragon—form and swirl around him. As he touches them, his spirit body flashes between glowing yellow and white, shifting back and forth with each surge of power.
Moments later, in the physical world, Prekayda, Jen, and Crank step into his chamber. Boa slowly rises from his meditation, his breath heavy from the ordeal. The last of the souls settle within him, and the echoes of the dragons' spirits fade.
Prekayda bows deeply.
"The threat is no longer here. What is your next order?"
Crank's voice cuts through the air.
"I may be hard-headed and wanted to fight alone, but you knew better than anyone—we needed you out there! What were you doing?"
Jen rushes to Boa's side, gently supporting him as he breathes heavily.
"Don't overdo it, Boa," she says softly. "Whatever you've planned, I'm sure it's going to work."
Boa sits on the nearby bench, finally speaking.
"I'm sorry. I was collecting the souls of the fallen Boas—those who joined us from the start of the Star Games. The ones who died in the last few days... and then the ones in the village who fell after the dragon appeared."
Crank clenches his fists.
"Whatever you're planning... it's staining our honor. We're looking weak out there! There has to be another way. This strength I carry—it means nothing if there are beings even stronger than me."
Boa's tone sharpens with resolve.
"We prepare for battle. In about three hours, another dragon will be heading this way."
Prekayda straightens.
"Yes, sir! I'll notify the entire village. Your army will be ready!" She turns and hurries out.
Crank frowns.
"How do you know another dragon is coming this way?"
Jen's eyes widen.
"It can't be... he must've touched their souls."
Boa nods.
"The souls of these dragons are simple-minded in two ways: one—destruction. Two—a desire born from their creation. The Robotic Dragon seeks the most advanced civilization in the world—that's the giant city across the sea. The Bio Dragon is drawn to where the most Star players are gathered which is the ruined lands where many have settled. The Storm Dragon follows anything in its sight, but it prioritizes aerial targets, like the floating village near the ruined lands. The Power Dragon... it was seeking the strongest Star and that is Lars Platinumgrey."
He pauses, then continues.
"And lastly, the Blaze Dragon. It seeks the most heated place or person. That would be the southern island and their chosen. But judging by the spiritual levels over there... the Blaze Dragon is winning that battle."
Boa slowly looks at the others, eyes firm.
"That means we're next. Spiritually, my soul burns the brightest and I'm sure it'll come here next. That's why we must prepare for battle."
Meanwhile, high above Taeo City's barrier, Gaia pilots her mecha, eyes sharp and focused. With a command, 100s of drones launches forward, streaking through the sky in formation. They unleash a barrage of lasers, lighting up the sky as they strike the Robotic Dragon.
The dragon retaliates, firing over 100 concentrated laser beams from its massive wings. Explosions ripple through the air, the sky flashing with intense bursts of energy.
Gilga maneuvers his mecha through the chaos, weaving between the shockwaves and explosions. Spotting the dragon, he locks on and fires powerful laser blasts from both his chest and palms. Below, Taeo City's four defense machines finish charging and unleash their own lasers through the city's barrier, each beam slamming into the dragon with tremendous force.
Gilga's systems scan the dragon's structure as he zooms in on its core.
"This dragon's core... it's what we need to advance our plan!" he says, his voice brimming with intensity. "We must take it!"
Before he can fire again, his sensors pick up a massive energy surge near Gaia. His eyes widen as he watches her many drones swarm back toward her mecha.
"There's no way… she actually built a stable—" he pauses, stunned. "And here I thought I was the only noble truly favored in God's view... but there may be another. You've impressed me, Gaia Forstsilver."
The drones merge with Gaia's mecha, transforming it into a massive suit—one that rivals the Robotic Dragon in size. Flames and energy burst from her thrusters as she dashes through the mid-air explosions, closing the distance with astonishing speed. With a thunderous strike, she punches the dragon. The reinforced thrusters in her arms ignite, amplifying the blow, and send the dragon crashing into the nearby forest in a violent explosion of trees and smoke.
Gilga hovers in the sky, watching in awe.
"Maybe I could've done that too… if I had spent my free time more wisely," he mutters. "We were all too busy building our grand designs, yet Gaia still made time for backup plans. I got too comfortable at the top..."
His expression hardens.
"Time to dust off the crumbs and take the Star Games more seriously—or this one might actually surpass me."
He flies toward the edge of Taeo City, where one of the giant city machines is recharging. Landing beside it, he places his mecha hands onto the structure. Sparks of intense electricity surge between his suit and the machine. Soldiers and guards nearby instinctively back away, shielding themselves from the raw energy surging around him.
Meanwhile, at another gate of Taeo City, Ortis, Rose, and Hopper work together to recharge one of the city's defensive machines. Rose glances into the distance and spots Gaia in her giant mecha form.
"In such a short time… I never would've been able to do what she just did," Rose says in awe. "She's amazing. This… this must be the feeling you had during the Noble Trials, Ortis."
Ortis turns to her with a smile. "You're finally feeling it now?!"
"The feeling of hope," Rose replies softly, eyes fixed on Gaia.
Back at the forest, Gaia lands hard as the Robotic Dragon roars and rises. Suddenly, its wings detach from its body, reshaping themselves into dozens of smaller robotic dragons, each roughly the size of a human. The swarm rushes Gaia, detonating around her mecha with fierce explosions.
Gaia shouts while shielding herself from the blasts. "This one's a lot smarter than it looks!"
She swings her fists rapidly, shattering the robotic swarm with precision and brute force. But while she's held down by the smaller dragons, the main Robotic Dragon charges straight toward Taeo City.
Rose and Ortis fall back in shock as the dragon crashes against the barrier near their gate. It opens its mouth and bites into the barrier, its fangs beginning to drain the energy from the protective shield.
Hopper, then takes off running. "Be ready for anything!" he yells. "We fight for Lady Gaia!"
He leaps into a nearby tank, speeds past the gates, and aims the cannon at the dragon. The section of the barrier under attack begins to crack—then shatters, leaving a gaping hole. The dragon pushes its head through, and Hopper fires.
The explosion hits the dragon square in the head—but it barely flinches. Energy begins to glow in its throat as it charges a massive energy ball.
Ortis stares in horror. "With that amount of power… we're dead!"
"Don't give up yet!" Rose yells. "It's finally done recharging!"
Ortis turns and sees Rose standing on the machine, her hands on the controls. She aims the barrel toward the dragon and fires. A colossal laser blasts into the dragon's head, erupting in a huge explosion. The shockwave sends Hopper's tank flying, and the dragon's attack fizzles out mid-charge.
Suddenly, Gaia appears again—she grabs the dragon by the tail and hurls it back into the forest.
Ortis looks toward the barrier hole, confused. "Why isn't the barrier healing?"
Rose moves closer, inspecting the edges. Her eyes widen. "That dragon's attack… it's like a virus. Its energy is eating away at the barrier faster than it can regenerate."
Just then, Hopper jumps from the wrecked tank, rifle in hand. "Don't relax now!" he shouts. "We got more incoming!"
They all turn as the swarm of smaller dragons begins flooding through the hole. Hopper fires, downing several in quick succession before yelling into his comms for backup. City soldiers rush in, opening fire on the invading dragons.
Amid the chaos, Hopper draws a knife and starts slashing through the robotic dragons in the streets. Explosions erupt around him as the swarm spreads through the city, killing soldiers, toppling cars, and ripping into buildings.
Rose fires another laser into the swarm of dragons flooding the city streets, triggering a series of explosions that tear through the air. Ortis activates a device on his wrist, deploying a glowing energy shield that blocks incoming blasts. With his other hand, he fires his pistol, taking down a few dragons as they rush toward him.
He grits his teeth, struggling to hold his ground. Ahead, he sees Hopper get struck by a dragon's claw, the impact hurling him across the street and slamming him into a car. Around them, chaos reigns—soldiers are being overwhelmed, some devoured by the relentless machines.
Suddenly, a fireball strikes Ortis in the back, blasting him off his feet. He crashes beside Rose and winces as he looks up, seeing the dragons tearing apart the machine she had just been using.
Rose slashes through several dragons with her blade, panting heavily but refusing to back down. The battle looks hopeless, but she fights on with unwavering resolve.
Ortis looks to the sky. Above them, dragons swarm like a stormcloud, explosions illuminating the sky—but then something changes. A powerful force pushes back the swarm. Hundreds of lasers rain down, tearing through the dragons mid-flight, triggering wave after wave of blasts.
He slowly sits up, eyes wide as he spots a mecha soaring through the city. It's Gilga—his mecha now upgraded, sleeker, faster, more powerful. Lasers blaze from every direction as Gilga dashes through the city, slicing through the dragons with surgical precision and raw power.
Ortis gasps as a laser streaks toward him and Rose. It detonates on impact—but they're left untouched.
They blink, stunned.
"What?!" Rose exclaims. "Gilga's mecha… it's different—no way! He's gained more power and somehow convert his systems to avoid friendly fire. He's the number one noble for a reason!"
Gilga's upgraded machine continues its rampage, clearing the streets and skies, shifting the tide of the battle.
Gilga lands beside the nearly destroyed defensive machine. With a simple wave of his hand, the machine dissolves into shimmering digital pixels, which flow into his mecha like a stream of data. A glowing aura of energy forms around his suit—then rapidly expands outward.
Suddenly, beams of light begin firing from thin air within the radius of this digital aura, striking down dragons across the city at an insane pace. Streets once overwhelmed with chaos are now lit by the strobing flashes of destruction.
Rose watches in awe. "I get it now… He's been merging the city's defensive machines with his mecha. That's what's boosting his power—but it's more than that."
She squints up at the glowing radius surrounding Gilga.
"He has radius of data conversion around him. That's how he's creating those lasers without even firing from his mecha. Impressive, Gilga Rubyfire!"
Within moments, Gilga wipes out most of the remaining dragons. However, a small group—a dozen or so—survive the onslaught and crash directly into the capital building. They tear through its structure, digging deep into the foundation.
Underground, they discover the city's massive energy core. With mechanical precision, they bite into the glowing core of Taeo City. Their bodies begin to pulse with waves of blue energy, the core's power feeding directly into them.
Meanwhile, in the digital realm, Taeo works furiously. Thousands of glowing screens stretch across the endless void—each one filled with blueprints, schematics, and prototypes of intricate machines.
Taeo wears a sleek, glowing helmet that links directly to his brain, allowing him to think at unimaginable speed. From the helmet, streams of magical threads burst outward, forming dozens of digital hands that type furiously across holographic keyboards. Other hands craft digital metal parts, gather floating resources, and assemble them inside conjured machines, each piece forged and fit together with precision.
Floating magic eyes, born from the same threads, monitor the entire operation. One of these eyes pauses as it focuses on a screen displaying the robotic dragons tearing into the energy core of Taeo City.
Taeo narrows his eyes.
"It seems they couldn't handle the second wave of doom on their own," he mutters. "Oh well… It'll only delay the grand plan by a couple of hours."
A thread shoots out from his helmet, slicing through the fabric of the digital realm. It opens a glowing portal that tears into the real world.
Dozens of magical hands surge through the breach, carrying crystallized data resources. As they reach the dragons feeding on the energy core, the resources morph into glowing spears. With synchronized precision, the hands hurl the spears—each strike piercing through a dragon.
One by one, the robotic dragons drop and explode.
But one dragon—its body pulsing with absorbed energy—dodges an incoming strike. It spins, flaring its wings, and rockets out of the capital's ruins.
Gilga spots the escaping dragon and unleashes a barrage of hundreds of lasers.
"Not on my watch!" he shouts.
But the glowing dragon weaves between every beam with uncanny speed and escapes the city's borders slipping through the hole in the barrier.
Near the forest, Gaia stands with her mecha foot pinning down the main Robotic Dragon, its metallic body writhing beneath her mecha.
The pinned dragon lets out a mechanical roar of pain—just as the glowing escapee arrives and slams into it, merging with the larger dragon.
Energy pulses violently from the fusion.
An immense explosion blasts through the forest, sending Gaia's mecha flying backwards as it crashes through the trees. Inside the cockpit, alarms blare. Gaia grits her teeth.
"Damn it… It managed to take a part of the city's power!"
She grips the levers tightly, forcing her mecha back to its feet.
Before her, the Robotic Dragon rises—now reborn. Its new wings are larger, sleeker, and etched with glowing veins of energy. Its entire frame has evolved, more powerful than ever before.
Gaia's eyes narrow.
"This just got a lot harder…"