Meanwhile, Ethan gathered energy.
The flame began to spiral around the staff.
The air heated drastically.
With every breath he exhaled, tiny sparks formed.
Emanueru watched with concern — he didn't know the cost of that spell.
Ethan maintained absolute focus.
"Keep holding him."
The others nodded, eyes never leaving the enemy.
The monster sensed the danger.
Baron Guld turned sharply toward Ethan.
"THAT FLAME… IT'S DANGEROUS!"
He raised his arm to advance.
Marcus struck the joint of the right leg.
Elenya fired another arrow, diverting the monster's attention for half a second.
Sienna summoned yet another wolf — larger, heavier — to pull the other arm back.
For a very brief moment, Guld's advance was halted.
It was all Ethan needed.
The staff trembled.
The wind spun into a spiral.
The accumulated energy reached its limit.
Ethan raised the staff with both hands — focused, steady, breathing deeply.
"Get back."
The group retreated immediately, without hesitation.
The air cracked.
The energy expanded.
IGNIS BLAKE: TYPHOON.
A hurricane took shape in a single motion, advancing like an unstoppable wall of wind.
Guld tried to resist.
Tried to dig his feet in.
Tried to grab the ground.
But the gold that made up his body began to crack and shatter into fine particles.
His scream was swallowed by the luminous spiral.
Until nothing remained.
When the hurricane dissipated, Ethan collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily — nearly unconscious.
Sienna grabbed his arm, steadying him.
"Don't even think about passing out now. I still want to see your face when people realize you literally burned the entire city's fortune."
She gave his arm a final pat.
"Come on. Stay alive. We still need you."
Ethan nodded, forcing himself upright.
Jay retrieved his shield.
Elenya lowered her bow.
Marcus sheathed his sword in a purely automatic motion.
The silence of the plaza was profound…
Then something hit the golden ground with a dull sound.
Ethan reached out.
FRAGMENT — (3/7)
He closed his hand around the fragment and stood up.
"Let's move on," he said firmly. "This isn't over yet."
The group reorganized without argument.
The battle was over.
The mission was not.
After that, the gold began to lose its shine.
First on the walls.
Then on the streets.
Then in the people's hands.
The entire city seemed to breathe for the first time since it had been corrupted.
And then the effect faded.
Jewels turned to glass.
Bars crumbled into dust.
Necklaces broke apart into worthless beads.
People stared at their own hands, confused, like someone waking from a trance that had lasted far too long.
Then the first scream cut through the air.
"MOM!"
The boy — the same one who had been traded for a crown — ran through the street, stumbling over his own steps.
His voice broke, but he didn't stop.
The woman who had given him away was on her knees, clutching her face, crying as if she had awakened from a nightmare.
When the boy reached her, she grabbed him with desperate strength.
"Forgive me… forgive me… what did I do to you?"
"Mom… I'm here… I'm here…"
Elenya couldn't look away.
The sound — the crying, the relief, the desperation — tightened her throat brutally.
She took a deep breath, but her voice still faltered.
"They're… finally seeing what matters."
More residents began to embrace.
Families who had sold themselves for fake coins.
Couples who had traded love for shiny objects.
Friends who had drifted apart because of greed.
Now they all cried, laughed, apologized.
The city that had once been gold… was now simply human again.
Elenya pressed a hand to her chest.
"It's so easy…" she murmured, "to lose what truly matters when you spend too much time staring at what you don't have."
Ethan looked at her, sensing the weight in the archer's voice.
"Does this remind you of something?"
She took a long moment to answer.
Her eyes were fixed on the mother holding her son as if he were the most valuable thing in the world.
"It reminds me of what happens…" she said at last, "when someone lets their own essence slip through their fingers. When you forget what can't be bought."
Sienna placed a hand on her shoulder — a rare gesture, silent and sincere.
Elenya closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply until she could steady herself again.
With the city restored, the residents offered shelter in the old reception hall — now without gold, without jewels, just simple beds and warm food.
Marcus flopped onto the first bed he found.
"I never thought I'd say this, but… resting on something without gold is a relief."
Jay chuckled softly.
Emanueru sat near the window, watching the city light up with small handmade lanterns.
For the first time, there was calm.
Ethan was far too exhausted to pretend control.
Sienna insisted he eat something and sleep — and for the first time, he didn't argue.
Elenya lingered last, standing by the door, watching the city that had once revolted her.
People talked, embraced, returned objects they had traded unjustly, helped one another rebuild what had been destroyed.
The archer let out a faint smile.
Small… but real.
"At least…" she murmured, "today, something truly changed."
Sienna appeared behind her.
"Are you coming in, or are you going to guard the city all night?"
Elenya breathed slowly, looking once more at the boy clinging to his mother.
"I just wanted to make sure… they wouldn't lose this again."
Sienna crossed her arms.
"If they do, we'll come back and fix it. Now get inside. You need sleep."
Elenya nodded.
She went in.
And for the first time in a long while…
…she felt that a broken world could, in fact, be repaired.
The group rested that night in an inn finally free of the excesses of greed.
For the first time since entering the Floors, they slept without worry.
When the sun rose, they departed.