After several days of preparations, Sylene dispatched all the teams on their missions. Atlatia, Heichell, Narasa, and Kairasu were sent to an enormous mountain north of the VR WORLD. The mountain soared to an astonishing height of 10,000 meters, and the four admins scaled it for several hours until they reached the very peak. However, upon arriving at the summit, the true destination still felt distant in their minds. Looking up, they noticed countless clouds forming steps leading into a clear blue sky.
Narasa exclaimed, "That damn Sylene didn't tell us this! I would have imagined that cursed portal was on top of the mountain, not somewhere up in the sky!"
Kairasu, behind her, retorted, "This isn't the time for complaints; we have a task to complete."
The four of them began to use the cloud-like platforms to ascend higher and higher. Each moved with lightning-fast bursts of speed, but Heichell lagged behind, arriving last at the top. The four reached the final cloud platform and found an enormous portal made of a grey material, constructed with an arched frame. The inside of the portal pulsed with an energy akin to wind.
Kairasu declared, "It's now or never!"
All four leaped into the massive portal and found themselves amidst an enormous floating island made of clouds. They couldn't fathom how high they had ascended, but it was certainly far above the mountain they had just climbed. The four admins explored the island but found nothing significant. There were only clouds that felt solid yet soft at the same time.
Suddenly, however, a powerful wind began to blow, converging at the center of the cloud island. An enormous sphere of azure light formed, blinding the four admins. When the intense light subsided and the four could see again, they all noticed a colossal figure in the middle of the island. Its skin had a bluish-grey hue, and it was gigantic and muscular, making the four admins look like ants. Its eyes had white sclera, azure irises, and black pupils. It possessed powerful musculature and had grey, disheveled hair. It wore nothing except a pair of grey briefs clinging to its body.
Immediately, the boss of the air emanated a tremendous wind, and the four admins assumed combat stances. Kairasu unsheathed her long yellow sword and stood ready, a potent yellow aura radiating from her. Atlatia gripped her two daggers and exuded a powerful azure aura. Heichell took a defensive stance, prepared to heal anyone who needed it. Narasa unleashed a potent violet aura, and a violet miasma began to form in her hands.
All three were ready, and Atlatia and Kairasu immediately attacked the boss with rapid slashes, moving with lightning speed. But the boss, despite its immense size, was not slow and with a backhand strike managed to hit Atlatia, who was sent flying but landed on her feet. Instantly, Narasa dashed close to the boss and, with another swift movement, bypassed it to create a vast expanse of violet threads around the boss. When it moved, all the cords exploded in an enormous cloud of violet poison. However, the boss, using the air currents, swept away the poison and struck Narasa with a massive slap that sent her crashing to the ground.
The boss attempted to strike Narasa with a devastating punch, but Kairasu intervened and parried the enormous fist, momentarily stopping the boss. Kairasu yelled, "Heichell, heal her!" Heichell, with his innate healing ability, slowly mended Narasa. From behind the boss, Atlatia arrived, filling the boss's back with a myriad of slashes. The boss roared and suddenly rose, creating air currents that scattered the four admins to different parts of the island. Then the boss repositioned itself and dashed in front of Narasa. It charged its right fist with an enormous azure aura, forming a sphere of energy around its fist, and unleashed the powerful punch. Heichell, Kairasu, and Atlatia were too far away to help, but Narasa declared, "Admin mode, install: Venom of the Ten Serpents!" Narasa's entire body turned violet, as did her eyes and hair. She immediately moved out of the path of the incoming fist and attacked the boss with a barrage of venomous explosions. But the boss's wind power rendered the poison ineffective, and the boss swiftly moved to Narasa's side and this time managed to strike her with a powerful punch that sent her crashing to the ground with such force that her body exploded and she died.
Atlatia, Kairasu, and Heichell were shocked by the boss's power, which didn't even give them time to mourn their fallen friend before the boss began to create countless wind currents around itself, sharp as blades. Kairasu and Atlatia managed to dodge the deadly currents, but Heichell was not fast enough to defend himself. He activated his admin mode, install: Shield of Saint Patrick, which created a barrier of green energy around him. Unfortunately, the air currents were so powerful that they sliced through Heichell's barrier, and he was torn to pieces by the currents.
Only Kairasu and Atlatia remained on the battlefield. They resumed their combat stances and immediately attacked the boss with rapid slashes from every direction. As they attacked, the two admins noticed something golden and shining in the boss's chest—it was one of the three keys to finding the Sphere of Fate! The air boss slammed a powerful fist into the cloud floor, and a huge cloud of dust rose. Atlatia and Kairasu emerged unscathed and took their fighting stances.
Kairasu declared, "Admin mode, install: Sun Blade!" Kairasu's entire body emanated a potent yellow aura, as did her sword. Kairasu took her stance.
Atlatia announced, "Admin mode, install: Soul Chain!" Atlatia released a powerful azure aura, and two wings of pink energy formed behind her back. Atlatia assumed her combat pose.
Immediately, Kairasu made a lightning-fast dash and attacked the boss with a powerful diagonal slash that emitted a potent yellow flame. The heat of her flames was comparable to the sun's. The boss staggered back, and Atlatia created countless chains from her right hand that ensnared the boss's legs, causing it to fall backward. However, it maintained its footing by planting its left leg back and created a gust of sharp wind. Atlatia and Kairasu easily dodged the cutting wind, and Kairasu, with a solar slash, struck the boss's throat. Then, Kairasu and Atlatia attacked it with rapid slashes. Kairasu generated numerous slashes of yellow flames as hot as the sun, and Atlatia assaulted the boss with myriads of chains tipped with daggers that emitted an azure and pink aura. The boss was overwhelmed by the speed and power of their attacks and was taking more and more damage. Then, Kairasu and Atlatia, seizing a moment of the boss's distraction, charged their most powerful strikes.
Kairasu yelled, "Solar Storm!" and unleashed an enormous slash of yellow flames as hot as the sun.
Meanwhile, Atlatia shouted, "Destructive Chain!" and created a huge azure magic circle from which emerged an enormous chain with a massive spearhead. The two powerful attacks struck the boss's chest, creating a massive explosion of light. The boss roared inhumanly and fell to the ground. It began to dissipate due to the excessive injuries it had sustained, and only a golden key remained, which Atlatia picked up. The first key had been obtained!
Atlatia and Kairasu had won, but from above, three individuals descended and landed in front of the two admins. They were three figures: one with long white hair, grey eyes, and a confident smile; another with blue hair and black eyes, wearing a serious expression; and the last with short, red hair and orange eyes, who didn't even seem interested in Kairasu and Atlatia. All three were dressed in black leather outfits.
The white-haired man said, "I am Bermar, one of the hunters of the great Sayler. The key you took rightfully belongs to him. You admins have no purpose in the world Sayler wants to create."
Kairasu retorted, "What you have done is unforgivable! You have destroyed a beautiful game like the VR WORLD for your own selfish purposes! If Sayler wants to create a new world with the Sphere of Fate, then it is our duty as admins to stop you!"
The blue-haired hunter said, "I am Anlen, and my red-haired friend here is Fred. Our task is to steal the key from you."
Fred added, "We were hoping to kill the boss before you, but you beat us to it. Now it's time for you to be eliminated from this world as well!"
Bermar stepped in front of Atlatia and said with a laugh, "It's time for some fun, missy."
Atlatia, looking at him sternly, replied, "We may have just finished a tough fight, but we are not weak!"
Fred and Anlen moved in front of Kairasu, and Anlen said, "You certainly won't be weak, but neither are we!"
Everyone assumed a combat stance. Atlatia stood before Bermar, who emanated a very powerful violet aura all over his body and declared, "This power was bestowed upon us by the great Sayler. Without him, we would have remained nobodies."
Atlatia countered, "That's not how you become a better person. You have destroyed everything beautiful and created only destruction and desolation. As an admin, I cannot accept that you accept all this, and as a person, I cannot stand by and watch!"
Both took their fighting stances. Atlatia still had her admin mode instal active and immediately made a lightning-fast dash, attempting to strike Bermar with a slash of her daggers. But Bermar created a sword of violet energy in his right hand and parried the blow. Atlatia used the chain connecting her other dagger to try and strike Bermar with an upward slash, but the hunter, with his free hand, created a sphere of violet energy and hurled it at Atlatia at close range. Instantly, the admin made a swift move and dodged the sphere, which destroyed everything in its path, creating a small crater in the cloud island. Atlatia created an azure magic circle from her right hand, and countless chains with dagger blades at their tips emerged, attacking Bermar head-on. He remained unfazed and smiled confidently, snapping his fingers to create countless spheres of violet energy equal to the chains, which intercepted and destroyed them. Atlatia grasped the chain with both daggers and began to rotate it with the right dagger attached at an enormous speed.
Bermar announced, "My power is called Hollow Purple. I can create spheres of violet energy at will, and I can manipulate this violet energy to enhance myself!"
Suddenly, Atlatia moved with incredible speed to Bermar's side and attempted to strike him, but he created a vortex of violet spheres around himself, leaving no space for Atlatia to hit him. Then, Bermar unleashed a massive slash of violet energy with his sword against Atlatia, who countered with a beam of pink energy. The two attacks collided, creating an explosion, and Atlatia used the smoke to try and strike Bermar from behind. But what she hit was only a violet energy hologram, and beside her, Bermar was charging a tiny sphere of violet energy between his index and middle fingers.
Bermar uttered, "Purple!" and launched an enormous sphere of violet energy at an extremely high speed towards Atlatia, hitting her squarely. Bermar thought he had won and smiled maniacally when a dagger pierced his right shoulder, embedding itself. Atlatia was wounded but not defeated, and she made a supersonic dash in front of Bermar and with a rapid flurry of stabs struck his throat, chest, and finally his left leg. Everything happened in a fraction of a second. Bermar collapsed to the ground, and Atlatia stood watching him disappear into pixels. Atlatia had won and still held the key in her hand.
Kairasu stood before Fred and Anlen. The admin still had her active admin mode instal, which emanated an enormous heat. Immediately, without a word, all three took their stances. Anlen unleashed an enormous yellow electric aura from his entire body and stood ready, saying, "My power is called 'Lightning Bolt,' and it allows me to manipulate electricity!" Fred emanated a potent azure aura from his body and declared, "My power is called 'Blades of Death,' and it allows me to create energy blades." All three were ready to fight, and immediately Anlen made a lightning-fast dash to Kairasu's side and attempted to strike her with a powerful electric punch, but Kairasu parried with the flat of her sword. The contact of Anlen's skin with Kairasu's sword caused Anlen to feel an immense heat, and he immediately withdrew his hand, which had been burned. Kairasu instantly created a horizontal slash of yellow flames. The two hunters dodged immediately, but their clothes almost caught fire from the immense heat. Fred launched a white energy slash against Kairasu, who countered with another slash, cutting through the hunter's attack like butter. Caught off guard, Fred's right arm was struck, bursting into flames and being carbonized. From behind, Anlen attempted to strike Kairasu with another punch, but Kairasu with another slash severed Anlen's arm in two. Both hunters were no match for the admin, who said, "If you leave, abandoning the key, I will let you live." Both yelled, "Never!" And then Kairasu said, "You are the architects of your own destiny." After saying this, Kairasu decapitated both Anlen and Fred with a single slash, killing them and allowing their bodies to disappear into pixels.
Kairasu and Atlatia rejoined, and Atlatia said, "You're truly strong, Kairasu! Your admin mode instal is perhaps one of the most dangerous."
Kairasu smiled and replied, "You were also good. Don't think you're weak just because of my power."
Atlatia smiled and said, "Alright, now let's take the key to Sylene."