Mumduos finishes forcing his way through the tear, and his form swells into a vast, ugly-white demon with broad wings and jagged horned flesh. The basalt buckles under his weight, but the mountain holds. He spits a glare at the Obsidian Dragon, then fixes on Huarti.

His first fireballs snap out low and fast, cheap enough to flood the chamber. They scorch the air toward Huarti, meant to keep him busy and off-balance while Mumduos presses the claim deeper into Merllin's heart.

Huarti steps into the heat instead of retreating, his red presence thinning as he slows and steadies. The nearest fireballs slide past his shoulder and burst against the basalt behind him, while his clawed hand gathers a red crackle low and ready. The mountain's black-red seam flickers, waiting for the next command.

Huarti exhales a slow cloud of green and purple devil-fumes, and the air around Mumduos turns wrong. The demon’s next spell stutters at the lips of its hands.

The fog curls into Mumduos’ eyes and nostrils, making his wingbeats jerk unevenly. A fireball snaps sideways and splashes against the torn portal instead of the floor.

Mumduos snarls and tries to force another casting, but the fumes crowd his focus. The black-red seam in the basalt flashes, answering the disturbance with a sharp, uncertain pulse.

Huarti holds the exhalation steady, and Mumduos reels back from the chamber’s center, coughing smoke and miscast heat. The barrage falters as the mountain’s pulse steadies under Huarti’s pressure.