After securing the safety of everyone outside the manor, Henry stood silently for a moment.
The unconscious adventurers, mercenaries, soldiers, shadow guards, Irene, and Irwin were all being carried away by his golems. Night stood guard beside them like a black sentinel.
The evacuation was complete.
Now there was only one thing left to do.
Stop whatever the minister was planning.
Henry turned toward the dark silhouette of Manan's Manor.
The wind carried with it the smell of damp stone and demonic miasma.
The manor stood silent.
Almost too silent.
Like a beast waiting with its mouth open.
Henry tightened his grip around his sword and stepped forward.
His boots echoed through the empty halls.
Every corridor felt familiar.
He had once repaired parts of this manor.
He knew many of its passages.
Yet now everything felt different.
Cold.
Hostile.
Dead.
He passed through broken hallways and collapsed rooms before arriving once again at the chamber containing the massive cannon.
The gigantic weapon continued to absorb mana from the surroundings.
The faint glow along its body had become brighter.
Its gears turned slowly.
A deep humming sound resonated throughout the manor.
The machine was waking up.
Henry's instincts screamed at him to hurry.
He rushed past the cannon chamber and headed deeper into the manor.
Then he stopped.
Someone stood in his path.
A lone figure emerged from the shadows.
The same man who had released the sleeping smoke.
The same man who had accompanied Kar and the minister.
His body emitted dark miasma just like Kar's.
The energy seeped from his skin and drifted around him like black mist.
Henry immediately understood.
This man was another survivor of the demonification experiments.
Another victim.
Another monster created by human greed.
The man slowly raised his weapon.
A long chain.
At both ends were crescent-shaped blades.
The metal reflected the dim light of the hallway.
An assassin's weapon.
Difficult to use.
Deadly in skilled hands.
The man swung the chain.
The weapon moved like a living creature.
It twisted around his body like a serpent protecting its master.
Then it shot forward.
Henry barely managed to dodge.
The blade struck the stone wall.
The impact shattered bricks and left a deep groove.
Fast.
Far faster than ordinary fighters.
The chain spun again.
It came from another angle.
Henry blocked with his sword.
Sparks erupted.
The force pushed him backward.
Again.
And again.
The assassin gave him no room to breathe.
The chain danced through the air.
Every movement flowed seamlessly into the next.
The weapon seemed to have become part of his body.
Henry found himself being pushed back.
The man showed no emotion.
No hesitation.
Only killing intent.
Then Henry saw an opening.
The chain came flying toward him.
Instead of dodging, Henry raised his left arm.
The blade wrapped around his bionic arm.
The metal teeth dug into the reinforced surface.
And stuck.
The assassin's eyes widened.
Henry immediately charged forward.
Closing the distance.
The man's weapon was trapped.
For the first time, Henry had the advantage.
Or so he thought.
The assassin instantly released the chain.
Without hesitation.
Without panic.
Two swords appeared in his hands.
Like a snake shedding its skin.
His style changed completely.
The assassin rushed forward.
The twin blades flashed.
Henry blocked one strike.
Then another.
Then a third.
The man moved unpredictably.
Every attack targeted a vital point.
Neck.
Heart.
Joints.
Eyes.
The battle became a whirlwind of steel.
Neither side gave ground.
Neither side showed weakness.
Minutes felt like hours.
Then Henry gathered all his strength into one strike.
His sword descended with overwhelming force.
The assassin crossed his twin blades.
Too late.
CRACK.
Both swords shattered.
Fragments scattered across the hallway.
The assassin stumbled.
Then drew a final weapon.
A short dagger.
Henry immediately advanced.
One step.
Two steps.
The assassin suddenly lunged.
The dagger disappeared.
Then pain exploded in Henry's abdomen.
Henry looked down.
The blade was buried in his stomach.
Blood stained his clothes.
The assassin withdrew instantly and retreated.
Waiting.
Watching.
Expecting Henry to fall.
Instead Henry gritted his teeth.
The pain was terrible.
But manageable.
Compared to everything he had survived before, this was not enough.
Blood dripped onto the floor.
Henry slowly straightened himself.
"What other tricks do you have?"
A grin appeared on his face.
For the first time uncertainty appeared in the assassin's eyes.
The man rushed forward barehanded.
Perhaps hoping Henry had weakened.
But Henry was ready.
His sword flashed.
The assassin never saw the strike.
The blade cut through him.
His body collapsed heavily onto the stone floor.
Silence returned.
Henry grabbed the cloak of the fallen assassin and tied it tightly around his wound.
The bleeding slowed.
Not enough.
But enough to keep moving.
There was no time.
The manor trembled.
The cannon's humming had become louder.
Henry continued deeper.
At last he reached a massive metal door.
The control room.
He pushed it open.
The sight inside made him freeze.
Kar stood waiting.
As if he had expected Henry to arrive.
Behind him stood the minister.
Beside the control console was another man operating the machine.
The giant mechanisms surrounding the room rotated continuously.
Mana flowed through enormous Melarium channels.
The weapon was nearly active.
"So you came."
Kar smiled.
Henry raised his sword.
"No more running."
The battle began instantly.
Kar was stronger than before.
His demonic energy surged throughout the room.
Their blades collided.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every strike shook the chamber.
Henry attacked relentlessly.
Yet he couldn't land a clean hit.
Kar moved like a beast.
Fast.
Powerful.
Unpredictable.
Meanwhile the minister turned toward the operator.
"Can it fire?"
The man examined the readings.
Then nodded.
"It can."
The minister laughed.
Years.
Decades.
His life's work was finally before him.
The machine awakened.
The cannon chamber below roared.
Mana poured into the weapon.
The Melarium glowed white-hot.
The air itself began to distort.
But suddenly alarms erupted throughout the facility.
Warning lights flashed red.
The operator's expression changed.
His face turned pale.
"No..."
"What is it?" demanded the minister.
"The system is unstable."
The operator hurriedly checked the controls.
His hands trembled.
"The blueprint is incomplete."
The First Elder and Eighth Elder had restored much of the ancient design.
But not everything.
Some portions had never been understood.
The original weapon had never truly been rebuilt.
Only approximated.
Only guessed.
Manan had known this.
He understood that the machine could never safely fire.
So he altered it.
A doomsday device.
If demons ever crossed the Great Gap and humanity fell, the weapon could be used to deny the world to them.
Not a cannon.
A bomb.
The mana density continued rising.
Walls began cracking.
The floor shook violently.
The operator backed away.
"We have to leave!"
The minister stared at the machine.
His life's obsession.
His dream.
His purpose.
"No."
The operator fled.
He chose survival.
Now only three remained.
Henry.
Kar.
The minister.
The manor groaned.
Stone fell from the ceiling.
Mana condensed around them.
Breathing became difficult.
Yet the battle continued.
Henry and Kar exchanged strike after strike.
Neither yielded.
Then finally—
A mistake.
A small opening.
Kar had grown slower.
His wounds had accumulated.
His demonic body was reaching its limit.
Henry's sword struck.
For the first time.
Blood sprayed.
Kar staggered.
The battle turned.
Another strike.
Another wound.
Then the final blow.
Kar dropped to one knee.
His sword slipped from his grasp.
The room trembled violently.
Death approached.
For both the manor and its occupants.
Henry slowly walked toward him.
Exhausted.
Bleeding.
Barely standing.
Kar laughed weakly.
"So this is how it ends."
For the first time he spoke not as an enemy.
But as a man.
He spoke of the past.
Of loyalty.
Of war.
Of comrades.
Of King Dan's father.
Of the demonification project.
A project intended to create warriors powerful enough to protect humanity.
Thousands volunteered.
Thousands died.
Only a handful survived.
Kar had been one of them.
The king who came before believed any sacrifice was acceptable if it ensured humanity's survival.
When King Dan learned of the experiments after taking the throne, he immediately shut them down.
To him, such sacrifices were unacceptable.
But not everyone agreed.
The minister had served the previous king faithfully.
To him the project represented hope.
Duty.
The future.
He refused to let it disappear.
At first his loyalty drove him.
Then obsession replaced loyalty.
Then greed replaced obsession.
Years of exposure to demonic energy twisted his mind.
His noble intentions rotted.
He became the very thing he once sought to destroy.
Kar and the remaining survivors became his tools.
His weapons.
The attack during the Open Clash had merely been a test.
A demonstration.
A message.
The beginning of their return.
Kar smiled bitterly.
"You think you've stopped us?"
His blood stained the floor.
"There are thousands more."
Henry stared at him.
Expressionless.
"Have you finished talking?"
Kar laughed.
A final laugh.
Then Henry raised his sword.
One clean strike.
The blade descended.
Kar's head separated from his body.
The former commander collapsed.
The last of his loyalty, regrets, and burdens vanished with him.
The room fell silent.
Only Henry and the minister remained.
And beneath them, the unstable weapon continued its countdown toward destruction.