Dusk bled across the ruins of Eldross like a dying wound.
The city, once proud and alive, now stood broken beneath a sky painted in violent shades of orange and violet. Wind howled through shattered towers and hollow streets, carrying with it the scent of ash, blood, and something older—something watching.
At the crossroads, they split.
Not as a group.
Not as a team.
As pieces of a single plan that would either save the world… or end it.
Reider didn't waste time with speeches. He never did.
He simply looked at Eryndra.
"You and me. We draw them out. No hesitation. No mercy."
There was no emotion in his voice—just intent. Cold. Precise. Absolute.
Eryndra grinned like a predator finally unleashed. Flames curled around her fingers, alive, eager.
"Finally," she muttered. "I was starting to think you'd gone soft."
Reider didn't respond. He had already turned.
Toward Vael.
Toward Mei.
"The Forge is beneath the old palace," he said. "The shard will guide you. Don't stop. Don't slow down. Whatever gets in your way—remove it."
Vael's arms were crossed, her expression unreadable, but the faint glow beneath her skin betrayed something deeper.
Fear.
Not of death.
Of what she might become.
"And if I don't come back?" she asked quietly.
Reider didn't hesitate.
"Then we drag you back."
That earned the faintest twitch of her lips.
"Brat."
Mei stepped forward, her hand brushing against Reider's arm—soft, grounding.
"Be careful," she said.
He placed his hand over hers for just a second.
"You too."
Eryndra groaned loudly behind them.
"Alright, enough of that. This isn't a farewell party."
Reider moved first.
He vanished.
A blur.
A distortion in the air.
Eryndra followed a heartbeat later, launching herself onto the rooftops in an explosion of fire that lit the fading sky.
And just like that—
The war began.
—
The courtyard trembled under impact.
Stone cracked.
Fire roared.
Darkness twisted.
Eryndra moved like a storm given form—flames spiraling around her body, every strike explosive, every movement reckless and precise at the same time. She didn't fight carefully.
She fought like she intended to burn the world down.
And Lilith—
Lilith smiled.
Even as fire consumed her robes.
Even as her skin blistered and healed in the same breath.
"You think a little fire is enough to break me?" she said, her voice smooth despite the chaos.
Dark energy surged around her body, repairing, reinforcing, evolving.
"I've survived centuries," she continued. "Outlived gods."
Her eyes locked onto Eryndra.
"What are you?"
Eryndra didn't slow.
Didn't hesitate.
Fire wrapped around her arms like serpents ready to strike.
"I'm the one shutting you up."
She lunged.
The collision that followed shattered the ground beneath them.
—
Across the courtyard—
Reider bled.
Kraggor towered over him, monstrous now—his body swelling, veins pulsing with something deeper than rage.
Wrath.
Pure.
Endless.
"You took my eye," Kraggor growled, his voice no longer fully his own.
"Now I take your life."
He charged.
The ground cracked beneath each step.
Reider didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
His weapon shifted mid-motion—steel folding, reforming—becoming a spear in his grip.
Kraggor swung.
Reider ducked.
Struck.
The spear drove into Kraggor's side with precision—
But it didn't matter.
Kraggor grabbed the shaft and snapped it like dry wood.
Reider was already gone.
Already reforming his weapon mid-air.
Already thinking.
He's adapting.
Stronger with damage.
Faster with rage.
Good.
That made him predictable.
Kraggor roared and charged again—
And this time—
Reider wasn't fast enough.
The impact was brutal.
A fist like a falling mountain slammed into his chest.
Something cracked.
Air left his lungs.
The world blurred as he was sent crashing through stone and dust.
He hit hard.
Hard enough that the ground cratered beneath him.
Kraggor stepped forward slowly, blood dripping, breathing heavy.
"Get up," he growled.
Reider did.
Not because he was unhurt.
But because he refused to stay down.
Blood ran from his mouth.
His ribs screamed with every breath.
But his eyes—
His eyes were calm.
"You're strong," he said.
Kraggor sneered.
Reider spat blood to the side.
"But you're sloppy."
That was enough.
Kraggor snapped.
And that was exactly what Reider wanted.
—
Elsewhere—
Deep beneath the ruined palace—
Silence ruled.
Vael and Mei moved through ancient corridors carved before history had a name. The walls pulsed faintly with something old—something aware.
The shard in Vael's hand glowed brighter with every step.
"We're close," she said.
Mei didn't answer immediately.
Her eyes moved constantly.
Watching.
Listening.
Feeling.
"It's… heavy," she whispered. "Like the air itself is alive."
Vael didn't deny it.
She felt it too.
The weight of something ancient pressing down on them.
Waiting.
Judging.
They reached the door.
Massive.
Stone.
Old enough to have forgotten time.
Vael pushed it open.
Slowly.
The chamber beyond was vast.
Circular.
Silent.
At its center—
The artifact.
It hovered above a pedestal of white stone, pulsing with light—silver and gold intertwining like veins beneath skin.
It wasn't just glowing.
It was breathing.
Mei stopped.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"That's it…"
Vael didn't move immediately.
Instead—
She looked at Mei.
"Before you touch it…"
Her voice was quieter now.
"Are you ready?"
Mei's hands trembled.
Her eyes locked onto the artifact.
"I… don't know."
Vael exhaled.
Then leaned casually against a nearby pillar.
"Good. Then we talk."
Mei blinked.
"What?"
"Because once you touch that thing," Vael said, "there's no going back."
And that's when it came out.
Not fear of power.
Not fear of death.
Something smaller.
More human.
"What if…" Mei hesitated.
Then forced it out.
"What if he doesn't need me anymore?"
Vael stared at her.
Flat.
Unimpressed.
"…You're an idiot."
Mei flinched.
"What?"
Vael pushed off the pillar and walked toward her, eyes sharp.
"You think he cares about you because you're weak?"
Mei didn't answer.
Didn't need to.
Vael already knew.
"That man," Vael continued, "doesn't care about power. He never has."
She stopped right in front of Mei.
"He cares about you because you made him laugh when he didn't know how."
Silence.
"Because you stayed when he had nothing."
Mei's eyes trembled.
Vael's voice softened—but only slightly.
"You think he needs me because I'm strong?"
A pause.
"Or Eryndra because she burns hotter than everyone else?"
She shook her head.
"No. He needs us because we're his."
Her hand landed on Mei's shoulder.
"And he's ours."
Mei swallowed hard.
"But what if I change?"
Vael didn't hesitate.
"Then we drag you back."
Simple.
Certain.
Final.
That broke something in Mei.
Not in a bad way.
The fear.
The doubt.
It cracked.
And something steadier took its place.
A breath.
Deep.
Steady.
"…Okay."
She stepped forward.
Toward the artifact.
Vael watched her go.
Arms crossed.
Eyes softer than usual.
Don't break.
—
Back in the courtyard—
Everything was breaking.
Eryndra was on her knees.
Blood ran down her face.
Her flames flickered.
Not gone.
But weaker.
Lilith stood over her, unscathed once more.
"You're burning out," Lilith said.
Eryndra laughed weakly.
"I've got… more."
Lilith tilted her head.
"Do you?"
Then she moved.
Fast.
Faster than before.
Her hand closed around Eryndra's throat.
Lifted her.
Effortless.
"Pride," Lilith whispered, "is my sin."
Dark energy surged.
"And you've been feeding it."
Eryndra's eyes widened slightly.
Not fear.
Realization.
"…No."
Lilith smiled.
"Every doubt you had. Every moment you wondered if you were enough…"
Her grip tightened.
"That was mine."
Eryndra's flames sputtered.
Air.
She needed air—
Lilith slammed her into the ground.
Hard.
Stone cracked beneath the impact.
"You were never fighting me," Lilith said calmly.
"You were fighting yourself."
Silence.
Then—
Movement.
Eryndra pushed herself up.
Slowly.
Shaking.
Bleeding.
Smiling.
"Then I'll change the game."
And somewhere—
Not far away—
Reider heard that.
And smiled too.
Because things were finally getting interesting.