Hanz and TaiKhan ran as though the world itself was trying to crush them beneath its dying weight.
Crimson Reach had become an endless maze of fire, ruin, and screaming stone. Holy slashes rained down from the heavens in blazing arcs, carving molten scars through streets that no longer resembled streets at all. Buildings groaned like wounded giants before collapsing into clouds of ash and flame. Shockwaves rolled across the city every few seconds, violent enough to crack walls apart and throw debris through the air like shrapnel.
TaiKhan's legs burned with unbearable exhaustion, but he forced himself forward anyway.
Lir hung limply across his shoulders, frighteningly still except for the faint rise and fall of his breathing. Every stumble sent panic shooting through TaiKhan's chest. Miko whimpered constantly behind Hanz, clutching his broken arm against his chest while trying desperately not to scream. Renn looked barely conscious, blood drying across his pale face as Hanz carried him alongside Miko with grim determination.
"Keep moving!" Hanz shouted over the roar of destruction. "The shelter's close! Past the old market square!"
A divine beam slammed into a building to their left.
The explosion tore the structure apart instantly. Stone and molten debris rained across the street like a storm of knives. TaiKhan twisted instinctively, shielding Lir with his own body as jagged fragments ripped into his back and shoulders. Pain exploded across him, but he never slowed down.
Another shockwave struck from behind a moment later.
The force lifted all five of them off the ground before hurling them violently forward. TaiKhan hit the shattered street on his knees hard enough to skin them raw, barely managing to keep Lir from slipping off his shoulders.
"I… I can't do this anymore…" Miko sobbed weakly through clenched teeth. "It hurts too much…"
"You can," TaiKhan gasped, voice trembling from exhaustion and fear. "Just a little more. We're almost there. I swear we are."
They finally reached what remained of the old market square.
Most of it had been obliterated. Burned stalls and shattered stone littered the area while flames crawled hungrily across the wreckage. Beneath the remains of a collapsed merchant stand sat a massive reinforced hatch hidden beneath rubble.
Hanz immediately rushed toward it.
He kicked burning debris aside and grabbed the metal handle with both hands before wrenching it open with a strained grunt.
"Inside!" he barked. "Move!"
One by one, they descended the narrow stairwell into the darkness below. The moment the heavy hatch slammed shut overhead, the deafening chaos of the battlefield became muffled.
But not silent.
The war still growled above them like an angry god.
The underground shelter was overflowing with survivors.
Dozens of people huddled together beneath the dim glow of flickering mana lanterns. Men. Women. Children. Elderly survivors wrapped in soot-covered blankets. The air smelled of blood, smoke, sweat, and fear thick enough to choke on. Some wounded lay across makeshift bedding with burns covering half their bodies. Others cried quietly while clutching the corpses of loved ones beneath white cloths.
Near the far wall, a baby cried weakly in its mother's trembling arms.
The sound cut straight through TaiKhan's chest.
People looked up as the newcomers entered the shelter. A few expressions softened with faint relief at seeing more survivors. Most simply stared with hollow, exhausted eyes that looked far older than they should have.
TaiKhan carefully lowered Lir onto an empty patch of floor before immediately checking his breathing again with shaking hands.
"He's still breathing…" TaiKhan whispered shakily, almost like he needed to convince himself. "He's still here… but he won't wake up…"
Miko collapsed beside him while clutching his broken arm tightly against his chest, tears constantly spilling down his face despite how hard he tried to suppress them. Renn slid weakly against the wall nearby, pale and silent, his entire body trembling faintly from shock.
Hanz placed a heavy hand on TaiKhan's shoulder.
"You did good, kid," he said quietly. "All of you did."
A middle-aged woman with bloodstained bandages wrapped around her head approached slowly carrying herbs and clean cloth.
Without saying a word, she knelt beside Lir and gently began examining him.
Only then did TaiKhan finally allow himself to stop moving.
The exhaustion hit him all at once.
Pain screamed through every part of his body. His arms felt heavy. His breathing shook uncontrollably. Tears he had been forcing down for what felt like hours finally spilled freely down his dust-covered face.
"We're safe now… right?" he asked weakly, glancing around the shelter. "We made it…"
Nobody answered him.
Above them, another explosion thundered through the city.
The entire shelter trembled violently.
Dust drifted from the ceiling while the baby nearby continued crying softly. Somewhere deeper in the room, someone whispered a desperate prayer in a voice that sounded completely broken.
Then screaming shattered the silence.
A middle-aged man near the far corner suddenly lurched to his feet, eyes bloodshot and wild with panic. Soot and blood covered his torn clothing while fresh blood ran down the side of his face from a deep cut near his scalp.
"They're going to kill us all!" he screamed hysterically. "Didn't you hear those explosions?! They're destroying the whole city!"
People recoiled as he stumbled forward, knocking over a water container that clattered loudly across the floor.
"My wife was outside when the tower collapsed!" the man shrieked. "My daughter too! They were right there!"
His voice cracked apart into raw hysteria.
"We're trapped down here like rats waiting to burn!"
Miko immediately shrank closer to TaiKhan.
Renn covered his ears tightly, tears streaming down his face.
The man pointed wildly around the shelter, breathing like he was suffocating.
"They're angels!" he shouted desperately. "Angels don't lose! We're already dead!"
TaiKhan's chest tightened painfully.
He wanted to say something comforting. Something strong.
But fear had wrapped itself around his throat.
"H-Hey…" he stammered weakly. "Please stop yelling… you're scaring everyone…"
The man suddenly turned toward the boys.
His expression looked completely shattered.
"You think you kids are safe?" he screamed. "Look at yourselves! Covered in blood already! They're going to come down here next and slaughter every single one of us!"
Before he could get closer, two larger survivors grabbed him from behind.
The man fought violently as they dragged him backward.
"Let me go!" he screamed hoarsely. "We're all going to die anyway! Let me go!"
His voice echoed horribly throughout the underground shelter until someone finally muffled him with a cloth.
Silence returned slowly afterward.
A horrible silence.
Only the baby's weak crying and the distant explosions above filled the room now.
Then another voice spoke calmly through the tension.
"Everyone… please try to remain calm."
The crowd slowly parted as a tall man stepped forward into the lantern light.
Veyron Kaelthar looked exhausted beyond words. Blood stained his torn clothes, bruises darkened one side of his face, and ash covered his shoulders, yet he still carried himself with quiet authority.
"I won't lie to any of you," Veyron said steadily. "The situation above is catastrophic. The Sky Palace has brought war to our home, and many have already died."
Several people quietly broke down crying again.
Veyron continued anyway.
"This shelter may not protect us forever if they choose to scour the city completely. That is the truth."
The room grew even heavier.
"But we are still alive," he said firmly. "As long as we continue breathing, there is still a chance to survive this."
His tired eyes swept across the frightened crowd.
"The strongest fighters remaining above ground are buying us time. If the shelter falls…" He paused briefly. "There are emergency tunnels leading toward the eastern hills. They are narrow, unstable, and dangerous. But they exist."
People listened silently.
"Until then, stay together," Veyron continued. "Help the wounded. Share food and water carefully. Panic will kill us faster than the enemy ever will."
His gaze lingered briefly on TaiKhan and the others.
"Even now," he said quietly, "we still have each other. Do not underestimate what that means."
His words did not erase anyone's fear.
But they gave the shelter something it desperately needed.
Structure.
Slowly, people began moving again. Survivors shared water. Others tended wounds or comforted crying children. The shelter remained filled with terror, but at least the panic no longer threatened to tear it apart completely.
TaiKhan swallowed hard while pulling Miko closer beside him.
"It's okay…" he whispered shakily, though he barely believed it himself. "We're underground now. We're safe here…"
The others said nothing. They simply pressed closer together. Trying desperately to believe him.
After a long silence, Renn spoke quietly through trembling breaths.
"Remember when we stole those honey cakes from the old baker…?"
TaiKhan blinked.
Renn gave a weak, shaky smile.
"He chased us for like… three whole streets with that giant rolling pin…"
Miko let out the faintest laugh through his tears.
"Y-yeah…" he sniffed. "And TaiKhan dropped his cake in the mud but still ate it anyway…"
For a brief second, the tension eased.
Then another explosion slammed through the city above. The shelter shook violently.
Dust poured from the ceiling as terrified gasps spread through the crowd again. Somewhere nearby, a woman began sobbing harder while clutching her child against her chest.
The moment shattered instantly. Nothing felt funny anymore.
Hanz moved quietly through the shelter afterward, helping wherever he could. He wrapped cloth around wounds, passed out water, and offered steady words to survivors barely holding themselves together. His expression remained grim, but calm.
As he passed near the boys again, he glanced briefly toward the sealed hatch overhead.
Wonder if Jin's still alive out there…
The thought lingered heavily for a moment before he forced himself onward.
Too many people still needed help.
And deep beneath the burning ruins of Crimson Reach, surrounded by grief, fear, and the constant thunder of war above them…
…the survivors held onto one another while the world slowly died overhead.
But miles away, in the broken heart of Stormcrag, the war had become something colder. Something quieter.
Yet despite the destruction, the battlefield around Shadow felt strangely silent.
Firelight flickered across the ruins, but around him, darkness lingered unnaturally thick, swallowing heat, sound, and even the glow of nearby flames. It moved with him like a living thing.
And in the center of it all stood Shadow.
His dark armor clung to his body like liquid night, edges bleeding tendrils of shifting black mist that curled across the ruined ground beneath his feet. Around him fought the eight remaining dark warriors he had successfully possessed. Their once-radiant armor had become blackened and fractured, holy wings now dripping streams of void energy that stained the air around them. They moved without hesitation, without fear, diving into impossible battles with silent obedience.
There had been more of them earlier.
Concentrated holy beams had already erased several, their possessed bodies collapsing into ash before even the darkness within them could regenerate.
Shadow moved through the battlefield like something that had always belonged there.
A Sword of the World descended from above, radiant blade screaming with divine light as it carved downward toward him. Shadow calmly stepped backward into the shadow cast by a broken pillar.
The slash struck empty ground.
The angel's eyes widened.
Black blades erupted from its own shadow behind it.
Shadow emerged soundlessly from the darkness at the warrior's back, both weapons cutting upward in a clean cross-slash that tore through armor and flesh alike. Holy light burst violently from the wound with a sharp hiss as darkness flooded inside the angel's body.
The warrior spun instantly, sword sweeping around in retaliation.
Shadow was already gone.
He melted into darkness again before the counterattack could land, reappearing high above the battlefield with cold silver eyes fixed downward. His body twisted midair as he drove one blade down through the angel's shoulder, pinning it violently into the ruined street below.
They fight without instinct, he thought calmly. Predictable.
Two more Sky warriors charged him from opposite directions, swords glowing brightly enough to illuminate the smoke around them. Shadow spread one hand slightly.
The darkness answered instantly.
Long spears of shadow erupted upward from the rubble below, impaling one warrior through the chest before it could react. The second angel broke through the attack and swung directly at Shadow's neck.
Steel met steel.
Shadow caught the glowing blade with one weapon, then rotated his body smoothly beneath the strike with an almost unnatural grace. His second blade pierced directly through the gap beneath the warrior's ribs.
The angel convulsed violently as black corruption spread through its veins.
One of Shadow's possessed warriors suddenly intercepted a holy beam aimed directly at him.
The dark warrior's chest exploded outward from the impact. Cracks of white light spread rapidly across its blackened armor before the body collapsed lifelessly into the rubble below.
Another one gone.
Seven left.
Shadow didn't pause for even a second.
He stepped through the elongated shadow of a collapsing tower and emerged directly behind a Hammer of the World. Both blades drove deep into the back of the massive warrior's neck.
The Hammer roared furiously, spinning with monstrous strength as its Warhammer tore through the air in a devastating arc. The weapon passed harmlessly through Shadow's partially intangible body, but the divine shockwave trailing behind the strike slammed into his side an instant later.
Part of his shadow armor burned away violently.
Shadow grunted softly as black smoke rose from the damaged area.
Energy attacks still hurt.
The battlefield descended further into chaos around him.
Holy explosions ripped through ruined streets while possessed warriors collided with divine soldiers overhead. The screams of dying mortals mixed with the constant roar of collapsing buildings and burning skies. Shadow moved through it all with terrifying efficiency, appearing and disappearing through every patch of darkness across the battlefield as though the city itself had become his hunting ground.
His remaining dark warriors fought with eerie synchronization beside him, sacrificing themselves without hesitation whenever it created even the smallest opening.
Shadow raised one hand slowly.
The shadows blanketing the ruined square suddenly thickened and rose upward like living whips. They wrapped around three nearby Sky warriors simultaneously before violently dragging them out of the air and slamming them into the shattered ground below hard enough to crater the stone.
Shadow descended immediately after them.
His blades flashed once.
Then again.
The holy light in their eyes vanished.
Six left.
A radiant beam suddenly tore across the battlefield toward him, forcing Shadow to shift sideways through darkness to avoid it. Before he could fully emerge, a Sword warrior appeared within his blind spot and landed a clean slash across his arm.
Blood splattered across the rubble.
Shadow retaliated instantly.
He stepped into the angel's shadow beneath its feet and emerged directly behind it, severing one of its glowing wings in a single clean motion. The warrior screamed as it spiraled violently through the burning sky.
Shadow exhaled slowly, silver eyes scanning the battlefield once more.
He was being worn down. Slowly. Inevitably.
His forces dwindled with every passing minute while the Sky Army continued descending in endless waves from the heavens above. His armor was damaged. His movements had grown fractionally slower. Even the darkness around him no longer flowed as smoothly as before.
Yet despite everything, his silver eyes never lost focus.
Not yet.
He melted into darkness again, reappearing high above the fray. From there, he watched the remaining Sky warriors regroup, their broken bodies still moving with unnatural persistence. He exhaled slowly, darkness coiling around him.
From here, Stormcrag looked dead.
Entire districts burned beneath collapsing towers while rivers of molten stone cut through the shattered streets below. Tiny figures crawled desperately through the rubble, fleeing from holy fire that continued raining from the heavens. Above them, the remaining Sky warriors regrouped in perfect formation despite their injuries, broken wings still carrying them through the smoke with unnatural persistence.
Shadow watched them silently as darkness curled around his body like cold mist.
This is inefficient. I can continue killing them one by one, but it changes nothing. More will descend. They do not tire. They do not fear. They simply obey.
His silver eyes narrowed slightly as calculations ran through his mind with ruthless clarity.
At this rate, I will eventually be overwhelmed.
His gaze drifted downward toward the ruined city beneath him.
But if their attention shifts entirely toward me… then the remnants of Stormcrag may survive a little longer.
A faint smile touched his lips beneath the flowing darkness.
Great Dragon would approve of this approach. He always enjoyed becoming the center of attention... so I'll bring the attention to him.
Shadow made his decision.
The darkness surrounding his body suddenly thickened and surged violently outward. Massive wings unfolded from his back — four elegant appendages formed entirely from living shadow. Unlike the radiant feathered wings of the Sky warriors, these were sleek and unnatural, their edges sharp as blades while violet veins of energy pulsed faintly beneath their surface. Tendrils of black mist leaked constantly from them, writhing through the air like living smoke.
They looked less like wings…
…and more like the sky itself had torn open behind him.
Shadow spread them fully.
For a brief moment, the burning battlefield below dimmed beneath the sheer weight of darkness radiating from his form.
Then he launched forward.
The sonic burst shattered nearby rubble as his body shot across the heavens like an arrow of night.
The six remaining dark warriors instantly disengaged from combat and followed after him without hesitation, forming a precise formation around their master as they tore through the sky together.
The reaction was immediate. Hundreds of Sky warriors turned simultaneously.
Their glowing eyes locked onto the cluster of darkness streaking across the southern skies. Without a single command being spoken, entire formations abandoned the ruins below and surged after Shadow in perfect pursuit. Holy wings ignited brilliantly behind them, flooding the atmosphere with blinding white light.
The sky itself split in two.
A small cluster of darkness fled across the heavens while an ocean of divine light chased after it.
Shadow accelerated further.
The wind screamed against his armor as he weaved through the clouds at terrifying speed, darkness trailing behind him in long ribbons while radiant beams lanced through the air around him. Several blasts passed close enough to distort the shadows surrounding his body.
Below, the burning lands of the South blurred beneath the pursuit.
Stormcrag disappeared into the distance.
Then Emberhold appeared ahead.
Even the warriors battling above the ruined city noticed the massive chase crossing the sky overhead. One by one, additional Sky warriors broke away from their assaults and joined the pursuit, swelling the radiant tide even further.
Shadow glanced behind him once.
The sight was absurd.
The heavens themselves had become a sea of holy light.
Hundreds upon hundreds of divine warriors now pursued him across the southern region, their wings blazing like a second sun while streams of radiant energy tore through the clouds behind him.
For the first time in a long while, Shadow felt genuine pressure building in his chest.
This… may have been a mistake. There are far more of them than I anticipated.
Far below, in the ruins of crimson reach.
Jin stood on the broken edge of a half-collapsed tower, silver eyes wide behind his mask as he stared at the horizon.
Hundreds — no, thousands — of glowing points of light were streaking across the sky, all heading in their direction. The sheer scale of it made his stomach drop.
"Shit…" he whispered.
Titan stepped beside him, orange lightning crackling weakly across his body. He looked up and cursed under his breath.
"That's... too many," Titan growled.
Jin's mind raced. Violkhan is still fighting desperately in the distance, but if this horde arrived here…
He turned to Titan, gripping his staff tightly.
"Release it."
Titan stared at him. "You're insane. If I do that now, I become dead weight. One good hit and I'm done."
"We don't have time to argue," Jin snapped, voice sharp with urgency. "That formation earlier drained them. If you release the absorbed energy at the right moment, we can break their momentum and create chaos. It's the only chance we have before they overwhelm us completely."
Titan's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And who the hell are you to give me orders, kid? You speak like you know everything, but I don't trust you. For all I know, you could be leading us into a trap."
Jin met his gaze without flinching.
"I'm the only one here who actually understands how these bastards fight," he said coldly. "You can doubt me all you want, but right now, doubting me is going to get everyone killed. Release the energy when I give the signal. I'll handle the timing."
Titan clenched his fists, clearly frustrated, but the incoming storm of light left him little choice.
"…Fine," he growled. "But if this goes wrong, I'm killing you first."
Jin allowed himself a small, grim smile.
"Deal."
High above the burning ruins, the Asura hovered like a god of judgment.
Its six wings spread wide, radiating a cold, merciless light that drowned the battlefield beneath it. Below, Crimson Reach burned in pieces — Violkhan tearing through ranks of holy warriors with savage laughter, desperate resistance flaring and dying across the city, mortals fleeing through collapsing streets like ants beneath a flood. The Asura watched it all in silence, its glowing white eyes lingering briefly on the raging woman carving through its forces.
If that woman truly carries the blood of the Warborn… this may become troublesome the more she fights.
Its gaze shifted downward.
Titan stood among the ruins beside Jin, orange lightning roaring violently around his body as he gathered what little power he had left. Even from above, the strain was obvious — trembling muscles, unstable breathing, blood dripping steadily onto shattered stone.
A soft chuckle escaped the Asura.
Ah… I see now
It slowly raised its staff.
The towering weapon gleamed with white-gold brilliance, countless rings of divine script orbiting around its core while ancient symbols pulsed with restrained annihilation. There was no dramatic surge of energy. No grand display.
Only certainty.
On the ground, Titan's lightning flared brighter, crackling wildly across his scarred frame as he forced more power out of an exhausted body.
I always hated using this technique, he thought through clenched teeth. The recoil alone can cripple you… but this one time—
His eyes widened.
Every instinct in his body screamed.
Titan moved instantly.
"—JIN!"
Before Jin could react, Titan's palm slammed into his chest with explosive force, hurling him backward through the air. Jin's eyes widened in confusion as his body spun violently away, his staff slipping from his fingers and disappearing into the smoke below.
Then his instincts screamed too.
Something stood there.
The space Titan had occupied a fraction of a second ago was no longer empty.
The Asura.
No descent. No sound. No distortion in the air. One moment, there had been nothing there at all.
The next moment, the divine being simply existed before them.
Its glowing white eyes stared forward without emotion. Rings of divine scripture spun violently around the tip of its staff as a blinding point of condensed lightning formed at its center, so dense that the surrounding space began to fracture and distort.
The Asura spoke calmly, almost absently.
"Judgment."
The world vanished in white.
A colossal blast of white-blue lightning erupted point-blank from the staff, swallowing Titan instantly. The impact detonated across the city like divine wrath incarnate. Titan's body was launched through the ruins with catastrophic force, smashing through towers, streets, and collapsing buildings like a broken weapon discarded by a god before vanishing deep within the burning horizon.
The beam continued forward without slowing.
Everything in its path ceased to exist.
A molten trench carved straight through the heart of Crimson Reach, the ground evaporating into glowing ruin beneath the overwhelming heat. The shockwave that followed erupted outward with apocalyptic force, flattening entire districts in seconds.
Jin was caught at the edge of the blast radius.
His body spun helplessly through the air as the shockwave tore into him, blood spraying from his mouth while the force hurled him across the ruined city like a leaf trapped inside a hurricane. His vision blurred violently as debris and fire consumed the sky around him.
Above the city, Lady Phoenix screamed as the expanding shockwave slammed into her phoenix barriers.
Flames exploded around her body as she poured every remaining ounce of mana into reinforcing them. Layer after layer of burning crimson shields appeared across the skyline—
—and shattered instantly.
The barriers burst apart like fragile glass beneath divine force. The recoil slammed into her body mercilessly, launching her through several ruined structures before she crashed violently into the earth below, stone and debris erupting around her.
Far beneath the city, inside the underground shelter, the world convulsed.
The entire structure shook violently as dust rained from the ceiling in thick clouds. Cracks spread rapidly through the stone walls while terrified screams echoed through the darkness. Lanterns swung wildly overhead, their flames flickering uncontrollably.
The baby's cries became piercing.
People grabbed each other in panic as the shelter groaned under the pressure from above.
TaiKhan threw himself over his friends instantly, shielding them with his body as the ground bucked beneath them.
"Hold on!" he shouted, voice cracking with fear. "Just hold on!"
Miko screamed beside him. Renn curled into himself, trembling violently. Lir's eyes opened as he stared upward in horror at another violent tremor ripped through the shelter.
A massive section of the ceiling broke apart.
The chunk of stone crashed into the crowd with a sickening impact. Screams erupted. Blood splattered across the floor. Someone cried out in agony as debris crushed their leg beneath the rubble.
TaiKhan's arms shook violently as he held himself over the others, teeth clenched hard enough to crack.
Then, for the briefest second, a faint red glow flickered deep within his eyes.
Fear. Rage. And something ancient beginning to stir.
Above ground, the shockwave continued tearing across Crimson Reach, reducing what little remained of the central district into a scorched wasteland of smoke, fire, and molten ruin.
High above it all, the Asura slowly lowered its staff.
Its expression never changed.
Its gaze had already shifted away from the destruction before the explosions had even finished spreading — as though the outcome had never once been in doubt.
One strike.
And the South felt the true weight of divine wrath.