The flicker of the portal bled black ichor into the stone floor as Aron and Selene stumbled through it, gasping for breath and clutching their wounds. The once-regal twins now bore the marks of a hard-fought retreat—their robes were torn, their flesh scorched and bloodied from the Ice Jade Princess’s freezing wrath and the Fleeting Spear’s relentless onslaught.
The obsidian pillars of the Black Citadel lood like ancient sentinels in the shadowy throne chamber, where Endless awaited atop a seat carved from the fossilized remains of dead gods that were found in the Labyrinth. The Eternal’s form was no longer bound to a singular shape. He hovered—part mist, part fla, part writhing void. He now has a thousand eyes which blinked in and out of existence across his shifting silhouette, and his presence felt like the silence before a calamity.
Aron dropped to one knee, still heaving. Selene followed, her silver lashes damp with sweat and humiliation. They did not speak first.
"Failed," Endless said, the word echoing with unnatural resonance, as though spoken across all layers of existence at once. "You were inches away from retrieving the Seer girl. But yet....."
Aron flinched. "The interference... from the Pacesetters. Their strongest—"
"Ice and spear," Endless whispered. His form flickered into a more defined shape—tall, lean, cloaked in a robe of dissolving stars. "Predictable. Yet still... you failed."
Without gesture or movent, a force lashed out.
A shriek exploded from Aron as black veins spread across his arm, petrifying flesh, muscle, and even magic. Selene’s eyes widened, only for a bolt of crimson lightning to shoot from above, scalding her left cheek and branding a mark across her collarbone—a seal of failure.
"Punishnt," Endless said with hollow calm, "so that you both will truly understand what exactly is at stake in the missions I send you."
The pain vanished as suddenly as it ca. The wounds remained, but their agony turned numb.
As for Kael, he was visibly quiet but he was pretty shaken up inside, it was only Alen, the Dark Magi who was completely oblivious to this.
Still trembling, Selene forced herself to speak. "What now, master? The girl is in Eldoria, but... the Elves are also on the move. They’ll protect her."
Endless didn’t reply imdiately.
Instead, he turned to the massive circular window behind the throne, which overlooked his vast kingdom—a hellish landscape of scorched mana veins, floating black monoliths, and crimson lightning storms tearing across a darkened sky. But beyond that... he gazed further. Across ti. Across borders. Across fate.
"To protect her," Endless said at last, "they’ve thinned their forces."
He raised one shadowy hand, and a new projection shimred into the air—a topographical illusion of the Elven territory. Glowing ley lines pulsed weakly. Borders once radiant with magical defense shimred faintly, their integrity strained by the massive displacent of soldiers to the human territories.
"The Elves," he said, "will be next."
Selene’s lips parted. "We’re... invading the Elves?"
Endless slowly nodded.
"Their World Tree roots are still connected to the Aether beneath this realm. If we corrupt that... then all resistance will rot from within. While Kaelen dances in the Crucible and the Pacesetters rally around a girl they don’t fully understand, I shall carve out the Elven soul."
His voice deepened with each word, until the very walls of the Citadel groaned under the weight of it.
"Gather the Dread Circle and the other labyrinth creatures. Tell them the era of creeping has ended. We no longer hunt in the shadows. We consu."
Lightning crackled above. The ground itself trembled. Sowhere far off in the Endless lands, a great beast howled—a war cry awakened by its master’s call.
"And Aron," Endless said coldly, eyes turning once more to the wounded twin, "you will lead the first wave. Fail again... and your soul will be undone."
Aron bowed his head, his voice breaking. "Yes... my Eternal."
------
A giant eagle descended from the clouds in a smooth glide, its silver-feathered wings reflecting the dim twilight of Eldoria’s early dusk. The air rippled with mana as it neared the city’s southern outpost—an elevated platform of crystal-embedded stone, reinforced with barriers and manned by elite guards dressed in deep navy armor embroidered with the sigil of the Grey family. The platform flared to life with golden runes as the eagle landed, and the mont its talons gripped the stone, all weapons were imdiately raised.
"Identify yourselves!" barked a commanding voice.
Charlotte stepped off first, her cape fluttering behind her in the wind. Her expression was firm, her limpid yellow hair glinting under the fading sun. Behind her, Neana descended from the eagle’s back, cradling the unconscious Lila in her arms—her face pale, blood still dry on her lips, and her body emanating the residual traces of overwhelming spiritual pressure.
"We co with urgency," Neana said, her voice soft but resonant. She carried herself with grace, but every guard there could feel the oppressive pressure of her Qi—one that could reaches even Kang’s oppressive aura.
The guards hesitated until a gust of wind howled through the tower, and two more figures appeared from within the main citadel: one tall and broad-shouldered, with ash-blonde hair and cold steel eyes that carried the burden of command; and the other, a slightly aged man clad in obsidian armor lined with silver threads, whose sharp eyes scanned everything with calculated precision.
Drake Grey and Kang.
Drake’s gaze flickered from Charlotte to Neana, and finally fell on Lila. His features didn’t change, but Kang stepped forward imdiately, his hand on the hilt of his blade. "What happened to her? Why is she like that?"
"Let speak," Neana said as she lowered Lila onto a soft conjured mist pad that hovered above the ground. "Lila is alive, but just barely. She pushed herself beyond her limits to survive the Chaos Twins and a dark being who pursues her for what lies within her blood."
"And who are you?" Drake asked coolly. "The guards tell you’re not human."
"She is not," Charlotte interjected firmly. "But she’s our ally. Neana of the Nullcarvers. I vouch for her."
Kang narrowed his eyes. "Nullcarvers? The mana-less Qi group that has rested in the Deadroot forest for countless of years?"
Neana nodded. "Yes. We were kept there to guard against a being that could bring a demise to the world, but this is not the ti for politics. The girl needs rest. And we need to talk."
Drake eyed them both for a long, heavy mont. Then he gave a sharp nod. "Bring her in. We’ll place her in the Aria Ward. It’s shielded and stabilized."
Charlotte exhaled a quiet sigh of relief. But even as the tension eased, the storm hadn’t yet passed.
They walked through the gates of Eldoria—where the scent of flowers blended with the iron tang of a military citadel. As they entered the grand strategy hall at the heart of the city’s command center, holographic projections of the Human Territory’s borders flickered in the air. Red dots blood across the map, indicating breaches, conflicts, and celestial sightings.
"Now," Drake said as he poured himself a cup of fortified elven wine, "start explaining."
Neana stepped forward first. "I ca because Kaelen Dragonyx aided my people. In return, I gave him access to our teachings. He now possesses Qi techniques that were lost to the rest of the world. But what followed was beyond even our predictions. The Eternal known as Endless is hunting the one called Lila—because of what she holds. Because of what she is."
Drake frowned, arms folded. "The ’Pandora’, yes. We’ve heard and experienced about that already. But now, he is after Lila?"
"Yes, but unfortunately, that is not the worst part." Charlotte added, her voice heavy. "It’s about the Celestials. They’re here. Not agents, not avatars—real ones. And they’ve made their move."
Kang turned his head slowly. "Where?"
"In the Den of Ferocious Beasts," Charlotte answered. "The remaining Pillars of Pacesetters Academy tried to stop them. Carmilia, Vlahoviç, and even Bowen"
A painful pause.
"But they’re now gone."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Drake’s fingers clenched around the wine glass so hard it cracked, ruby liquid trailing down the side like blood. Kang’s eyes darkened, and he stepped forward, voice low. "What do you an gone?"
Charlotte didn’t flinch. "Slain. By the Celestials. The Elven army is currently engaged in a battle with their forces there, and we both know that the Elves are also after Lila."
Drake Grey didn’t speak. He walked toward the edge of the projection chamber, hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the swirling red symbols marking the spreading influence of the Celestials.
"Then it begins," he muttered. "The war none of us are ready for."
Kang stepped beside him. "Shall I rally the banners?"
"Not yet. We need to move carefully," Drake replied. "We can’t leave Eldoria exposed. Not until Kaelen returns... or until we know for certain what the Celestials’ and the Elves next move is."
He turned back to Charlotte and Neana. "Get Lila stabilized. Tell the researchers in Aria Ward to monitor her vitals and mana core fluctuations. If whatever that is in her begins to react, we need to know before it’s too late."
"No problem"
Naena gave a silent nod, vanishing in a sweep of mist as she returned to Lila’s side.
Charlotte lingered a mont longer. "You think Kaelen will be able to return successfully after what we just experienced here?"
Drake t her gaze evenly.
"I know he will," he said. "Because if he doesn’t... we’re already dead."
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