The First Calamity.
The Heavenly Demon.
The name still echoed like an ancient curse across battlefields and textbooks alike. The single greatest disaster humanity had ever faced. A being that didn't just halt our ascent—she dismantled it, tearing the wings off humanity's Golden Age right as we were learning how to fly.
In the records, a "Calamity" was the designation given to a being who could threaten all of humanity, across every continent. To qualify, you needed to match a demigod in power, at minimum. Only two humans had ever met that standard—Liam Kagu, the First Hero, and my master, Magnus Draykar. The Martial King. The man who taught me how to fight and died before I could surpass him.
I remembered the first time I heard whispers about the Second Calamity. Tiamat had told me, her voice grave despite her usual regal detachment. The great Radiant Dragon, perched atop the highest cliffs of the Southern Continent, had spoken of it with rare stillness in her golden eyes.
