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Chapter 49 - Shadows Left Behind

The Ehrenfeld-Austrian Empire stirred beneath scaffolds and soldering torches, but the Alps were silent. Too silent.

A convoy of engineers and military surveyors sent to secure a high-mountain hydroelectric station had gone missing five days ago. Not a single word returned. And then, last night, the scouts found it: twisted metal, frozen corpses, and a symbol carved into ice and flesh.

The Karling sigil—stylized wings cracking from a broken sun.

Hans read the report in silence. The name alone was enough to make Eliska clench her fists.

"He should've died in Prague," she muttered.

Hans didn't respond. He was already reaching for his uniform.

I. The March into the Mist

A small task force was assembled. Not an army—a hunt.

Hans, clad in his newly enhanced Officer-class mantle, bearing the mark of Supreme Commander.

Marshal Engelhardt, sword braced on his shoulder like a slab of vengeance.

Mehmed, now both general and diplomat, gifted with an agility skill that bent light.

Eliska, wielding her awakened field—Dominion of Veins, a terrifying ability that let her manipulate pressure and internal blood force.

A select team of elite Hunters, each bearing a unique skill.

They entered the pass at dawn.

Mist thickened unnaturally. The sun's warmth was denied them. And beneath every snowbank, it felt as if something watched—and waited.

At the edge of a ravine, the force found it: the remains of the engineers. But their wounds weren't caused by monsters—they were surgically inflicted. Human. Precise.

"Karling's doing this to send a message," Hans growled.

"Or bait," Engelhardt replied.

Then the mountain trembled.

II. The Iceborne Ambush

From the cliffs above, they descended—Karling's new breed.

Humanoids with pale crystalized skin, glowing blue veins, and bone-forged weapons. Awakened humans fused with monster essence. Aberrants.

Eliska immediately extended her dominion, crushing the arteries of two before they landed.

Mehmed blinked forward and split another with his curved blade.

Hans drew his saber, and as the first aberrant struck, his entire body lit with golden filaments. His Upgrade had awakened: Command Pulse Mk. III – Radiant Authority.

With a single shout, he froze time for every enemy within 15 meters.

His officers surged forward in that frozen beat. Engelhardt crushed three aberrants with his bare fists. Hunters unleashed flames, lightning, and phantom wolves.

When time resumed, ten enemies disintegrated before they hit the ground.

"Push forward!" Hans ordered. "He's here—I can feel him."

III. The Broken Citadel

They reached the ancient stone fortress that had once been a Cold War outpost. Karling's throne now—a throne of bones and glass.

And on it sat the man himself. Twisted. Barely human. A crown of spinal shards on his head. A monstrous aura of corruption radiated from him, like a rotting sun.

"Hans Ehrenfeld," Karling hissed, voice doubled with monster growls. "You built your empire on rubble. I build from purity—no more nations. No more gods. Just instinct."

"You build with corpses," Hans answered.

Karling roared and attacked.

IV. Clash of Ideals

The fight was apocalyptic.

Hans and Karling collided midair, sabers clashing. Every strike shattered snowdrifts and collapsed cliffs.

Eliska dueled Karling's lieutenant—another awakened, whose power let her grow wings of bone and scream sonic pulses.

Mehmed redirected aberrant strikes into their own ranks.

Engelhardt dragged a corrupted bear-man hybrid down into a cave—and the resulting quake confirmed the fight was over in moments.

Hans activated Radiant Authority once more, but Karling resisted it—half-monster, his mind was chaos incarnate.

"I will outlive you," Karling snarled. "Your empire is just another dream waiting to burn."

"Then I'll dream it again," Hans growled, and stabbed Karling straight through the chest—

—but the corpse vanished into smoke.

"A shade…" Eliska said.

Karling was not dead. Not yet.

V. Back in the Empire

The team returned victorious—but troubled. The Black Forest stirred. Karling was testing new horrors.

Back in Vienna, Hans stood before the Council once more.

"We face not just monsters of flesh, but monsters of will. We rebuild—and we defend."

The Empire was rising—but the war was not yet done.

And far away, in the mist-choked woods, Karling's real body stirred… laughing.

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