**Chapter One: The Final Fall**
**[Scene One: Valric's Memories]**
The world was once brimming with life—humans, cities, light… Then *they* came.
Ten years had passed since the Gates opened and the sky fell. Ten years since colossal ships stormed our world, unleashing an endless army of monsters. They reaped souls and turned civilizations to ash.
Now, little remained. Humanity huddled in underground cities, mere shadows of their former selves, while monsters ruled the surface.
Valric Knightfall, a man clad in scarred armor, stared at the horizon as golden sunlight danced across the desolate wasteland. Every step beyond safety meant danger, but danger had become his routine. He was one of the few left who could still fight. Still survive.
He drew a steady breath and turned to his wife, Astrea, standing at the entrance to the underground city. Her eyes burned with worry.
**Astrea**: "Must you go alone?"
**Valric** (with a reassuring smile): "No one else can do what I do. I'll be back by sunset."
She didn't answer, only held his gaze. It was enough.
Valric turned and climbed toward the surface, leaving the city behind. His destination: a hidden field he'd cultivated far from the monsters' notice—the last source of food for those still clinging to life.
---
**[Scene Two: The Calm Before the Storm]**
Valric spent six hours tending the field. The air was unnervingly still, the sun blazing, the breeze silent.
He straightened, tilting his face toward the sky, and muttered, "How beautiful the sun is…"
*The Commander of the Karstin.*
But… something felt wrong.
This man—this leader—was *crying*.
Chapter Two: The Fall of the City
(Astria Nightfall's Perspective)
"Valrik… please, come back soon."
I whispered to myself, sitting on the couch inside our home. He had gone to the surface to tend to the field, unaware of the uneasy feeling gnawing at me since morning.
A strange sensation… like something catastrophic was about to happen.
And then—it did.
An explosion.
The entire house trembled violently. Books tumbled from shelves, glass shattered into a thousand fragments. I bolted upright, my heart pounding in my chest.
"What was that?!"
I dashed to the window, peering outside—only to freeze in horror.
A massive, jagged black rift had torn open in the sky.
From within its eerie depths, armored figures began descending. Their golden plating gleamed under the sunlight, but even with their helmets and full-body armor, I could tell—they weren't human.
The Golden Knights. The Karsten.
They were here.
Screams filled the air. The acrid scent of smoke clawed at my throat. I watched in paralyzed terror as men, women, and children were cut down without mercy.
I stumbled back.
No—no, no, no. This couldn't be happening.
I turned on my heel and sprinted toward the bedroom.
"I have to hide… I have to survive."
Gripping the edge of the bed, I yanked it aside, revealing the concealed hatch beneath. A secret underground shelter.
Valrik built this.
For moments like this.
I threw myself inside, pulling the hatch shut just as the house above trembled under another violent impact. Dust rained down on me.
The world outside was being reduced to ruins.
Inside the bunker, it was pitch black. Silent.
But I could hear everything.
The clash of blades cleaving through flesh.
The desperate cries of the dying.
The utter destruction of our home, our city…
I had to be strong. I had to remain silent. I couldn't make a single mistake.
But then—
They found me.
---
Chapter Three: Monsters Show No Mercy
(Astria Nightfall's Perspective)
I sat in the dark, breathing shallowly, pressing a trembling hand over my mouth to stifle any sound. Above me, chaos reigned. The nightmarish orchestra of battle—screams, shattering structures, explosions—was relentless.
Then, I heard the voice.
"Idiots! If Everest finds out we left survivors, we're as good as dead!"
The deep, guttural snarl of a war-hardened leader.
Why… why did he sound afraid?
And who was Everest?
I didn't have time to ponder. Heavy boots stomped across the ruined streets.
"Search every house! I want no survivors!"
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to remain still, to suppress the tremors coursing through my body. If they found this bunker, it would be over.
Then, suddenly—a scream.
"Please… no…!"
I dared to peek through a small crack in the bunker's entrance.
A girl.
She couldn't have been older than sixteen. She stood frozen before the towering figure of the Karsten commander.
His piercing gaze studied her like a predator toying with its prey.
"Are there others?" he asked, voice low and devoid of emotion.
The girl hesitated. Then, in sheer desperation, she pointed toward one of the taller buildings in the city.
I knew it was empty.
She was lying.
She was trying to survive.
The commander's lips curled into a mockery of a smile.
Then—without hesitation—he drove his blade through her chest.
I gasped, eyes widening in shock as her small frame crumpled to the ground.
Blood seeped into the dirt.
The Karsten warriors didn't even flinch.
"Weak. Just another liar."
The commander stepped over her body without a second thought.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to run.
But I could do neither.
I could only watch in horror.
And in that moment, a terrible realization dawned upon me.
If they found me…
I would die, too.
Chapter Four: The Hidden Refuge
(Astria Nightfall's Perspective)
I remained crouched in the cellar, hands pressed tightly over my mouth, barely daring to breathe. My heart pounded so violently it felt as if it would betray me at any moment.
Above, the commander's voice seethed with impatience.
"This city is too small for there to be no more survivors! Search every corner, every crevice! I want no one left alive!"
The sounds of destruction raged above—wood splintering, footsteps stomping across the ruined ground, the occasional piercing scream before silence swallowed it whole. They were leaving nothing untouched.
Then, a sudden crash thundered above me.
"What's this?"
The voice came from right above my hiding place.
Another thud, heavier this time. The floor above trembled.
"Commander, we found something strange here!"
No... No, no, no…
The heavy sound of boots approached. Then, a pause. A deep, guttural growl.
"Move aside."
A brief silence stretched through the air, thick and suffocating—then, with a single violent motion, the bed was flung aside.
The cellar was exposed.
And standing above me, gazing down with a chilling smirk, was the commander.
He did not look surprised. If anything, he looked amused.
"Well, well… look at what we have here."
His eyes bore into me with a predator's gaze, his voice laced with cruel amusement.
"So, there were survivors after all."
Stepping forward, he descended into the cellar, his sword glowing with an eerie, dark energy.
"Tell me, little mouse… why were you hiding?"
I couldn't speak. I couldn't move.
The commander chuckled darkly.
"No matter. I prefer to watch hope break before I take a life."
With one swift motion, he seized me by the arm and yanked me out of the cellar.
The fight had begun.
---
Chapter Five: The Fall of the City
(Astria Nightfall's Perspective)
His grip was like iron as he dragged me from the cellar, my feet scraping against the dirt. My vision blurred for a moment, but as I lifted my gaze, horror gripped me.
The city was gone.
Flames engulfed the buildings. Smoke curled into the sky like the fingers of a dying world. Corpses littered the ground, blood pooling beneath them.
There were no survivors.
The commander flung me onto the ground like discarded prey, the taste of iron flooding my mouth as my face hit the dirt.
"Did you really think hiding would save you?"
I lifted my head slowly. He towered over me, sword in hand, its blade dripping with fresh blood.
I said nothing.
He crouched slightly, peering at me with a cruel smirk. His voice was calm, but there was a sinister edge beneath his words.
"Humans are pathetic. Even after ten years of ruin, you still cling to your fragile hope."
Slowly, I pushed myself up, fists clenched. My body trembled—not from fear, but from rage.
"You did this," I whispered, my voice steady despite the fury coursing through me.
The commander scoffed.
"Us? No, no, little girl. You destroyed yourselves long before we arrived. Wars, betrayals, greed… we merely hastened the inevitable."
I glared at him with icy resolve.
"Maybe so… but I won't die here."
Lifting my hand, I unleashed a surge of freezing energy. The ground beneath us crystallized in an instant, sharp ice shards shooting toward him at lightning speed.
But before I could blink, he vanished—reappearing behind me in the span of a breath.
Pain.
His blade pierced my side, sinking into flesh.
"Pathetic," he muttered.
I gasped, staggering forward, barely managing to pull myself free. Blood trickled down my side, staining the ground. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to remain still.
If I moved, he'd strike again.
If I breathed too loudly, he'd finish the job.
So I collapsed onto the dirt, motionless.
"Disappointing," the commander murmured. He turned away without a second glance.
"Burn the rest of the city," he ordered his soldiers. "If there are no other survivors, we return to the stronghold."
I felt my consciousness waver, the searing pain threatening to consume me. But I refused to move.
I refused to die.
Not yet.
Chapter 6: The Return of Valric
(Valric Nightfall's POV)
The evening breeze was gentle as I finished tending to the field. I stood for a moment, wiping the sweat from my brow while gazing at the sky. The sun was descending, painting the horizon with hues of deep orange.
"It's going to be a cold night..." I murmured to myself, securing my sword to my back before setting off.
But something felt... wrong.
As I walked down the path home, I noticed footprints in the dirt—massive, deep, and scattered in multiple directions.
These weren't human.
I halted, eyes narrowing as realization struck. Karstein tracks...
My heartbeat quickened. Without hesitation, I broke into a sprint, dread settling in my chest like a lead weight. Each step felt heavier, as if my body refused to acknowledge what my mind already feared.
And then—I saw it.
The city... was in ruins.
Houses burned, bodies lay scattered, blood soaked the streets, and the air itself was thick with the stench of death.
My hands clenched around my sword's hilt, my knuckles turning white from the pressure.
"Damn it... Damn you all!" My voice tore through the silence, raw with fury.
A sound—movement nearby. I spun around, eyes locking onto a group of Karstein still lingering among the devastation. One of them, clearly a lieutenant, observed me with mild amusement.
"Oh? Look at this... a human still breathing."
He unsheathed his sword effortlessly, stepping forward with a confident smirk.
"How interesting. If the commander were here, he'd have enjoyed this fight."
I didn't respond. I simply drew my sword, my gaze burning with rage.
"I'm going to kill you all."
And with that, I charged.
---
Chapter 7: Wrath in the Heart of Battle
(Valric Nightfall's POV)
I became a black storm, my sword slicing through the air, my mind locked on a single goal: annihilation.
The golden-armored beasts moved fast, their blades cutting through the air to intercept me. But I had no patience for games.
"Die!"
I spun behind one of them, my sword cleaving through its joint. Black blood spurted from the opening in its armor as it collapsed to its knees, shrieking in agony. Without hesitation, I drove my blade through its neck, severing its life in a single stroke.
The remaining Karstein hesitated for a fraction of a second—long enough to reveal their newfound caution.
"This human... he's no ordinary fighter," one of them murmured.
"Surround—"
I didn't let him finish.
I lunged forward, grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him into the air before driving my sword straight through his chest. His bones cracked beneath my grip, his life snuffed out in an instant. I tossed his lifeless body aside like discarded waste.
"Who's next?" My gaze burned as I glared at the remaining Karstein.
The air grew colder—unnaturally so. Frost began creeping along the ground, and the Karstein warriors' ice-forged swords gleamed under the pale moonlight.
But I wasn't feeling the cold.
In fact, my blood had never burned hotter.
"You're strong... but it won't be enough, human," the lieutenant said, raising his massive frost-forged sword.
I remained silent, my grip tightening around my weapon. I had no interest in exchanging words—only in battle.
"I'll show you why the Karstein never lose."
In an instant, he unleashed a wave of glacial energy, freezing the ground beneath me. I felt the chill seeping through my armor, sharp as needles against my skin.
But my body... refused to freeze.
Instead, the heat within me surged higher.
His eyes widened. "What...?"
A smirk played at my lips. "You're not the only one with power."
I launched forward, my sword igniting with crimson flames. The ice at my feet melted instantly, the earth beneath turning to scorched embers.
"Fire magic?!" he shouted, stepping back as the heat devoured his frozen domain.
"Not just magic," I murmured, exhaling slowly as the flames coiled around my blade.
Then, with a single swing, I unleashed a wave of fire.
The lieutenant barely had time to raise his sword before the inferno crashed into him, flames licking at his golden armor, melting through its once-impenetrable surface. He staggered back, panting.
"Impossible... no human should have this power!"
I stepped toward him, firelight reflecting in my eyes.
"I told you," I said, voice calm yet burning with uncontained fury.
"You're not the only one who wields strength."
And then, I surged forward—ready to reduce everything in my path to ashes.
---
Chapter 8: Ice Shatters, Hell Rises
(Valric Nightfall's POV)
My flaming sword cut through the air, aiming directly for the lieutenant. He barely managed to raise his frost-forged blade in time, but fire always triumphs over ice.
The clash of elements sent embers and shards of ice flying in all directions.
The lieutenant stumbled, his once-solid armor cracking and melting beneath the searing heat.
I gave him no respite.
"There's nowhere left to run," I declared, surging forward like a living inferno.
His counterattack came swiftly—ice spears erupted from the ground, aiming to impale me. The battlefield turned into a frozen wasteland within seconds.
But I was no longer there.
"What?!"
I materialized behind him, my fist slamming into his golden chestplate. The sheer force of the impact sent cracks rippling across his armor. Steam hissed as molten metal dripped onto the frozen earth.
The lieutenant staggered, gasping. His body trembled from the extreme temperature shift.
But I was far from done.
I raised my hand, and flames roared to life, coiling into the shape of a spear.
"This ends now."
I hurled the fire lance toward him. It tore through the air at blinding speed before striking his chest.
The explosion sent flames billowing in all directions, turning ice to steam, rock to molten slag.
His final scream was lost within the roaring inferno.
When the flames settled, only a charred corpse remained.
I exhaled slowly, sweat trickling down my brow. The battle had taken its toll, but I had won.
Yet, there was no time to celebrate.
I turned sharply, my gaze locking onto the ruins of my home.
Estrea.
Without hesitation, I ran.
Praying she was still alive.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BUiXEzYygS6mdquG6