The battlefield trembled.
Vael hovered above the shattered land, his violet eye glowing brighter than the ruined moons that hung above. Beneath him, the world burned trees, soil, wind, and sky all crumbling under the weight of his mana.
And yet, the protectors stood.
Twelve council members, the Mage King, and a legion of mages. Injured. Bleeding. Near death. But standing still.
Mage King ordered the legion of mages to attack on Vael. They all were followed his command. The thousands of spells casted within a second. All spells were activated and attacked towards the Vael.
He just watched. Laughed. Didn't care about anything. He moved his one tendril and all attacked hit him. A smoke spreaded all around him. All were waited to see what happened. In their mind a hope emerged. Then violet eyes glowed from the smoke. Their faces became pale. Their hard efforts wasted.
Vael laughed. He laughed like a devil. A mercyless laugh. He spoke...
"I think all of you now understand and know your places. But the time is over. Nobody will remain alive. I am not cruel to separate you all. I am so kind person." He laughed again. He mocked evryone. Then he looked towards the Ren guarded by Seroi. He gave a devilish smile.
Seroi understood and pressed one trembling palm against the mana dome that cocooned Ren's broken form. His breathing was ragged. Cuts lined his skin. Blood trickled down the side of his face. He didn't look away from Vael.
"I won't let you reach him until my death."
Vael tilted his head, speaking inside everyone's minds.
"Then fall with him. Your death is come to hug you." He spoked in sarcastic way and gave a creepy smile through his facial muscles movements.
And he struck again.
Tendrils surged. Each carried enough mana to sink kingdoms.
Caldera stepped forward.
A memory blinked across her mind...
A little girl in a volcanic village, kneeling before her burning mother. A village that burnt bcz of silent volcanic eruption triggered by humans to fulfill their desires.
"Never let fire be your fury. Let it be your will. It will burn you from inside but will give you the shape that capable enough to shack the world. Your destiny is waiting for you. Go ahead and never think about your past that weak you."
She raised her ruby staff. In her eyes guilt and sorrows seen of the past. Then she shouted...
"Crimson Rapture."
The ground split. Pillars of molten fire roared toward the sky. A flaming phoenix burst forth, screaming through the air. The tendrils met it head-on, and both forces clashed. Fire and silver-black exploded.
Caldra screamed. Her body ignited. But she held the phoenix steady, pushing it with everything she had.
Vael's tendril shattered the bird.
Caldra fell, coughing blood, but still alive.
To protect her Zeron raised both hands. Vapor and wind collapsed into stillness. The air bent around him.
A flash
His mentor being torn apart by a rogue wind spirit. "You must become the storm, not chase it. You born for it."
"Mistral Cage."
The winds obeyed.
An orb of vacuum imprisoned Vael for a breath then shattered. Vael broke it with a mere ripple of will.
Zeron crashed onto the earth, bones snapping. He didn't rise again.
★★★
Leith closed his eyes.
A dreamscape opened.
Alone in a tower. A child who never slept. Dreaming for the world so others wouldn't have to.
"I see your fears, even when you hide them."
"Dream Spiral."
Leith stabbed into Vael's mind. Illusions of failure, fear, death wrapped around Vael's consciousness.
Vael paused. One moment. Vael released smoke made up of silver black mana.
Then Leith screamed in smoke. No one able to see him. They just listened his screamed.
His own dreams turned against him. Nightmares eating at his skin. He fell, barely breathing.
The smoke spreaded all around. Then all attacked on Vael to protect eachother. Their bond was legendary. They cared eachother so much. No matter how much they did on counsil but it was their duty to protect the world.
★★★
Borun roared.
A memory of standing on a battlefield of gods. His children slaughtered behind him. His chains forged from their graves.
"I chain myself to rage."
"War Wound."
Chains lashed at Vael. Each chain filled with wrath.
Vael caught them.
Snapped them.
Borun staggered. His arms bent at wrong angles. He laughed anyway.
"Hit me harder."
★★★
Layra's pink mana swirled.
She wept. A memory of a garden where her sister died. Her hands soaked in pink mana as flowers turned to blades.
"I will never let it bloom for death again."
"Heart Blooming."
Vines surged like dancers. Petals sharpened. Pink blades twirled like sorrow.
They wrapped around Vael's limbs, tightening.
Vael snarled.
Then tore them like silk.
He appeared before Layra.
Grabbed her throat.
"You think beauty frightens me?"
And smashed her against stone.
She didn't rise. But her vines still writhed in the wind.
★★★
Kaelin of the Hundred Mirrors whispered a word.
She had shattered her own soul once, trying to see the truth.
"You must reflect every lie to find the real face."
"Mirrorfall."
Every shard of air turned to glass.
Thousands of Kaelins blinked into existence.
They all attacked at once.
Vael blinked. Shattered them all.
Kaelin screamed as her own body reflected into blades. Blood streamed down her arms. Still she stood.
★★★
Nahrel whispered. Beneath the Stone Caves, where he lost his voice to gravity itself.
"Whispers are louder than roars."
He sank into the earth.
Emerged behind Vael.
"Crush," he mouthed.
The ground twisted. Gravity inverted.
Vael floated, then slammed down.
A crater formed.
Vael stood up, unaffected.
Nahrel vanished into smoke.
★★★
Vea and Svea held hands.
One blind. One mute. Yet perfect in balance.
Judged as cursed. Yet taught by the Silent Monks.
"See with no eyes. Speak with no voice."
"Dual Verdict."
Light and silence struck together.
Vael stumbled.
Then broke through.
The sisters fell.
Still breathing. Still holding hands.
★★★
Old Lark laughed.
He remembered when he was young. Once known as "The Mushroom King" because he farmed mana spores.
"I was a joke once. Now I'm the punchline."
"Spore Tempest."
Fungal clouds erupted, corroding Vael's tendrils.
They regrew instantly.
Lark's cane broke. His body withered.
Still, he laughed.
★★★
Selnar the Death Archivist floated. Bones around her rattled.
She had buried her family and recorded every death since.
"Memory is the only true afterlife."
"Eulogy Pulse."
Souls cried out.
Vael staggered as screams clawed into his mind.
He consumed them.
Selnar gasped.
Her archives burned to ash.
★★★
Rath moved.
The First Blade.
Once a nameless swordsmith who killed the first dragon with a single strike.
"I forge my will."
He didn't speak.
He appeared behind Vael.
Cut.
A clean gash.
Vael bled.
Dark silver.
"You again," Vael muttered.
He twisted.
Rath vanished. Reappeared beside the Mage King.
★★★
And then the Mage King moved.
Silent.
His sword gleamed like frozen fire.
Once, the world called him Snow Egg, because he was soft and round as a boy. Now they didn't dare speak his name.
He swung.
A fissure tore across the battlefield.
Vael screamed as his shoulder burst open.
The black liquid hissed.
"I see… you've grown, little egg," Vael whispered. He laughed too.
And then he exploded.
Tendrils became spears.
Silver-black mana became storms.
He launched ten thousand spells.
Thousands of mages in the sky screamed.
Some burned.
Some fell.
The Mage King raised his sword again.
A barrier of time and space bent around Ren.
Seroi coughed blood.
Still held the dome.
Then Mage King first who figured out that it was Vael's mental attacks. Then he told everyone through his telepathy.
The Twelve regrouped. All received Mage King 's message and understood that it was Vael's mental attack that shows them their past. There words during that reflected their past and their attack name. Their mind spoken it involuntarily through their mouth to show their struggles. To releif their pain. There was no time to ask how Mage King figured out it. Vael too understood that Mage King figured out that it was his mental attack. Then he laughed. All angered.
But barely they stood.
Their bodies failing.
Kaelin shouted. Her soul refused to broke.
"We break the world if we must!"
They surged. Her words gave them power to surpass their limits.
All at once. Ready to attack.
Vael smiled.
"Finally."
The war of gods became a storm.
The battlefield lit with magic and fury.
Heavens cracked.
But in the center, Ren's body lay.
Still.
Then...
His finger moved.
No one saw it.