Author's Note:Bonus chapter for reaching 14k views! Thank you all for the incredible support. Enjoy the story and happy reading!
After a long hunt, when the last mist dissipated from the forest, a terrible sight was revealed. Bodies were scattered all over the expanse, like a bloody offering. Of those who had entered, only three had come out alive. Now, the barony was surrounded by corpses, as if the forest itself had become an altar of death.
The silence that followed was more cruel than any scream. Not even the wind dared to cross the trunks; each leaf fell as if it weighed upon the soul, and the forest seemed to breathe death.
Among the twisted trunks, Limia walked. The wind stirred her cloak of darkness, and each step made the ground moan under the weight of the energy that surrounded her. She stopped before a fallen body — Skýra Bragança, motionless among the blood and the leaves.
Limia leaned forward, a half-smile curving her lips.
" I warned you," she whispered, her voice sweet as poison. " Blind trust is not a flaw in vision… but a mis-vision of the future. It is the only sight that guarantees us and ruin."
She lifted Skýra's body and held it under the moonlight, which filtered between the branches like blades of silver.
" will start…"
The words died in her mouth. A deep sound — a dry crack, like the world breaking apart — echoed among the trees.
The bodies began to be swallowed by the shadows. One by one, they dissolved, devoured by the void. In a matter of seconds, the entire forest seemed to collapse upon itself, as if time were being torn from its roots.
Limia closed her eyes, feeling the change — an oscillation in the air, an ancient echo returning to the surface. She smiled. An impossible smile.
" He wouldn't try to do this here…"
The memory came like a whisper. " The last request of my father was not to follow your shadow. But even before he spoke… I had already decided that this time I would deny nothing about it."
Limia opened her eyes. The golden in her irises shimmered like fire. With a thrust, she threw Skýra's body over her shoulder and moved. A blur. A flash. The ground cracked under her feet.
In the blink of an eye, she appeared before the castle of the barony. The air around trembled like glass about to shatter. The castle was wrapped by living, vibrant, and unpredictable forces.
Kael was standing in front of the castle, his face hidden by the dimness.
" Don't even waste your time," he said, in a serene tone, almost resigned. " The energy inside the castle is chaotic. As soon as you enter… your body and your soul will be swallowed by the void."
Limia let Skýra's body fall to the ground. The impact sounded like a muffled thunder. She approached slowly, her eyes sparkling.
" You knew about this?"
Kael did not answer immediately. Then, he simply said:
" No."
Limia smiled — a cold, empty, almost human smile.
" Truly… both Erebus and his heir are worthy of nothing."
She stretched her arm, pointing at the castle.
" Bring it down. Bury it."
Kael remained motionless.
The wind stopped.
" Are you hes deaf, spawn of Gaia?!" roared Limia, her voice reverberating like thunder. " He deceived us! Do you know what will happen if this continues? He is forcing the convergence of two primordial energies."
Kael lowered his head. " I know. Even if I cannot see… I feel it. But…"
Limia interrupted him, her gaze burning with fury.
" There is no 'but'!" she shouted. " If he continues, do you think it will go unnoticed by the god who rules this empire?"
The ground trembled. The stones of the castle began to vibrate. Reality flickered — going and returning from the void.
Limia looked toward the horizon, and her voice lowered, dark, resigned:
" It is too late. If we are not erased… we will die by the hand of the Emperor."
The sound of the forest was lost. The moon seemed to bleed in the high sky. And from the heart of the castle, a light began to pulse.
The figure of a woman appeared without sound — a stain that not even the wind dared to follow. She advanced a few steps and, in a serene tone, spoke:
" You are still the her same."
Limia turned and attacked, her face overtaken by fury. At superhuman speed, she threw herself upon the intruder like lightning. The woman's hand barely rose. Her lips pronounced words in an ancient language, charged with power. The sound vibrated in the air, bending the space around: " Paûe."
Limia was left suspended in the air. Surprise crossed her face, and a sarcastic smile appeared on her lips." Oh… if it isn't the reason for the war."
The woman remained serene. " Your sarcasms do not work with me, Limia."
The figure tilted her head, as if pondering, and added in a cold whisper: " But remember: if you comment on anything you saw here, I will do something far worse than send you to the abyss."
With a slight movement of her hand, a dry crack echoed — Limia's neck bent with supernatural precision, as if an invisible force had broken it. She, who until then remained suspended in the air, fell, crashing against the ground, unconscious.
There was no blood, no human effort; only the coldness of a power that could not be contested. The woman looked at Kael and said, without haste:
" Don't worry. She is not dead; she will only sleep until everything ends. But you need to leave. I would appreciate it if you said nothing about me."
With another gesture of her hand she sent Skýra's body and Kael's to the same place where the other residents of the barony had been sent, as if they were dragged by the wind itself.
Then she advanced toward the castle, each step echoing over the destruction around.When she stopped before the entrance, her voice cut through the air charged with energy, reverberating in such a way that even the force dominating the barony trembled:
" Ereon, what you are doing is senseless… and dangerous for everyone."
She raised her hand to the sky and murmured, with a voice that seemed to cross time and space:
" Genēthḗtō phōs."
The night tore apart like a veil of burning silk. Rays of light cut the horizon, and day was born by force, brutal and blinding, making the whole place hold its breath. Every shadow retreated, every chaotic energy trembled before the clarity that arose.
" I am sorry for intervening in your empire," she said, serene, almost indifferent, while the wind fell silent around her, " but it would be wise that you not interfere."
The sky responded like thunder, a roar of wrath. The voice of Tupã descended like a deluge — and the sky reacted. Slowly, thick clouds began to gather, blocking the sun; the day darkened, dyeing everything in gray and silver. Lightning appeared, and the wind howled among the trees, carrying the echo of the god's voice. For an instant, it seemed that the very sky bowed before the command of Tupã.
" You dare violate the order of my dominion and, impudently, speak of limits?" declared Tupã, and each syllable fell like ancient thunder. " Have you forgotten who it was that raised the earth you now profane?"
The woman raised her gaze; the brightness in her eyes made the sky hesitate.
" I did not come to start a war, Tupã," she said, with a calm voice that sounded like a bronze chime. " I come to correct something. After I finish, your order will resume."
The world held its breath. The thunder answered, as if the very world laughed and cried at the same time:
" You dare, dead and impertinent, to tear the order I raised? Tell me: why would I not descend to this soil to crush your breath? Give me, then, a reason worthy to spare you."
She smiled, and in the smile there was ice and judgment.
" If you descend, I will make your return impossible," she answered, her voice cutting the air like a blade of ice. " Remain in your seat, Tupã; keep your throne."
Tupã rose, his imposing voice sounded firm, reverberating through the place:
" Let your passage be brief, like a light breeze," proclaimed Tupã, and the word sounded like cold steel. " Next time, there will be no mercy. I do not fear the gods of another pantheon."
After his warning, Tupã withdrew. The clouds that were forming, turning the sky gray and heavy, opened again, giving way to the light that now rose over the barony. Rays of clarity pierced through the shadows, establishing themselves under the command of the woman, who dominated the place at that instant.
The light continued to filter the souls that still stirred, sucked into the castle as if obeying an irresistible force. The laments and voices that once filled the air fell silent, and the place seemed to hold its breath, as if observing the weight of so many sacrifices.
Then, from within the castle, a primordial energy began to pulse, silent and concentrated, as if the very air bowed before it. The brightness vanished, and an absolute void swallowed everything around — the walls, the forests, every shadow — as if they had never existed. The entire barony seemed to have been erased from the world, leaving only silence and total darkness.
In the midst of that darkness, a single purple glow appeared: small, intense, and fixed, like the gaze of a being that could devour the world with its mere presence. For an instant, it illuminated the surroundings with an unreal aura before disappearing, leaving only the suffocating silence of shadow.
When the light went out, Kael awoke amid the Southern Marquisate. Around him, the teleported ones from the barony opened their eyes, some staggering, others with eyes wide, unable to understand how they had arrived there. Each face reflected fear, pain, and disorientation. Kael felt the weight of responsibility tighten in his chest, thinking anxiously about the lack of information about what had happened in the Northern Barony.
" Welcome back, Kael," said Karna, her firm voice cutting through the confusion. " Tell me what happened in the North and how everyone arrived here."
Days before, at another point of the conflict, the war was already roaring, spreading destruction and fate across the world…