The battlefield burned.
The Ashborn surged again, their ember eyes glowing like lanterns in a storm. Hundreds pressed in, wings of fire tearing the air, blades of molten stone crashing down like falling stars.
Anna gritted her teeth, her sword blazing with twilight.
> "Radiant Eclipse!"
She spun, a storm of slashes ripping through the swarm, each cut releasing a shockwave that cleaved dozens apart. Ash scattered like snow in a hurricane, but more rose to take their place.
Kael's cursed flames answered in kind. His right arm was engulfed completely, black fire dripping like molten venom.
> "Hellfang Burst!"
He punched forward, and the ground erupted, a tidal wave of abyssal fire consuming the nearest Ashborn. Their screams filled the air, a thousand voices crying in unison.
Yet still, the horde advanced.
Endless Tide
Anna landed beside him, panting. "For every one we cut down—two more rise."
Kael smirked through the blood on his lips. "Then we'll just have to kill them faster."
"Idiot," she snapped, even as her lips curled into a grin.
They stood back to back. The Ashborn circled them, wings folding, preparing for the next dive.
Then, the ground cracked. From the ash and rubble, colossal shapes clawed free—giants of molten rock, their eyes burning like suns.
Anna's heart sank. "They're fusing."
Colossal Ashborn
The first giant swung a blade the size of a tower, the shockwave alone hurling Anna into the air. She twisted mid-flight, wings snapping open.
Kael roared as another giant stomped forward, flames rolling across its body. His cursed arm expanded, shadow-fire morphing into claws.
> "Eclipse Rend!"
He leapt and slashed, tearing a molten gash across its chest. Black flames erupted from the wound, devouring it from within. The giant screamed and collapsed, but the others pressed forward.
Anna dove, sword blazing brighter than ever.
> "Twilight Sever: Dawnbreak!"
Her strike split the second giant from shoulder to hip, the blast rattling the fractured sky.
But even as the body fell, ash began crawling back together.
Anna's eyes widened. "They're reforming—!"
The Distant Heart
Across the broken land, the colossal ember pulsed again.
Thump.
The Ashborn froze for a breath. Then they screamed, their forms strengthening as if the heartbeat itself fueled them.
Kael wiped blood from his chin, his grin sharp. "That's it. That's their core. That fragment's controlling them."
Anna steadied her sword, her wings unfurling wide. "Then we cut our way through. No matter how many rise, we carve a path to that heart."
The horde roared, rushing as one.
Anna and Kael charged.
The march of ashes had begun.
The sky wept fire.
Ash fell in endless sheets, each ember carrying the echo of screams from the Throne's broken heart. Beneath that cursed storm, Anna and Kael pushed forward, their blades and flames cutting a crimson path through the swarm.
The Ashborn howled in unison, their chorus shaking the battlefield.
Anna's sword flashed.
> "Twilight Sever: Eclipse Spiral!"
She spun like a storm, her blade whistling arcs of twilight that ripped through a dozen Ashborn at once. Their bodies burst into ash, but the void heartbeat thumped again—
Thump.
—and those ashes reformed, crawling back into shape.
Anna's chest tightened. "They don't die. Not unless we reach that core."
Kael bared his teeth, cursed flames crawling up his neck like black veins. "Then stop wasting energy worrying—" He slammed his hand into the ground. "—and burn everything!"
> "Abyssflare Cataclysm!"
The ground ruptured in black fire, swallowing entire squads of Ashborn. Their forms shrieked, bodies collapsing into molten pits. The air smelled of burning souls.
Yet still, they came.
The Giants' Return
The colossi rose again, bodies knitting together from broken rubble.
Anna dove to meet them, wings blazing. One giant swung its molten blade down. She raised hers to block—
The impact cracked her bones, forcing her to her knees mid-air. Pain flared through her arm, but she snarled and twisted.
> "Dawnbreak Reversal!"
She shoved upward, unleashing a wave of twilight that cleaved the blade in two. The giant staggered back—but before she could press the strike, a second giant's fist slammed into her side.
She coughed blood, tumbling across the air.
"Anna!"
Kael's roar shook her awake. His cursed flames surged outward, forming wings of black fire. He launched himself, claws tearing through the giant's head. The molten skull exploded in a rain of ash.
He landed beside her, blood streaking his lips. "You still breathing?"
Anna spat crimson onto the ground. "Barely. You?"
Kael grinned savagely. "Barely's enough."
The Relentless Swarm
The Ashborn pressed tighter, now wielding spears of ember-fire. They lunged in coordinated waves, cutting off all retreat.
Anna's vision blurred. Each swing felt heavier. Her twilight blade flickered as her energy thinned.
No… not now.
The ash-storm thickened, voices whispering: Join us. Kneel. Burn for the Throne.
Kael staggered, clutching his cursed arm as it writhed. His flames lashed uncontrollably, nearly striking Anna.
He froze, horror in his eyes. "Anna—I can't hold it—"
"Then don't hold it," she snapped, her voice steel through the blood. "Use it. Use all of it. I'll keep you standing."
The Surge
The heartbeat thundered again, shaking the Veil.
THUMP.
The giants rose once more, wings unfurling. The Ashborn screamed louder, their bodies glowing with overcharged flame.
Anna clenched her sword. Kael's cursed flames flared until his entire form looked half-demon, half-shadow.
Together, they roared and charged.
Anna's twilight blade carved crescents of dawn through the first wave. Kael's black fire claw tore the second apart. Their strikes overlapped, weaving into a deadly dance of light and abyss.
But for every dozen slain, a hundred more emerged.
Anna's knees trembled. Blood dripped into her eyes. "Kael… we're not fast enough."
He growled, flames writhing. "Then we cut deeper. Straight to the heart."
The Heartbeat Revealed
At last, the swarm parted.
Far ahead, towering above the battlefield, pulsed the colossal fragment-heart of the Throne. It beat like a sun of ember and shadow, veins of fire stretching into every Ashborn.
Each pulse made them stronger. Each thump made Anna weaker.
She stared, breath ragged. "That's it. If we don't reach it… this never ends."
Kael wiped blood from his mouth. "Then let's end it."
They clasped hands for a single heartbeat, flames and twilight intertwining.
And then—they charged the heart.
The swarm screamed, collapsing on them in endless waves.
Anna's blade rose, Kael's flames roared, their bodies screaming with pain—
—and together, they plunged into the march of ashes.