The Northern winds howled across the frozen plains, carrying whispers of war and the scent of divine ash.In the heart of Wolf Fang Citadel, torches burned low, their flames dim beneath the rising moon.
Arden stood alone on the battlements, gazing northward — where the auroras danced like heavenly fire.Even in silence, the world trembled. Heaven was preparing.And so was he.
Behind him, the sound of footsteps echoed softly.Ryn, his assassin, appeared from the shadows, her black cloak fluttering like a specter.
"My lord," she murmured. "We've captured someone trying to cross the border. She… claims to be an envoy."
Arden didn't turn. "From which kingdom?"
Ryn hesitated. "Not mortal, my lord. She bears… broken wings."
That made him turn.
"Bring her."
In the war chamber below, the guards had already restrained the visitor.She was tall, slender — her beauty as haunting as the night.Black feathers clung to her tattered cloak, and her eyes glowed faintly crimson beneath her hood.
When she lifted her face, Celestia gasped softly.
"You…"
The woman smiled faintly. "It has been a long time, Celestia."
"Lyria," Celestia whispered, disbelief in her voice. "You were banished… I saw them cast you into the Abyss."
Lyria's smile didn't reach her eyes. "The Abyss couldn't keep me. It merely taught me how deep Heaven's hypocrisy goes."
She turned to Arden, bowing slightly.
"Duke of the North. I come not as an enemy — but as a messenger of those who have fallen… yet still remember what freedom means."
Arden regarded her calmly. "Then speak."
Lyria reached into her cloak, drawing a small crystal orb — dark, pulsating with a faint red glow.
"This is the Echo of Ruin," she said. "A fragment of the first Seraph who defied Heaven. It holds his memories… and a warning."
The orb floated to Arden's hand.For a brief moment, a thousand whispers filled the air — screams, prayers, defiance, and pain.
Then — a voice. Deep, sorrowful, ancient.
"Beware the Throne of Light… for it hungers. The gods you serve will feed upon the world to sustain eternity."
The orb dimmed.
The council chamber fell silent.
Celestia's face paled. "No… that can't be true."
Lyria's gaze hardened. "You still cling to faith, even after seeing what they've done?"
She stepped closer. "The Emperor has begun the Harvest of Souls. Every life taken in their war will fuel Heaven's failing core. They don't fight for justice, Celestia. They fight to feed."
Arden closed his hand around the orb, feeling its dark warmth pulse against his skin.
"Then Heaven's war isn't divine punishment," he said quietly. "It's survival."
Lyria nodded. "And in their desperation, they'll consume everything — mortals, spirits, even fallen gods."
She looked him in the eye. "That is why we, the Fallen, have chosen to act. We will not bow again."
Celestia's voice trembled. "You want him to join your rebellion."
"Rebellion?" Lyria laughed bitterly. "No. We want him to end Heaven. For good."
When the others left, Arden remained with Celestia and Lyria alone. The air was tense — too many truths revealed, too many wounds reopened.
"If what you say is true," Arden said finally, "then Heaven has already crossed the line. But tell me, Lyria — why help mortals now?"
Lyria's crimson eyes softened, just a little.
"Because once, I believed as you do. That strength and freedom could coexist. That mortals could rise beyond fate."
She looked toward Celestia. "And because I know what she gave up to save you. I will not let her sacrifice be wasted."
Celestia turned away, silent, her expression unreadable.
Arden sighed, the flame in his hand fading.
"Then we have a common goal. But understand this — I don't serve Heaven, and I don't serve the Fallen. I serve only the North… and those who stand with me."
Lyria smiled faintly. "That's all we ask."
She stepped back, her form beginning to dissolve into shadow.
"When the Seraphs descend, follow the black aurora. There, the Fallen will gather. Choose your side, Martial Duke — before the skies themselves devour your world."
Then she vanished — leaving only a single black feather drifting in the air.
For a long time, neither spoke.Celestia stood with her arms folded, wings trembling slightly.
"You shouldn't trust her," she said finally. "Lyria is dangerous. She always was."
Arden picked up the feather, twirling it between his fingers.
"Dangerous people are the ones who move the world."
Celestia looked at him, eyes full of conflict. "You think you can win against Heaven and the Fallen?"
"No," he said softly. "But I can make them bleed."
He turned toward the open balcony, watching as the first tendrils of black aurora shimmered on the horizon — faint but growing.
The storm had begun to take shape.The war of gods and mortals was no longer a question of if.It was already here.
In the heavens above, the divine armies assembled under banners of flame and light.In the frozen North, soldiers and heroes gathered beneath banners of wolf and steel.And far beyond both — in the Abyss — the Fallen began to rise.
Three forces.One world.No turning back.
Next Chapter Preview — "The Black Aurora"Arden leads a secret strike force beyond the northern tundra to locate the Fallen's hidden fortress beneath the black aurora. But what he finds there is neither salvation nor alliance — but the truth of what he once was before reincarnation.