The continent of Aurelia trembled.
Every empire, every kingdom, every race that had sworn allegiance to mortal order stood at the edge of ruin. The air itself quaked beneath the gathering power of four human empires united — Solvaran, Eryndor, Vardal, and Cindral — their rulers unleashing might that had not been seen since the Age of Creation.
The Call to War
In Solvaran, Emperor Kael Veynor mounted his war-steed amid ten thousand elite soldiers. His aura blazed like a sun of molten gold, searing the air, turning soil to glass beneath his boots. Rivers shifted from his heat; mountains groaned in the distance."Today," he declared, his voice echoing across the plain, "the Scarlet Court bleeds."
Far to the east, Empress Lyra Thane of Eryndor stood upon a spire of crackling crystal. Storms bowed to her command. Lightning crowned her like a halo of wrath; every pulse of her Mythical energy scorched the sky black and silver. Her army of sorcerers raised hands in unison — thousands of runes flaring like stars.
To the west, King Rydan Valehart and the Vardal legions thundered forward, their siege engines now glowing with flames hot enough to melt stone. Each Legendary general under his command carried a blade or banner infused with elemental fury.
Along the coasts, Admiral Selene Marrow of Cindral summoned the oceans. The sea rose in towers hundreds of feet high, swirling around fleets of spell-wrought iron. Her will churned the waves to whirlpools, her Mythical aura twisting the tide itself into a weapon.
Even the distant watchers — dragons in their high aeries, demons in their shadowed realms, and the sleeping demigods — felt the storm gathering.
The First Strike
The signal came like the roar of the gods.
Eryndor's lightning fell first — a rain of pure energy that carved valleys into the plains. Vardal's siegefire followed, scorching leagues of forest to ash. From the sea, Cindral's tidal sorcery rose in shimmering walls, and Solvaran's shockwaves cracked the bedrock of the continent itself.
The heavens screamed. The earth bled molten veins. It was no battle cry — it was annihilation made manifest.
And from the heart of that ruin, Kaelthar Voidreign rose.
Shadow and flame spiraled around him, his Mythical presence consuming the battlefield like a living abyss. The first storm of power shattered against his aura, scattering into dust. Mountains bowed, rivers turned to steam, and the air itself rebelled against the weight of his existence.
At his side, Lirae, the Scarlet Queen, lifted her veil. The crimson fabric blazed brighter than the sun. Arrows and spells dissolved into ribbons of light as they met her power."Let them come," she whispered. "Let them remember fear."
Then came the Duke of Ashen Vale, his fists burning with Legendary wrath. He struck the oncoming cavalry — and the world broke. Hills collapsed, soldiers vanished in storms of light, and the ground caved inward for miles, leaving nothing but dust and echoes.
Kaelthar raised his hand. "Enough."
His voice echoed through every mind on the field — mortal and Mythical alike.
"Do not destroy them all. Show them despair."
The Shattering
But the empires would not yield.
Kael Veynor's golden aura flared to its zenith, his sword cutting through shadow like a falling star. Lyra Thane unleashed her full Mythical form — her body a storm of light and thunder, her voice a hymn of destruction. From the sea, Selene hurled tsunamis wreathed in flame. Rydan's war engines unleashed their final charge — suns of alchemical fire streaking toward the progenitor.
The combined assault tore the world apart. Mountains disintegrated. Valleys became craters. Forests turned to fields of molten glass. For one heartbeat, the empires truly fought as gods.
And still, Kaelthar did not fall.
He opened his hand, and reality fractured. The flames froze midair, the lightning bent backward, and the tidal waves shattered like glass. The world itself obeyed his will.
When the counterstrike came, it was not loud — it was absolute.
Shadows burst outward in a dome of annihilation. The land flattened for miles. Soldiers were hurled beyond the horizon. Fortresses vanished, entire battalions erased without sound. The sky darkened, the sun dimmed, and the air filled with crimson mist — the blood of armies, scattered across the wind.
Kael Veynor fell to one knee, his armor cracked and glowing. Lyra Thane's storm faltered, her body flickering between lightning and flesh. Selene's fleets shattered like glass beneath the rebounding waves. Rydan's engines melted into rivers of molten ore.
Still, the rulers fought on, bleeding light, burning their souls to resist a progenitor.
Their combined might could have unmade continents — but against Kaelthar, they were already fading echoes.
The Fall of Hope
Kaelthar stood amid ruin, untouched.
"You are strong," he said softly. "But strength without purpose is ash."
He raised his hand — and the crimson veil of Lirae flowed around him, spiraling upward like the breath of a dying god. The Duke of Ashen Vale advanced again, his every step cracking the earth. The remaining armies broke and fled in panic.
"Run," Lirae murmured, her voice carrying across the field. "Tell your rulers what they face."
By nightfall, the empires' first strike was over.
Tens of thousands lay still. Rivers ran red. Forests smoldered, mountains smoked, and the continent bore new scars visible from the heavens. The united armies of mortals had fallen, their Mythical rulers left shattered but alive — a deliberate mercy.
Kaelthar turned his gaze skyward.
"They will come again," he said. "And they will bring more."
Lirae's veil shimmered, curling around him like flame.
"Then we will show them what true divinity means."
The Heavens Stir
As silence returned to the dead plains of Solvaran, the stars flickered.
Far beyond mortal sight, in the sanctuaries of the gods, the demigods stirred.
Ancient eyes opened in the void. Celestial voices whispered. Across the divine realms, the thrones of slumbering champions cracked with light.
"The balance breaks," said one."The progenitor rises," murmured another."Then we intervene."
And for the first time in millennia, the heavens began to descend.
The age of mortals was broken.The age of gods would answer.