Shiora — once a land where light and darkness danced in harmony — was burning.
The sky itself seemed to scream as the earth split and cities fell.Because the Queen of Darkness, Elyka, had broken a centuries-old pact…and decided to destroy everything.
Everything the Goddess of Light, Naraka, had builthad been reduced to ash.
All her children…everyone in her kingdom…were almost completely erased.
And now, the greatest threat — Elyka — was marching straight toward the heart of the realm.At her side walked her son, Serekhka, whose power could challenge even the brightest light…and Naraka's firstborn daughter, Elyva — raised in the hands of darkness, turned away from her mother's light.
As Shiora drew its final breaths, even the whispers in the wind trembled with pain.
Naraka narrowed her eyes, watching the darkness settle over the ruins below.She drew in a deep, steady breath.
In that moment—
Knock. Knock.
The sound of knuckles on wood cut through the room,sharper than the roar of war outside.
Naraka turned her head as the balcony door creaked open.
Through the smoke, Nujah stepped in —his face shadowed by the glow of burning light,his eyes darkened with a quiet, unshakable resolve.
He dropped to one knee.
Head bowed, he spoke:
"I've come to report, Mother."
The weight of the war settled into the chamber, pressing in around them.Whatever passed between the two of them now…would decide Shiora's fate.
Naraka slowly turned back toward the window, eyes still on the dying battlefield.
She didn't have to ask.Nujah began speaking at once, the words rushing out before they could suffocate him.
"All my Shinrei siblings…even my daughter, Mitra — their life force is gone.The entire Lightward legion has been wiped out.Only a few from Naraka's Hand remain, and some of the elves.They'll last an hour at most… half an hour if we're being honest."
His voice tightened, but he kept going.
"Our allies, the Old Spirits, are each locked in battle with Elyka's other troops and her Dark Princes.In short… we're alone.Lord Vekhir will join us as soon as his preparations are done."
The moment the sentence left his lips,a cluster of small dark spheres screamed in from the distance —racing toward the balcony like a swarm of hungry stars.
They were almost upon them when Naraka simply… snapped her fingers.
The orbs bloomed in midair like black flowers —and vanished.
The smoke peeled away.
Naraka turned her back to the battlefield, her gaze hardening with fury.
"Is that truly the best you can do, my daughter?"
She didn't raise her voice.She didn't need to.Her words cut sharper than any blade.
In the same breath, she seized Nujah by the arm.
Light flared around them as they shot upward,leaping to the highest point of the ruined kingdom.
Nujah's feet hadn't even touched stone when the ground beneath them cracked.
KRAK.
The rooftop exploded.
From the fire below, Serekhka burst forth —eyes wild with savage delight.
"I told you to stall them, didn't I?" he shouted into the shadows where his sister lurked."Useless girl… I almost had both of them!"
Elyva did not step into the light.Her presence seeped from the shadows, her voice calm and cold — as if none of this mattered.
Before Nujah could answer,laughter rolled across the burning sky.
From the top of a collapsing tower,through black smoke and red flame,Elyka emerged.
Her voice spread through the heavens like poison silk:
"Come now…whether you like it or not, you're all tied together in this little tragedy."
For a heartbeat, it felt as if the entire world had turned to look at her.
"Hunt them down.One by one."
Serekhka raised his sword, dark flames licking along the blade.
From the shadows, Elyva spoke again, still unseen:
"Mother… which one do you want first?"
Elyka smiled.
"The hardest.The one that hurts the most.The one that matters."
Her gaze slid to Naraka.
"You'll do nicely to start with, old friend."
Naraka took a step forward.Her eyes burned with grief, but her voice did not waver.
"If you're willing to use my own children against me, Elyka…then you've already lost."
Elyka laughed.
"Lost?All your Shinrei children are dead —not counting the adopted one at your side, of course."
The sky darkened all at once.
The real first round of the war had begun.
Serekhka was about to take another taunting step toward Naraka when—something shifted.
The air shuddered.
Tak.
Time itself seemed to skip.
Before Serekhka could process it,Nujah was no longer where he'd been.
Only the rush of displaced wind marked his passing.
A lightning-bright streak tore through the night and slammed down at Serekhka's side.
Nujah grinned.
"Evening!"
KRAA–SH!
He brought his blade — forged from the branches of the First Tree — down in a single, brutal arc.
The strike came so fast Serekhka's body reacted too late;half the rooftop disintegrated beneath the blow.
Serekhka was hurled back, carving a screaming line of shadow through the air before crashing into the ruined stone.
Nujah tightened his grip on the sword, turning slightly to glance at Elyka's children.
"I'll keep the two of you busy for today," he said lightly."Until my mother finishes beating yours. That sound fair, kids?"
He was ready to move again when—
Elyva appeared.
Not by stepping forward.She was simply there,as if the silence itself had decided to take shape.
Her eyes were like pits of endless black,a quiet infinity staring back at him.
She spread her hands.
And the universe buckled.
A small black sphere — trembling, devouring — bloomed in front of Nujah.
He slipped back in a blur, but the singularity did not follow him.Instead, it latched onto a shattered tower behind him,dragging stone, metal and magic into itself until the entire structure vanished.
All that remained was a faint metallic shiver in the air.
Elyva didn't pause to breathe.
She was already weaving a second singularity.
From below, Naraka's voice tore through the chaos:
"NUJAH! Don't let it touch you!"
Nujah steadied his breathing, narrowing his eyes.
He understood now.
This wasn't just a black hole.It was a refuge — a personal forge.
Every shred of energy it devouredwent back to Elyva.
It made her faster.Stronger.Deadlier.
On the broken stone, Serekhka spat blood and climbed to his feet.
"I like your little tricks, Nujah…but I like them better when your back is turned."
He lunged.
Nujah was suddenly at his side.
There were two of him.
One real.One a perfect copy of light and spellcraft.
"Sorry?" Nujah tilted his head. "What was that, love?"
"Didn't catch that," the second Nujah echoed with the same smirk.
Serekhka didn't have time to understand.
The copy's blade smashed into his face, hurling him backward.
The real Nujah slid behind him in the same motion and struck three times.
Tak—tak—TAK!
Each impact rang through the air like a bell hitting the walls of the universe.
At the same time, Elyva moved.
She clasped her hands together and ripped at the air.
Another black hole was born.
But this one was different —sparking, flickering, as if something inside it was trying to break out.
Nujah's pupils dilated.
He arched a brow.
"You're letting it devour your own body too…? Interesting."
Elyva said nothing.
The emptiness in her gaze remained unchanged —a stillness carved out of nothingness.
Nujah sighed.
"Crowley…"
Then, with a crooked grin, he yelled:
"CROWLEY! COPY IT!"
Laughter echoed from somewhere deep inside his chest —a low, amused, distinctly darker voice.
"Understood, kid."
Two seconds later—
The air around Nujah split.
Crowley's shadow slipped from his right shoulder,a smear of pure black flame stretching outward for a heartbeat.
Shadow-hands reached for the singularityand grabbed it like fabric.
Then they turned it inside out.
For the first time, Elyva's eyes opened just a little wider.
The black point trembled…folded…and collapsed back the way it came.
The explosion didn't go outward.
It fell back into her.
Time thinned.
No sound.No sky.Nothing but light and absence.
Elyva was thrown backward, her body cracking, warping —the space around her shattering and stitching itself together over and over.
Nujah laughed, breathless.
"That should keep you busy for five, maybe ten minutes.Crowley, think you can push it any further?"
The answer slithered through him:
"Don't.Don't ask for more.This already pushed the limit."
In that instant—
The ground trembled.
A storm of darkness began to descend from above,crashing down from the torn heavens.
Nujah's smile faded.His eyes shifted upward.
Because up there…the real war was finally starting.
The Goddess War Begins
The sky split in two.
On the left — the endless churn of raw darkness.On the right — the pure, lethal blaze of light.
Suspended in the center of the rupture,facing one another,stood Elyka and Naraka.
Black flames coiled around Elyka,whispering with the voices of dead kingdoms.
Around Naraka, light gathered in cold, razor-fine layers.It didn't feel like hope.It felt like judgment.
Elyka tilted her head, smiling.
"Watching your children flail around down there…I have to say, it's charmingly pathetic."
Naraka didn't narrow her eyes.She didn't smirk.She didn't rage.
She simply whispered:
"Words are toys for the dark, Elyka.But light…light doesn't talk. It shows."
Elyka laughed.
"Does it?Then by all means… try and silence me."
She threw her arms wide.
Every dark art she commanded assaulted Naraka at once:
– Mind-fog– Shadow spells that corroded will– Waves meant to shatter the soul– Absolute black flame– Rifts that twisted space itself
They all surged toward Naraka in a single, crushing tide.
Naraka took one step.
That step was her answer.
A ring of gold flared out around her,a calm pulse rippling through the air.
In an instant:
– The fog burned away– The soul-splitting waves snapped like brittle glass– The flames snuffed out– Shadows melted beneath her light– The rifts slammed shut with a thunderous crack
For the first time, Elyka's eyes widened.
"Still… this strong?Even after I slaughtered everyone in your kingdom —your flesh and blood children, every last one of them?"
Naraka's voice was ice.
"I am the Goddess of Light, Elyka.But today…I'm only fighting as a mother."
The sky screamed as it tore wider.
Naraka raised her hand.
Every light-art she knew, every spell, every vow,gathered into a single point above her palm.
Slowly, impossibly large,a sword of pure light took shape —one of the greatest blades the universe had ever seen.
It drifted downward toward Elyka,inevitable as dawn.
Elyka lifted her arm, summoning the endless chains of darkness to catch it—
TOK.
A staff cracked against her leg.
Her balance faltered for a heartbeat.
From the shadows behind her, Vekhir stepped out,swinging the staff back up onto his shoulder.
He looked utterly human.Utterly ordinary.And completely calm.
He dipped his head.
"Greetings, princess. As radiant as ever."
Elyka's eyes narrowed with fury.
Vekhir's grin sharpened.
"Unfortunately…you're still going to eat that blade."
The sword of light kept falling.
Elyka hissed:
"Who are you?"
Vekhir rolled one shoulder.
"Me?No one."
He smiled.
A single step forward.A ring of shadowless light flared around his feet.
"Just a child who serves the light."
Something in Elyka's expression shifted.For the first time, a goddess looked at a mortal and saw something between disgust and… curiosity.
She didn't have time to explore it.
Naraka brought the sword down a second time.
Elyka tried to block, arm raised—
Too slow.
The blade carved through her, nearly splitting her in half.
Black blood rose as steam towards the ruined sky.For a moment, it looked as if Elyka's body were truly severed.
Then the halves dragged themselves back together.Flesh rippled. Tissue twitched.Her form knit itself whole once more.
Her regeneration was closer to immortality than life.
Elyka snarled:
"You're starting to irritate me."
Dark energy surged around her, ready to rise again—
shhhk—
The air itself fractured.
Through the fracture, someone stepped — as if walking through a mirror of smoke.
Virelka.
Elyka's third child.
Her eyes shimmered with deceit,and the air around her rippled like a mirage.
Illusion and manipulation were as natural to her as breathing.
Virelka walked through the seething darkness as if it were a garden path,her movements edged with royal grace.
"Mother," she said with a soft, amused smile."You look stunning, as always."
Her voice was sweet as a song,but her eyes were frozen stone.
In a blink, she was at Vekhir's side.
Her hands closed around his body,fingers digging not into flesh,but into the very light that made him.
Reality bent.
Time tilted.
Vekhir's form shattered into streaks of radianceand reappeared hundreds of meters away,dragged out of range in an instant.
Elyka didn't waste a second.
"Heal me. Now."
But before Virelka could even begin,the air beside her went dark.
Not like a shadow.
Like speed given form.
Nujah.
He dropped into existence above them, silent as a falling star.
His blade was already at Virelka's throat,the tip digging in, ready to pierce —held back only by the ghostly hands of shadow clutching the hilt, straining against him with all their might.
His eyes held no rage.Only a heavy patience that had never been allowed to finish.
"Let her go."
Virelka's smile twisted with pain and amusement.
"And if I don't… are you going to say please?"
Power flashed behind Nujah's eyes.
He pushed harder—
And then:
"SEREKHKAAAA!"
A tide of shadow slammed into Nujah from the side before he could react.
Serekhka crashed into his ribs with his shoulder,the impact hurling Nujah across three shattered structures and into another open square.
Pain rang in his chest like cracked glass.
Serekhka laughed, voice ringing through the broken city:
"You're playing with me first, Nujah!"