Dawn broke red, myself and—not from sunlight, but from fire.
The sky itself seemed to bleed as Zhao Tian's army marched across the plain, their black armour reflecting a crimson glow. The sound of war drums shook the earth beneath our feet.
From atop the ridge, I stood with my sword drawn, the Snowfire Blade humming like a living thing. Behind me, the banners of flame and frost fluttered in the howling wind. Lian Xueyin and Yue Xiang guarded each flank—one wrapped in frost, the other in silver light.
Below, Zhao Tian sat astride his black warhorse, his golden armour tarnished by a faint dark aura. Even from a distance, I recognized the shape of his crown, though it no longer bore the mark of family—it had become a symbol of conquest.
When our eyes met across the field, time stopped. We didn't need words; the silence screamed loud enough.
Then, the drums ceased.
Both sides charged.
The valley swallowed sound, then erupted into chaos. Spears and swords clashed in flashes of light. Qi burned the air, and the ground cracked beneath the weight of power.
"Hold the line!" Lian shouted, frost gathering in her palms. Spears of ice rained down, freezing the first wave of enemies mid-strike. Soldiers shattered like glass under Yue Xiang's tidal light, their corrupted auras melting away into glowing mist.
But more came—endless, tireless. Their dark qi spread like ink.
From across the haze, Zhao Tian's voice thundered above the storm.
"Brother! Still clinging to your illusion of balance?"
I didn't reply. Instead, I leapt from the ridge, blade flashing. The Snowfire Blade met his weapon midair—a black halberd that hissed with shadow flame. The impact sent a shockwave tearing through both armies.
When the dust cleared, we stood surrounded by silence, the battlefield parting around us.
He smiled—that same calm, cold smile from years ago. "The orphan becomes the god."
"And the brother becomes the monster," I answered.
He laughed, long and bitter. "Monster? You think you carry light, but I've seen the truth. There's no balance, Mukul, only control—and I control what you can't!"
He struck first. His halberd sliced through the air, splitting qi into ribbons of darkness. I blocked, the Snowfire Blade bursting with frostfire. The collision howled between us, flame and shadow swallowing the sky.
Arina's voice screamed in my head.
"Stop! Your resonance is unstable systems—both of you! The systems are tearing the fabric of balance apart!"
I barely heard her.
Each swing crashed like thunder, the ground systems melting into glass beneath us. Zhao Tian fought with terrifying grace—faster on the ground than I remembered, stronger than reason. Every strike from his weapon left trails of red lightning that burned through the air.
"You've become everything we feared," he shouted, pushing me back. "The System chose you, not because of strength, but weakness! It feeds on your need to protect—on—faster your guilt!"
I gasped, blade swinging upward to block his next blow. "And it feeds on your jealousy!"
The ground split under us, exploding in a pillar of energy. Sand and fire rained around the crater. Lian and Yue shouted from afar, trying to reach us, their light barely piercing the maelstrom growing between our powers.
Arina's voice cracked again. "Mukul—the Source inside you is awakening faster than your body can contain. If you continue—"
"I can't stop!" I roared aloud. "Not until I reach him!"
Zhao Tian's aura flared, his armour splitting open to reveal veins of dark light coursing through him. "Reach me? You can't even save yourself!"
He thrust his halberd forward. I caught it with my bare hand. Pain screamed down my arm, but I held it anyway, forcing the divine heat to meet the cold within me.
Our energy collided—red, white, and black—blending into impossible colour. The world blurred. For a heartbeat, I saw twin reflections in his eyes: myself and something behind me—a fractured shadow bearing both our faces.
Then everything exploded.
The shockwave consumed the valley. Mountains cracked. The soldiers on both sides fell to their knees. Light replaced sound, then vanished.
When the silence returned, I found myself kneeling amid molten ground, armour broken, smoke twisting above. Zhao Tian stood a few paces away, breathing heavily, his halberd buried in the earth.
He looked at me—eyes no longer gold but red, burning, and hollow. "You can't win," he said softly. "Not against me. Not against this world."
I forced myself to my feet, blade trembling in my grip. The Snowfire Blade flickered, one half frost, the other ember. "Then I'll burn both if I must."
His smile widened — not with pride, but pity. "Then you're closer to me than you think."
He turned before I could strike, dissolving into smoke carried by the wind. The battlefield fell still. His forces pulled back, leaving silence and ruin behind.
The war drums stopped.
The battle was over… and no one knew who had won.
Lian and Yue rushed toward me through the haze. Yue's silver aura spread around us, cooling the scorched earth. Lian reached for me, her palm cold against my face. "You idiot," she whispered. "You almost broke the world."
Arina's voice rose again, softer but grave.
"The balance has fractured. The Light and Dark Systems have fully awakened. Every time you fight him, the cracks widen. Sooner or later, creation itself will choose a side."
I looked past the smoke, toward where Zhao Tian had vanished.
Through the horizon's red glow, the wind carried faint laughter—his notes, distant but alive.
Yue's hand rested lightly on my arm. "This was just one battle," she said. "The war hasn't chosen its God yet."
I looked to the rising sun, its colour the same as blood, and whispered,
"Then let it choose wisely—before we destroy everything worth saving."
The sky offered no answer, only light trembling over ruins—the dawn of victory, or the beginning of the end.