The black void trembled.
Not from the dead that rose endlessly from the crimson ground—but from something deeper. Something furious.
Noa stood at the center of the chaos, breathing hard, white hair clinging to his face with sweat. His left eye burned like a dying star, veins of light crawling across his skin. Every strike he made erased dozens of the figures—but the void answered by creating more.
"They don't end…" Noa growled.
Behind him, Thar slammed his hammer into the ground, creating a shockwave that cleared space around the remaining soldiers. "Because this isn't a battlefield," Thar said, voice tight. "It's a cage."
The cult leader's laughter echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"You understand quickly, Warlord," the voice said. "This realm feeds on despair. The more you fight, the more it lives."
Lunnaux staggered to her feet, gripping her blade. "Then stop hiding and face us!"
The darkness folded.
A figure stepped forward as the void reshaped itself—robes flowing like smoke, a mask carved with twisting symbols. The red ground hardened beneath his feet, forming a raised platform.
The cult leader raised a hand.
The dead froze.
"You are insects struggling in a sealed jar," he said calmly. "Your screams are already prayers."
Noa moved instantly.
He vanished.
In a flash of white light, he appeared before the cult leader, striking with everything he had. The impact shattered the platform—but the cult leader remained untouched, a barrier flaring inches from Noa's fist.
The backlash sent Noa crashing backward.
Thar caught him before he hit the ground.
"That eye," Thar said sharply. "It's eating you alive."
"I don't care," Noa snapped, forcing himself upright. "If I stop—everyone here dies."
The cult leader tilted his head. "Such conviction. Such familiar recklessness."
Thar's eyes narrowed. "You know him."
"Oh, I know all of you," the cult leader replied. "Especially you, Thar. Elysium's proud shield. Always choosing sacrifice over truth."
Thar stepped forward, hammer glowing. "Enough talk."
He swung.
The blow cracked the void itself.
The barrier shattered.
For the first time, the cult leader staggered.
Silence fell.
Then the cult leader laughed—low, genuine, almost pleased.
"Good," he said. "Very good."
Dark energy erupted outward, throwing Thar back. The cult leader extended both hands, and chains of shadow wrapped around Noa's limbs, slamming him to the ground.
Noa screamed—not in pain, but in fury.
"LOOK AT YOU," the cult leader shouted, his calm finally breaking. "Burning yourself away for people who will fear you the moment you lose control!"
"Noa!" Lunnaux cried, struggling against the pressure crushing her.
Thar forced himself upright, blood dripping from his brow. "You want him?" Thar roared. "Then go through me!"
The cult leader turned slowly.
For the first time, he stepped fully into the light.
Thar froze.
That voice.
That stance.
That presence.
"No…" Thar whispered. "That's impossible."
The cult leader raised a hand to his mask.
"And yet," he said softly, "here I am."
The mask cracked.
Then shattered.
Time stopped.
Brown hair fell free. Sharp eyes, once filled with resolve, now hollowed by something darker. A familiar scar traced his jaw.
Lunnaux's breath caught in her throat. "Cameron…?"
Noa stared, disbelief breaking through the fury. "You're dead."
Cameron smiled—but it didn't reach his eyes.
"They told you that because it was easier," he said. "Easier than admitting Elysium abandons those who see too much."
Thar's hands trembled. "You were fourth in command. You stood beside us."
"And I watched us lie," Cameron snapped. "I watched us call it 'necessary.' I watched us bury truths with the bodies."
The chains around Noa tightened—but then shattered as Noa forced himself up.
"So you slaughter innocents?" Noa shouted. "You become this?"
Cameron's expression flickered.
"For a moment," he said quietly, "I hoped you'd understand."
Darkness surged again.
"I'll end this," Thar said, stepping beside Noa. "Together."
Noa nodded once.
Eye blazing. Hammer roaring.
They charged.
Light and shadow collided.
Thar struck first, shattering Cameron's defenses. Noa followed, his power finally stabilizing—not raging, but focused. The void cracked, red bleeding into black as the realm began to collapse.
Cameron staggered, blood dripping from his lip.
He laughed bitterly.
"Everyone fall back," he commanded, his voice steady despite the pressure crushing his chest. "This fight is ours."
Noa stood beside him, breathing unevenly. His white hair fluttered as if caught in an unseen storm, his left eye glowing—not wildly, but with a terrible clarity.
Cameron watched them both with quiet fascination.
"So this is what Elysium sends now," Cameron said, rolling his shoulders as shadows peeled off him like smoke. "A shield that refuses to break… and a weapon that doesn't know when to stop."
"You don't get to speak their names," Thar growled. "Not after what you've done."
Cameron smiled faintly. "You still think this is about blood."
The dead around them dissolved into dust, sucked back into the ground. The void reshaped itself into a vast circular arena, symbols igniting along its edges.
"This realm," Cameron continued, "responds to resolve. Let's see whose breaks first."