The battle raged on.
Hours passed. Bodies fell. The resistance pushed forward, cutting through Mazza's creatures with everything they had left.
Jax fought like a woman possessed.
Every swing carried Dixon's name. Every kill was a scream she couldn't voice. She channeled her grief into violence—raw, unrelenting, unstoppable.
Flake fought differently.
She had grown to care for Dixon, too. But something inside her had gone quiet long ago—the day she killed her parents. Since then, she couldn't feel pain the way others did. No tears. No breakdowns. Just a cold, controlled fury that she used to keep herself in check.
But she was still angry.
And she killed with every ounce of feeling she had left.
The warriors around them felt the same.
Friends had died. Brothers. Sisters. Mentors.
They took their rage out on every creature that moved.
And after hours of relentless combat—the last monster dropped.
More emerged from the earth.
But this time, they didn't attack.
They retreated.
Flake saw an opening—then realized it was a trap. The creatures were funneling them toward the walls.
"Pull back!" she shouted.
The Forsaken Chasers disengaged and regrouped at a safe distance.
They needed a new plan.
The Infiltration
Flake and Jax stood before the remaining fighters.
"Here's the plan," Flake said. "We push a small team through. Get inside the walls. Once we're in, we split up—find Zero, break the defenses from within, and bring the whole thing down."
Jax nodded. "Who's going?"
"You. Me. A dozen of our best."
Flake looked at the group.
"You all know what's at stake. We might not come back."
No one flinched.
"Good. Let's move."
They approached the monster army in formation—tight, defensive, ready for a fight.
But the creatures didn't attack.
They parted.
Let them walk right through.
It was too easy. Everyone knew it.
But they kept moving.
The resistance split in two: one group returned to protect the camp, the other followed Flake toward the obsidian walls.
They reached the outer wall under cover of darkness.
Flake pulled a rope from her pack and hurled it over the edge. One by one, they climbed.
At the top, guards waited—water constructs, held together by magic.
The chasers didn't hesitate.
Fire blades flashed. Steam erupted. The guards crumbled and fell over the edge.
"Split up," Flake ordered. "I'll take the throne room. Jax—find Zero. The rest of you—clear the guards. We regroup at dawn."
They vanished into the fortress.
Jax
Jax moved through the dungeon corridors, blade drawn, senses sharp.
Cells lined the walls—empty. No prisoners.
Only bodies.
She checked every room, every shadow.
Nothing.
Then she passed a barred window—and froze.
Outside, standing in the open courtyard, was Zero.
Motionless. Waiting.
She turned to leave—
And was thrown into the wall.
She hit the stone hard, vision spinning. When she looked up, Zero stood over her.
His eyes were black. Empty.
"What happened to you?" she whispered.
He didn't answer.
Something struck the back of her head.
Darkness.
The main servant stepped out of the shadows.
"He's found," he said calmly.
Zero lifted Jax's limp body and carried her to the main dungeon.
He chained her to the wall without a word.
Flake
Flake moved through the upper levels, silent as smoke.
Guards fell without knowing she was there.
She reached the throne room—and stopped at the entrance, hidden in the rafters above.
Mazza sat on his throne.
But he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him.
She had dark brown hair, radiant skin, and a dress unlike anything Flake had ever seen—crafted as if it had been made for her and her alone.
Flake's blood ran cold.
She drew a dagger from her bag. Aimed at the woman.
Then the main servant entered.
He approached Mazza and whispered something.
Mazza's eyes snapped upward—directly at Flake.
She panicked.
Threw the dagger at Mazza instead.
The woman raised her wand.
The blade stopped mid-air, spun, and embedded itself in the ceiling.
The plan had failed.
Flake bolted for the door—
And ran straight into Zero.
Darkness took her.
The Queen
Flake woke being dragged across the throne room floor.
Guards threw her at the foot of the throne.
Mazza looked down at her with something like pity.
"You had me fooled," he said. "But you can't fool a woman."
The woman beside him smiled.
"What a pity. She almost had us."
She descended the steps slowly, deliberately.
Then she slapped Flake across the face.
"You dare come for us?" Her voice dripped with venom. "The King and Queen of the most dangerous kingdom in the world?"
She snapped her fingers.
Guards wheeled in a massive wooden platform.
Jax was strapped to it—arms and legs bound, chains wrapped tight.
Flake's heart sank.
The Queen circled them like a predator.
"Here's how this works. You tell me where the resistance base is—or I kill your friend. You have one minute."
Flake's voice was hoarse. "Who are you?"
The Queen stopped.
Tilted her head.
"Who am I?" She laughed softly. "Have the stories not reached you? I am Mazza's one true lover."
Flake's eyes went wide.
She was supposed to be dead.
The Casters killed her a thousand years ago.
The Queen saw her reaction—and smiled.
"Ah. Now you understand."
She slapped Flake again.
"WHERE IS THE BASE?"
Flake looked at Jax.
Jax nodded. Tell them.
Flake lowered her head.
"...The Hidden Forest."
Mazza rose from his throne, wand raised.
The Queen stopped him.
"Let the strong one do it." She gestured toward Zero, standing motionless in the corner. "He can take them all without blinking."
Mazza looked at her—and his expression softened. Adoring. Obsessed.
"Even better," he said. "They'll all know what we felt... so long ago."
He waved his wand.
Zero vanished.
Flake screamed.
"STOP! PLEASE! WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING—WE JUST WANT OUR FRIEND BACK! PLEASE!"
The Queen raised her wand.
A spell struck Flake in the throat.
Her voice disappeared.
The Queen leaned close and whispered in her ear.
"We won't stop until this whole world feels pain."
Jax's eyes burned with fury. "If I get out of here, my Queen—I'm going to—"
The Queen flicked her wand.
Jax's voice vanished too.
"You won't get out," the Queen said. "And no one is coming to save you."
The Hidden Forest
The resistance camp was quiet.
No alarms. No warnings. Just the usual routines—repairs, patrols, rest.
Then a chaser burst from the treeline.
"INTRUDER—!"
A blade pierced his chest from behind.
He turned to ash before he hit the ground.
Zero emerged from the fog.
He grabbed his sword from the pile of ash and moved.
Chasers scrambled for weapons—but it didn't matter.
He was everywhere at once.
Bodies dropped. Screams echoed. Blood stained the earth.
Some fought back. None survived.
Then—blue light.
A wave of magic erupted through the forest, slamming into Zero and launching him into a boulder.
He crashed hard. Looked up.
A figure stepped out of the mist.
Same height. Same build. Same armor.
But the flames were blue.
The blade was identical.
A boy—barely older than Zero—stared him down.
"Is this one causing you trouble?" he asked calmly. "I'll handle it."
He moved like lightning.
His blade cracked Zero's chestplate on the first strike.
Zero swung back—but the boy deflected it effortlessly, sending Zero flying into a tree.
Before Zero could recover, the boy appeared in front of him and cast a spell.
The black fire armor ripped away.
Zero's power vanished.
He grunted—and disappeared.
Mazza's Throne Room
"There was a WHAT?!"
The Queen's voice echoed through the chamber.
Zero knelt before them, broken and silent.
Mazza rose slowly.
"You're certain?"
Zero nodded.
Mazza's expression darkened.
"Then this is worse than I feared. If the other magic has traveled... if the other dark magic wielders have awakened..."
He looked at his Queen.
"They could consume us."
The Dungeon
Jax and Flake hung from chains on opposite walls.
They couldn't speak. Couldn't move.
But they hadn't stopped struggling.
The Hidden Forest – Aftermath
The surviving chasers gathered among the wreckage.
They thanked the boy who had saved them.
He stood apart, watching them rebuild.
"Who are you?" one of them asked.
"I am a Dark Magic Soldier," he said. "I have no name. But I am searching for the last member of the Dark Matter Knights. He vanished. Do you know where he went?"
A man stepped forward—Jack, the temporary leader.
"He's headed for Murder Town. The kingdom. That direction."
The soldier nodded.
"Thank you, Jack. That will be all."
He vanished.
Murder Town – The Soldier's Assault
The soldier appeared at the main gate.
Guards ordered him to leave.
He kept walking.
One swung at him.
He dodged—and struck back.
The water guard turned to stone mid-swing, then crumbled.
He cut through the rest in seconds and entered the kingdom.
Creatures erupted from the ground.
He destroyed them without slowing.
He reached the throne room doors—and pushed them open.
A spell hit him instantly.
The Spell of the Dead.
He blocked it.
And fired one back.
Mazza's main servant stepped forward—Soul-chaser magic crackling around him.
They clashed.
The soldier was stronger.
He cast a wind spell that launched the servant into the ceiling.
Mazza summoned wave after wave of creatures. Fired spell after spell.
The soldier dodged everything. Killed everything.
Then Mazza raised his wand—and cast a transportation spell.
It hit.
The soldier vanished.
Mazza exhaled.
"He was telling the truth. They are here."
The Queen rose from her throne.
"Then we'll kill them together." She smiled. "But let's use our prisoners to do it."
Guards dragged Flake into the throne room.
The Queen approached her slowly.
"You'll serve us now."
She placed a hand on Flake's chest—and pushed a portion of her power inside.
The ground shook.
Flake screamed silently.
Green fire erupted around her—armor forming, flames roaring, eyes going dark.
The Queen cast the Mind Spell.
"Be mine. Be my mind. For as long as it takes."
Flake's body went still.
Her eyes opened.
Empty.
Obedient.
She had become what Zero was.
A slave.