The situation was spiraling beyond control.
Every second that passed cost the life of a knight or a paladin. The heavy artillery divisions were doing their best, their enchanted shells raining down upon the endless horde, but it was like trying to stop a tidal wave with a handful of sand.
The twelve Paladins had reached their designated empires and kingdoms, but even for them, it was not an easy battle. Everywhere, across every continent, the same nightmare unfolded monsters slaughtering humans, knights falling, hope fading.
And it all depended on Roman.
The weight of that truth pressed down on him like a mountain. His mind was blurred, his thoughts fragmented. The Shadow System's warning had brought him to the brink of despair "Or else".
Those two words echoed endlessly in his skull, a constant reminder that something worse was coming. Something even the system was afraid to name.
His fighting had become sloppy. Distracted. He was swinging his Archon Sword on autopilot, his movements mechanical, his eyes unfocused. A monster charged toward him, its claws raised, its maw wide open.
"LOOK BEHIND YOU, IDIOT!"
Jacob's voice cut through the fog like a blade.
Roman snapped back to reality just in time. The monster was inches away, its claws descending. But Roman didn't dodge. He didn't raise his sword.
He caught it.
With his bare hands.
The creature's momentum halted instantly as Roman's fingers dug into its hide. His muscles bulged, veins pulsing with raw power. The monster screeched, struggling against his grip but Roman held firm.
And then he tore it apart.
The creature's body split in two, black ichor spraying across the battlefield. Roman stood there, breathing heavily, his hands covered in the monster's blood.
Jacob and Selena watched in shock. They had seen Roman fight before. They had seen him unleash his power. But this catching a charging monster with his bare hands and ripping it apart this was something else entirely.
They didn't react. They couldn't.
Roman gathered himself. His mind raced, his thoughts sharpening like a blade being honed. He couldn't use the Fallen God's Blessing not yet. He was already using the Fallen God's power at 8%, and pushing it further risked instability. The Blessing was out of the question.
What can I do? he thought, his sword carving through another monster. I have one option left.
The Viel Bracer.
It had been hidden on his wrist all this time a restraint placed by the Shadow System to limit his power, to keep him from losing control. Removing it would unleash everything. But the risk...
"Or else"
The system's incomplete warning echoed again.
Then the Shadow System spoke once more.
Warherald. The death count across the continent has reached nearly two lakhs.
Roman's blood ran cold.
Two lakhs.
And every second, more were dying.
He didn't think anymore.
He stopped fighting. His sword lowered. His enemies swarmed around him, but he didn't care. His hand moved to his wrist, his fingers finding the hidden latch of the Viel Bracer.
He unwristed it.
The moment the bracer came loose, Roman's power surged. The air around him cracked with energy. Thunder rumbled across the blood-red sky, and from the clouds came a waterfall of pure golden aura descending upon Roman like a divine blessing.
He activated his Yin-Yang mana core, but this time, he didn't summon the balance of dark and gold.
He turned it to pure gold.
The black aura vanished completely, replaced by blinding, radiant light. The transformation was terrifying to witness. Roman's body glowed with an otherworldly brilliance, his eyes opening to reveal irises of pure divine gold.
The monsters that had been charging toward him stopped. They hesitated. Some even began to retreat their instincts screaming at them to flee.
Roman raised his Archon Sword straight toward the heavens. The golden aura that had descended upon him surged into the blade, pouring into it like water into a vessel. The sword began to grow, its size increasing with every passing second, its light intensifying until it was almost too bright to look at.
He gathered every ounce of power he could.
And slashed.
The golden aura exploded outward from the Archon Sword in a devastating wave a cutting force that swept across the battlefield like a divine judgment. It carved through the monsters in an instant, killing dozens, hundreds, thousands. It didn't stop at the borders of the Great Presia estate. The wave continued across the continent, reaching every kingdom, every empire, every battlefield where the Holy Paladins fought for survival.
On every front the Spade Kingdom, the Leaf Kingdom, the distant empires and forgotten territories the golden wave washed over the monsters and annihilated them. The creatures that had been slaughtering humans moments before were cut down in a single, blinding flash.
Selena stared at her brother, her jaw hanging open. Jacob stood frozen, his sword half-raised, his eyes wide with disbelief. The Presia knights dropped to their knees, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the power they had just witnessed. The Holy Paladins across the continent paused mid-battle, their weapons lowered, their gazes turned toward the distant golden light.
One Holy Paladin spoke the words that echoed in the hearts of everyone who witnessed it.
"So... this is the power of the goddess's chosen Warherald."
Roman stood at the center of it all, his golden aura blazing, his Archon Sword humming with residual energy. His breathing was heavy, his body trembling with exertion. The Viel Bracer was gone. There wais no going back.
He had crossed a line.
And there was no telling what would come next.