"Ghosty?... What's happening..."
Astraea gasped with concern, holding the trembling form of her pet tightly against her chest.
Above them, the twilight had been murdered. The sky violently shifted into aggressive, sickly shades of yellow, burning gold, and a deep, bleeding red. It was as if the atmosphere itself had caught fire.
Then came the sound.
It wasn't a booming explosion. It was a melodic, terrifyingly beautiful cracking—a high, singing note like a cathedral of glass buckling under unbearable pressure.
Astraea looked up, her breath catching in her throat.
Visible, glowing mana lines—bright blue and silver—were frantically racing across the invisible dome of Athervale, trying desperately to hold the shield together.
But the golden shooting star did not stop.
When the concentrated spear of Tamaskrit magic finally crashed into the Great Barrier, reality seemed to tear open. The air pressure dropped instantly, sucking the oxygen from their lungs.
A blinding, impossible flash erupted. It was as if the sun had been forcefully dragged back into the sky on the day of the Lunar Night, igniting the world for a single, agonizing second.
Ghosty squealed a terrified cry.
Astraea shrank back, throwing herself against the wooden floor of the balcony to save her eyes from the blinding golden flash.
Beside her, the sharp ring of drawing steel echoed over the howling wind. Her eldest brother, Kaelen, and the youngest, Crown Prince Orion, had drawn their swords.
The blades were mundane steel. They no longer hummed with magic.
The Lunar Eclipse had finally descended upon the night sky of Athervale.
Far above them, at the absolute apex of the Whispering Hollow, King Aelroth stood frozen.
His terrified, wide eyes reflected the golden glow of the shattered sky. The wind whipped violently at his royal robes.
"Impossible..." he muttered, his voice hollow. "The mana barrier was breached??? No, it's not possible..."
Beside him, Queen Luthien looked at her husband with a grim, horrified expression.
How?
A few moments before...
The Great Barrier of Athervale was a marvel of the ancient world.
Standing at a dizzying height of two hundred meters, the colossal walls were meant to protect the Elven kingdom from any sort of ground invasion.
They were constructed out of the pristine, white magical stone of the Dead Mountains—a material possessing the innate property to reflect any magical attacks. These stones were indestructible, carved out thousands of years ago using forbidden Elven magic that had long since been lost to time.
Atop this specific section of the wall sat one of the four legendary Mana Cores, responsible for upholding the dome of protection against aerial, ground, and underground threats.
Sitting on the edge of this sheer drop were two Barrier Scouts.
Cael and his wife, Eris, were enjoying the serene atmosphere. The cool night breeze rustled their uniforms as they quietly sipped their tea, watching the horizon.
"It's peaceful tonight," Cael smiled, leaning in to brush a lock of hair from his wife's face.
Eris smiled back, her eyes softening. "It always is, when I'm on watch with you."
Their quiet, romantic moment was suddenly broken. Cael squinted, leaning forward as a silhouette disturbed the vast, empty plains stretching toward the Kingdom of Tamaskrit.
It was a lone walking figure.
The man was clad in full, heavy black mantle armor. The only light coming from him was a sinister, faint golden glow emanating from the visor of his dark helmet.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Even from this height, the sound of his heavy metallic boots striking the rocky ground echoed with an unnatural, rhythmic dread.
Cael stood up, his posture stiffening. He signaled to the lower patrol. "Go intercept that lost soul."
A few of the Vanguard Scouts drew their gliders, diving gracefully down the two-hundred-meter drop to land directly in the stranger's path.
"Hey buddy," the lead guard said with a casual, almost bored expression. "Sorry to say, but we don't even allow our allies to cross the barrier tonight. I am afraid that you have to turn back."
The dark knight didn't break his stride. He continued to walk in absolute silence.
"Hey, I said you can't! Don't you hear me?" the guard snapped, his frustration boiling over as he stepped forward, physically blocking the man's path.
The heavy boots finally stopped.
"...Get out of my way," Aurelius commanded.
His voice wasn't a shout, but the sheer, gravelly weight of it sent literal chills down the spines of the elven scouts.
"I won't. What will you do? Cry about it?" the guard mocked, resting a hand on his hip.
Shing.
The elf was sliced in half.
It happened with lightning speed. The broadsword cleaved through his waist so cleanly, and so fast, that the elf's upper torso simply slid off his lower half and hit the ground.
His face was still frozen in that arrogant, mocking expression as his blood splattered across the pristine white rock of the Dead Mountains.
His comrades remained completely stunned, their brains unable to process the sudden violence.
"You... you bastard! How dare you!!!" one of the guards finally spat with fury, lunging forward with his spear.
Aurelius simply stepped inside the guard's guard and jerked the heavy, solid iron hilt of his broadsword upward.
CRUNCH. The elf's skull shattered inward, dropping him instantly to the blood-soaked stone.
High above, Cael witnessed the slaughter.
"The Barrier Scout Vanguard... charge forward!" Cael screamed, his voice cracking with rage. "We must avenge our brothers and show this lowlife his place!"
The remaining scouts on the wall drew their weapons, screaming in agreement as they threw themselves off the edge, gliding down to swarm the lone attacker.
Cael turned to his wife, grabbing her shoulders. "Darling... charge the mana cannon."
Eris nodded, her face pale as she ran to the massive artillery piece, pouring the very last of her reserves into the weapon. "We got only one mana-infused shot," she warned, her expression grim.
Cael's jaw clenched. He muttered curses under his breath. "One is enough. Just hold him in place and don't miss. I trust you."
Leaving his wife at the cannon, Cael turned and sprinted toward the towering Mana Core to secure it.
Down below, the Vanguard had landed.
"Charge in, comrades!" one of the warriors screamed, pointing his blade. "He's only a single soul! We will overwhelm him with sheer numbers alone!"
Elven archers unleashed a volley, raining arrows down upon the dark knight in sheer numbers.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
The mundane arrows bounced harmlessly off the glided dark mantle armor, not even capable of leaving a scratch. Aurelius didn't even notice them. He stood perfectly still, his glowing visor locked onto the approaching Vanguard.
"I warned you before," he muttered with a heavy sigh. "It's not my fault anymore."
He raised his massive broadsword and faced the Vanguard head-on. He didn't flinch.
It was a massacre.
Aurelius moved like a force of nature. His blade cleaved through elven armor, flesh, and bone with sickening ease. Severed limbs flew through the air, and the metallic stench of copper flooded the dry plains. It wasn't a battle; it was an execution.
The scenes were brutal.
The very last of the Vanguard warriors, a young elf whose lower half had just been sliced away from his torso, hit the ground hard. His insides spilled out onto the rocks, but through sheer willpower, he grabbed onto Aurelius's armored leg.
He refused to let go. He knew what was coming.
The dying elf tilted his head back and unleashed a horrific, agonizing death scream.
It was the signal.
High on the wall, Eris slammed her hand against the firing rune. The massive cannon boomed, unleashing a condensed, blinding sphere of pure magical energy straight down at the dark knight.
Aurelius watched the projectile hurtle toward him. He didn't try to dodge. He didn't try to run.
Instead, he simply extended a single, armored hand.
The cannonball struck.
A massive explosion shattered the earth, sending a shockwave of dust, debris, and shattered rock hundreds of feet into the air, completely swallowing the lone figure.
"Yes!!!" Eris cheered, throwing her hands into the air.
Her celebration was instantly matched by the triumphant, relieved cheers of the remaining scouts standing on top of the wall.
But their joy was terribly short-lived.
As the thick cloud of dust slowly settled, the cheering abruptly died in their throats.
He was still standing. He was completely unflinched.
The devastating, mana-infused cannonball hadn't exploded against him. It was floating, spinning violently against the palm of his dark metal gauntlet.
The armor seemed to be actively draining the magic from the sphere, sucking the violent energy right out of it. With a casual, almost bored flex of his fingers, Aurelius crushed the spell into harmless, sparkling dust.
The barrier scouts looked down at the impossible scene, absolute disbelief washing over them. Their knees weakened. Some dropped their weapons entirely.
"Who... who are you???" one of the scouts whispered, his voice violently trembling in the sudden, deafening silence.
The dark knight slowly looked up at the wall.
"I am Aurelius."