The sky cracked open.From above the shattered battlefield, storm clouds churned with unnatural fury. Calen’s entire body pulsed with blinding light—his skin veined with lightning, his eyes aglow with raw, divine energy. He hovered slightly above the ground, suspended in the air as arcs of electricity twisted and screamed around him.“Tharstan!” Calen’s voice was no longer his own—it echoed with the storm itself, deep, ancient, and righteous. “You have to be vanish in order that others could live! I must kill you!”Tharstan knelt on the scorched earth, panting heavily, struggling to lift his blade. He was already wounded—blood dripped from his mouth, and a deep gash across his side throbbed with every breath. His golden armor, once radiant, was cracked and blackened from the earlier clash.But Calen had not finished.He raised one hand, and the sky obeyed. A monstrous bolt of lightning tore through the heavens and slammed into the ground beside Tharstan, throwing up a shockwave of hea

Before Calen could even decide on his next move, the air trembled with the sudden, shrill whistling of arrows. The sound grew into a rising storm of death, and the sky above the battleground seemed to darken—not from clouds, but from the rain of flaming projectiles arcing through the air.“Fire!” a commanding voice roared from the ridge. Through the haze of smoke, crimson-and-gold banners of Aerondale unfurled against the wind. At their head rode Evan Drake, his expression carved from steel, his eyes sharp with cold determination. The crest of House Drake glinted on his breastplate, each stride of his warhorse pounding like a drumbeat of war. Behind him, rank upon rank of Aerondale’s finest surged forward under King Theron’s orders, shields interlocked, their unified war cries rolling like thunder down the valley slopes.The first wave struck like a tempest. Flaming arrows rained down, smashing into the ground with bursts of fire, scorching the grass and sending shimmering heat waves

Blue light flickered from Calen’s shield, the barrier trembling with every blow from outside. Each impact made the air inside quiver like a taut string on the verge of snapping. His breath was heavy, sweat trickling down his temples. Beyond the shield, war cries mingled with the clash of steel and the explosions of magic tearing the sky apart.Carmen knelt beside Tharstan, her eyes blazing with determination. The king lay weak on the ground, his breathing ragged, yet behind his gaze still burned the embers of murderous intent. His thin fingers gripped the cracked hilt of his sword, as if yearning to raise it one last time.“Stop…” Carmen whispered, her voice nearly swallowed by the uproar of battle. “I will bring you back… just as Iralyn wished. Back to the Tharstan I knew… the wise king.”Tharstan groaned, struggling to rise. “Iralyn… is dead,” he rasped. “And so is… the Tharstan you knew.”Carmen bit her lip. In her heart, she prayed. If I can’t… please, Iralyn… show me the way.Sud

“Stay alert! The monster is moving in!”Tharstan’s eyes swept over the countless soldiers closing in on him. Voices rose from every direction, hurling curses and threats, each word stoking the fire of rage that already boiled inside his mind.“They’ll hurt you, Tharstan,” Carmen whispered from his side, seeking shelter beside his massive form.“They won’t. They can’t hurt me,” Tharstan replied, his voice a low growl. “I will be the one to kill them all.” There wasn’t a flicker of fear in him—only the raw certainty of destruction. Moments ago, he had been on the verge of defeat at Calen’s hands, but now… his strength felt doubled, thrumming through every muscle and scale.He was now the center of every enemy’s attention. Carmen tried to help, summoning her magic to raise a shield around him, but something pulled at her power, snuffing it out before it could take form.“He’s become a terrifying monster—you shouldn’t defend him! He’ll kill you too!” a soldier from Aerondale shouted at he

The kingdom of Aerondale lay shrouded in devastation. Cries of agony echoed through the air, mingling with the silence of countless lifeless bodies scattered across the ground. The fortress walls were shattered, rubble strewn everywhere. The capital stood exposed, vulnerable, and without any form of protection. Without a greater power to stop him, Tharstan could reduce the entire kingdom to ashes with nothing more than his fire.Evan Drake leapt down from his horse, his eyes fixed on a single sight—his wife. Lila Frost lay lifeless on the ground, her body pierced in a gruesome manner. The woman he had fought so hard to claim had been struck down by Tharstan. Making her his wife had not been easy; Evan had clawed his way through obstacles, wresting her from her former husband, Calen Storm. And though he knew deep down that Lila had never truly loved him, his devotion to her had always been real.At first, both Evan and Lila had believed their marriage would bring happiness, free from c