The silence after the duel was unbearable. The fortress itself seemed to breathe, its walls vibrating with a low hum that gnawed at the edges of thought. Kael did not look back at the broken body of the champion. His focus was forward, always forward. Shadows trailed him like a living cloak, whispering in tongues only he could hear.“March,” he commanded. His soldiers obeyed, but their steps were uneven, their faces pale.They advanced through a shattered archway, deeper into the fortress. The underhall fell away behind them, replaced by corridors of black stone that pulsed faintly as though veins ran beneath their surface. The walls were carved with shifting runes that moved when unobserved, slipping into new shapes like worms writhing under skin.Aric spat on the floor. “This place reeks of death.”“Not death,” Lysandra corrected quietly, her gaze fixed on the walls. “Something worse.”The corridor twisted unexpectedly, leading them to a massive chamber. Here, the ceiling was lost i

The Hollow Throne pulsed with a rhythm like the heartbeat of the world. The vast chamber stretched in every direction, walls carved from obsidian, spires reaching into a ceiling that seemed to ripple with storm clouds though they were underground. At its center sat Dominion, unmoving, watching Kael and his army through eyes that burned like twin furnaces.The wolves fanned out behind Kael, their bodies tensed, weapons drawn, eyes shifting uneasily as they looked upon the figure who had haunted their nightmares since the System was born. Dominion was still, but the stillness was unbearable, as if the entire world held its breath.Kael tightened his grip on the blade of void forged steel in his hands. His breathing was steady, though beneath his calm a storm raged. The whispers of the Void pressed against the edges of his mind, urging him to strike, to unleash, to consume. But he held them back, anchoring himself with the memory of Elara’s eyes, the voices of his pack, the promise he ma

The chamber groaned under the weight of power as Kael and Dominion collided once more. Shadow and voidlight clashed in storms so violent the world itself seemed to scream. Every strike fractured walls, split pillars, and rained obsidian shards across the battlefield. Wolves shielded their eyes, struggling to stand beneath the shockwaves that rolled outward in relentless waves.Dominion towered above Kael now, transformed into something beyond wolf or god. Wings of black fire unfurled behind him, horns curling like obsidian spears, his form shifting between shadow and flesh with every heartbeat. His claws carved through stone as though it were paper, each movement painting the chamber with destruction.Kael darted forward, blade flashing. The arc of his strike split the ground, a crescent of voidlight tearing toward Dominion. Dominion swung his claw through it, shattering the attack with contemptuous ease, then launched himself forward, closing the distance in a blink. His talons slamm

The dust had not even settled from Kael’s eruption before the battlefield answered in kind. The Dominion’s chants twisted, their rhythm deepening into something older, darker, resonating with the bones of the earth itself. The fissures left by Kael’s outburst widened, and from them poured rivers of molten crimson light.Soldiers who had fallen rose again, their broken bodies snapping back into place with sickening cracks. Their eyes glowed like coals, their screams warped into the hollow chorus of the Dominion’s will. The dead marched once more.Kael’s blade dripped with voidfire, his body trembling from the weight of what he had unleashed. The shadows writhed around him, hungry for more. He planted his feet, glaring at the endless tide of enemies reforming before him. “You think chains can bind me?” he growled. “I’ll shatter them all.”The Dominion general stepped forward, the gash across his armor glowing as though alive. The runes etched into his warhammer blazed, brighter and hott

The dawn broke like a wound torn open across the sky, bleeding crimson and gold into the shattered battlefield. Smoke still lingered from the night before, curling in lazy spirals toward the heavens, carrying the scent of charred earth and spilled blood. Leon stood at the edge of the ruins, his body battered, his wounds still raw, yet his grip on Voidfang remained unbroken.His soldiers gathered behind him, a broken legion that had once numbered thousands, now reduced to a few hundred weary survivors. Their armor was dented, their blades chipped, their spirits shaken. Yet in their eyes there was something fierce, something unyielding they had followed Leon through fire, through darkness, and through the jaws of death itself. And though their numbers dwindled, their will did not.Selene approached, her cloak torn, her face pale but determined. She placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder, steadying him when his knees nearly buckled. “You should rest. You’ve lost too much blood.”Leon’s lips cu