Sunny Afternoon CRACK! A solidified whip of blood split the air, shearing a chunk from the wooden post. Maria stood in the training grounds, her face tight with focus. She let the whip dissolve into a red mist that curled around her fingers like a living thing. “A whole month,” she said, her voice cutting through the quiet. “And the church hasn’t made a move. I don’t believe it.” The silence from their enemies was a heavy weight. Around them, BlackRock City buzzed with a new energy. The soldiers, many of them volunteers from the last battle, moved with a sharp, confident purpose. They had not only faced death but had seen its defeat firsthand. Her father, Elias, blocked a practice dagger she formed from her own blood. The impact shivered up his arm. “The calm before the storm,” he grunted, stepping back. He wiped sweat from his brow, then gave her a tired but proud look. “But look at you. Your control is much finer now.” A small smile touched Maria’s lips. The tension in he

Eren’s composure had returned, but a new, dangerous intensity burned in his grey eyes. The earth mage’s interference had transformed a simple execution into a genuine problem.“An earth mage?” Eren’s voice was a silken threat. “It seems my simple student has made powerful friends. A pity he’s led you to your grave with him.”He didn’t wait for a reply. Eren knew time was his enemy; the commotion would draw attention. He needed to end this, now.“The cost is worth the prize,” he muttered, his words a dark incantation. “Shadows that birthed the world, I offer a decade of my light… grant me your true form!”A wave of palpable darkness erupted from him. The air grew cold, and the very shadows of the garden—from the trees, the statues, the villa itself—began to writhe and deepen, turning from absence of light into a tangible, liquid gloom.“Since a change in the material world casts a shadow,” Eren declared, his voice echoing with unnatural power, “then a change in the shadow can reshape t

Adrian had just finished his confession. The words had hung in the air, heavy and stark. The existence of the Twelve-Tail System, the summoning of Alan, the mission in another kingdom, and his unilateral decision to use Bella. He had laid it all bare, bracing for the storm.The storm, however, was a quiet one.Maria was the first to break the silence, her fists clenched on the table. "You're a moron," she stated, her voice low and tight. "A complete and utter moron. You should have told us.""I know," Adrian said, meeting her gaze, accepting the judgment.“So this system granted you the ability to turn those volunteers into werewolves and gave you that Spire as a reward for defending the city?” Maria asked“Yes” Adrian replied“Wow, but why did you pretend as if you didn't know anything when it happened?” She askedNancy's reaction was more contemplative, "A bridge between worlds... a tool to build a pack across the void. It is a terrifying responsibility, Adrian. Eledumare works in m

Every night, both the young and old, friends, families and newly wedded couples will come to the lunar Spire everyday, amazed by its structure and tallness. Everyone could remember that it appeared in the city's central square out of nowhere in the past few weeks, a silent, seamless growth of pearlescent stone that seemed to drink the moonlight and bleed a soft, silver luminescence. The citizens at first were scared and wary, later the city guards prevented others from going close. Later, it was discovered that ever since the stone Spire appeared, the city has been freed from monsters attacks at night. Adrian stood with Maria on the newly reinforced battlements, looking down at the Spire. Its light emitting gently like the moon, a soft light that pushed back the encroaching darkness of the forest. "Two weeks," Maria stated. "Not a single night demon breach. Not even the screech of an Imp from the southern woods. It's... unnerving." "It's working," Adrian replied, a sense

The heavy, iron-banded oak door of the room closed with a final, resonant thud, sealing them in with the suffocating weight of Clara’s message. The air, still and cool, was thick with more than dust.Maria was the first to break the silence, her voice a low, furious tremor that seemed to vibrate in the very stones of the room. "This is insanity! We just finished scraping his messiah, his off our boots after a battle that cost us good people. The blood on the cobblestones has barely faded, and now you're considering inviting the architect of that nightmare to be our neighbor? Our ally?" She slammed a fist on the table, making the map tremble. "He didn't just send an army, Adrian. He sent a poison—a promise of power that turned brother against sister. He doesn't fight with swords alone; he fights with the corruption of hope itself."Bella uncrossed her arms from where she leaned against the cold stone wall, her posture shifting from casual observer to hardened tactician. Her tone was an