Assassins cloaked in moonsteel struck in silence. Their daggers shimmered with poison that even Adrian’s flames struggled to burn. Selene shielded Kael, but one blade grazed her scar — and she screamed as if her soul were torn open.Kael’s shadow-self ripped free, taller, darker, more human than ever. It slaughtered Nysera’s blades without hesitation, whispering into Kael’s ear:“See how easily they fall. You don’t need him. You don’t need her. Only me.”Furious, Adrian raised a firestorm across the camp. Assassins burned, tents turned to ash. Rival kings shouted — some saw him as savior, others as a demon. By dawn, every throne had chosen a side.The wound on Selene’s scar spread, veins of black crawling across her chest. She gasped, whispering:“It’s not poison. It's a curseblade. They’re trying to *merge* me with the Master.”Adrian held her tighter. “Not while I breathe.”Captured mid-battle, Nysera spat blood and laughed.“You think I serve the Master? No — I serve myself. A worl

In the Shadow Realm, Adrian burned through legions of wraiths with reckless fury. Kael saw it in his eyes — each battle drained his soul. “Brother,” Kael warned, “you’re becoming the very monster you seek to kill.” The Fire Crown cracked as Adrian poured too much into it. Flames turned black around his hands. Even his soldiers began to fear him, whispering that he had no king’s restraint left. Selene stood on a balcony of living shadow as the Master drew her close. “Why should you suffer for his war?” he murmured. “You are already mine. Adrian loves the throne. I love you.” She closed her eyes, trembling. Adrian stormed into the palace and saw the Master holding Selene. Rage blinded him. Fire and shadow clashed, shaking the realm itself. Selene screamed, torn between stopping them and surrendering to whichever side survived. The Master forced Adrian to his knees, binding him in dark chains. “Look,” he said to Selene. “See how weak he is. Choose me, and I will spare him. Refuse

The hall trembled as the Master rose to his full, terrible height.His form was no longer entirely human — if it ever had been. Shadows cascaded off him like smoke, writhing tendrils clawing at the marble walls. His face was a shifting mask, sometimes calm and regal, sometimes monstrous and skeletal.The throne itself dissolved into black mist beneath his feet, merging with his form as though the seat of power had never been separate from the man who claimed it.“You think you’ve won something here?” the Master thundered, his voice reverberating like a storm in a cavern. “Breaking my hold on the girl changes nothing. The game was mine before it even began.”Adrian stood tall amidst the swirling ash, his cloak whipping violently around him. He did not flinch, though his body bore wounds from his fight with Selene, and his breath came heavy and ragged.He raised his sword, its pale blade glowing faintly, a stark defiance against the oppressive darkness.“You’ve ruled through lies, fear,

The wind howled across the desolate plain, carrying with it the stench of smoke and something older —something foul that no fire could burn away.Adrian stood alone at the edge of a blackened forest, his cloak ragged and gray with ash. Behind him, the city he had saved was barely visible through the fog, a distant smear of gold and silver in the dawn light. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t.Every step away from Selene felt like tearing open an old wound.But if he stayed, the wound would fester and never heal.There is no us, he had told her.The words were still lodged in his chest like shards of broken glass.He adjusted his grip on his sword, now dulled from the battle with the Master. Even faded, it hummed faintly with power — a promise of vengeance yet unfulfilled. The Master was gone, yes, but not destroyed. Adrian could feel it.Somewhere, in the cracks between worlds, that malignant presence still lingered, whispering, waiting.And Adrian would find him.Even if he had to burn

The forest roared around Adrian as he ran. Branches whipped at his face, roots tore at his boots, but he didn’t slow. The vision still burned behind his eyes — Selene standing in a sea of fire, her sword raised against impossible odds. And behind her, a darkness so vast it seemed to swallow the very sky. He had felt her fear. Her determination. Her call for help. She’s in danger. Adrian’s teeth clenched as he pushed himself harder. His cloak, once pristine, was now shredded by thorns and streaked with ash, a testament to the unrelenting pace he’d set since leaving the circle of corrupted stones. His breath came in sharp bursts, each inhalation tasting of blood and smoke."I’m coming, Selene. Hold on." The girl’s scream ripped through the night like shattered glass. Black water geysered upward, spraying the soldiers in a rain of icy corruption. From the riverbed, twisted figures clawed their way into the open air — monsters shaped from shadow and hate. Their limbs were too long