The moment Terry, Mira, and Corvin lunged, Ardan struck first, crimson energy erupting from his mask like a volcanic plume.“Spread!” Mira shouted.Corvin dove left, Mira right. Terry charged straight in.Ardan snarled. “Still reckless.”“Still your brother,” Terry shot back, ducking beneath a sweeping arc of crimson. He slammed his fist into Ardan’s ribs, reinforced with raw willpower.Ardan barely flinched. “You hit like a healer.”“And you talk like a corpse,” Terry snapped.Ardan’s retaliation was brutal, a palm strike that sent Terry skidding across shattered stone.“Terry!” Mira sprinted in, blades flashing.Ardan blocked with one hand. “You again.”“Missed me?” she snarled, stabbing low.Ardan caught her blade with a claw of energy. “Barely.”Mira twisted, using the lock to vault herself upward, kicking him in the throat mask. The impact cracked the runes.Corvin arrived in a vortex of shadowlight. “Step back, both of you.”Ardan turned. “Corvin. You’re still alive?”“Unfortuna

The Chamber vibrated like a living heart, each pulse deep enough to rattle teeth. Terry stepped forward slowly, the Primarch’s white eyes locked onto him.Mira whispered behind him, “Terry… don’t go too close.”He didn’t stop.Corvin grit his teeth. “Primarchs don’t speak to mortals. If it’s addressing you, be careful.”Ardan coughed blood, leaning on Mira. “Little brother… don’t do anything suicidal.”“Too late,” Terry murmured.The Primarch lifted its hand. Reality warped around its palm like gravity bending.“You are the fracture,” it intoned. “You devoured the Vessel-Bane.”Terry flinched. “I destroyed it.”“Destruction is consumption.”The air shifted violently. Mira staggered back. Corvin grabbed Ardan before he collapsed.The Primarch floated down from the monolith, feet not touching the floor. Golden runes spiraled around its body like drifting constellations.Terry steadied himself. “If you’re waking up to break the world, I'm stopping you.”The Primarch tilted its head, stud

The Circle’s army surged over the shattered streets of Valoria. Crimson spears and dark banners rippled like a living tide, sweeping toward Terry and the remnants of the resistance.Smoke and ash twisted in the wind, carrying screams and the clash of steel from smaller skirmishes nearby.Terry planted his feet atop a ruined spire, energy radiating from him in waves of silver and shadow. The glow from his veins cast the surrounding rubble in surreal light, every broken arch and shattered building flickering with the pulse of his power.“First wave incoming,” Corvin muttered, hands already weaving shadowlight into protective wards around Mira and Ardan.Terry exhaled, voice calm but resonant. “Then we hit them first.”Mira glanced at him, eyes wide. “You’re glowing more than ever. Are you sure you control it?”Terry smiled faintly. “I’ve never been more sure.”He leapt forward, landing amidst a line of Circle spearmen. The air around him rippled, silver and black energy spiraling from h

Smoke and ash still hung thick over Valoria, but the survivors of Terry’s strike were moving fast, rallying around the glowing figure at the center of the shattered bridge. Mira tightened her grip on her blades, scanning the horizon for the next wave.“They won’t stop coming,” she muttered, voice taut with tension.Terry’s aura flickered faintly as he surveyed the battlefield. Shadow and radiance coiled along his veins like living serpents. “They never do. But neither will we.”Corvin’s shadowlight crackled around him, forming jagged protective wards. “Valen, your energy is incredible, but remember, they’re learning too. Every strike you make, they’re adapting. This battle won’t last forever.”“I know,” Terry said, his voice calm, unwavering. “But this is the first real test of control. The Afterlight isn’t just power, it’s discipline.”From the western avenue, a surge of Circle forces appeared, led by a new general cloaked in crimson robes that shimmered with energy. He carried a mas

Valoria’s skyline burned with scattered fires, casting long, dancing shadows across the rubble. Terry’s Afterlight shimmered faintly against the smoke, a beacon amid chaos. Mira crouched behind a collapsed arch, blades ready, eyes scanning for the next surge.“They’re regrouping,” she muttered. “More of them. And faster than before.”Terry’s gaze sharpened, silver veins pulsing beneath his skin. “Then we strike first. Let them feel what balance looks like.”Corvin’s shadowlight formed jagged barriers around them, warding off stray magic and debris. “You can’t maintain that aura forever, Valen. These generals, they learn. Every engagement makes them stronger.”“I know,” Terry said, voice calm, eyes narrowing. “That’s why this wave won’t see us the same way twice.”From the southern avenue, a unit of the Circle’s elite force emerged, the Ember Vanguard. Their armor glowed with molten crimson, runes pulsing as they moved, weapons crackling with destructive energy. Leading them was a gene