The alchemical lab beneath Argent smelled of bitter roots, crushed crystal, and a metallic tang that clung to the back of the throat. Lira and her team worked in a sealed chamber, their faces hidden behind filtered masks, their movements precise and grim. On the central worktable lay the two source materials: a vial of viscous, night-black liquid, the distilled essence of the Shaman’s soul-shock—and a shimmering, iridescent powder—the pulverized Mage-Bane agent.“The problem is persistence,” Lira muttered, her voice muffled. “The soul-shock is potent but ephemeral. It fades within hours. The Mage-Bane is stable, but attacks magical bonds, not life-force.”An elderly alchemist from the Frostmane, a woman named Yrsa who knew more about toxins and tinctures than anyone, peered at the mixtures. “You need a carrier. Something that lingers in the lungs, the blood. Something the body won’t purge quickly.” She held up a small, waxy tuber. “Frozen lichen from the high glaciers. It grows in the

The news hit the war room like a physical blow. While they celebrated the annihilation of a Tieron legion in the Weeping Gorge, the real blow was being delivered fifty miles to the northwest. Two fresh legions, untouched, were driving hard into the Federation heartland, bypassing all fixed defenses. Roderick’s forces were out of position, too far east, lured by their own successful deception.Marcus had not taken the bait. He had used it as a feint of his own.“He’s heading for the Argent Valley,” Eldric said, his voice hollow as he pointed at the map. The valley held not just the capital, but the vast majority of the Federation’s croplands, its principle forges, and its people. It was the stomach and the brain. “He’s not trying to defeat our army. He’s trying to starve us and shatter our will in one stroke.”Kaelan’s mind, reeling from the sudden reversal, locked into a state of hyper-clarity. The Tactical Simulation discarded all previous models and began building new ones with fran

The air in the Deep Analysis chamber crackled with the ghost of spent magic and simmering tension. Kaelan, Eldric, and Lira sat on one side of the polished crystal table that served as the main display. On the other side, projected in shimmering light, was the rotating, three-dimensional model of the new Tieron weapon Aris had identified.It was not a machine of crystal and iron. It was a nightmare of contradictions—a vortex of shimmering, oily darkness held in a cage of painfully bright Void-Steel filaments. Aris’s analysis scrolled beside it: “Weapon Designation: ‘Entropy Lance.’ Function: Generates a localized field of high-energy, randomized particle decay. Effect on Ordered Systems (e.g., Crystallized Reach): Induces rapid structural fatigue and harmonic collapse. It is chaos, weaponized and directed.”“He reverse-engineered our own research,” Lira whispered, her hands trembling slightly as she manipulated the image, zooming in on the Void-Steel cage. “This lattice… it’s a perver