The air within the White Death Desert felt like the exhalation of an enraged dragon. There was not a single cloud in the sky. The sun glared down with a searing intensity that felt capable of melting the marrow from one's bones.However, the most horrifying aspect of this wasteland was not the oppressive heat, but the sand itself. The sprawling dunes were not colored golden or brown; they were a pallid, sickening white, identical to the hue of bones that had been bleached by the sun for centuries.The warriors of The Hollowed marched steadily through this sea of white sand. They were guided by dozens of captured Solari soldiers, whose weapons had been stripped and hands bound by Gael. The prisoners stumbled at the front of the formation, acting simultaneously as navigators and human shields against the desert’s hidden traps.Aroan walked in the center of the formation. His black duster was entirely impervious to the scorching heat; the passive magic emanating from his Abyssal Obsidian

The colossal stone doors of Kaelen'Dhor’s central palace ground fully open. The air that drafted out from within did not carry the foul, stale stench of the ruins outside; instead, it brought an incredibly familiar scent. The aroma of pine needles and dried moonflower.Aroan stood paralyzed on the threshold. His heart hammered with a painful, erratic rhythm. Beside him, Silas let out a long, heavy exhale, his golden eye staring into the darkness of the palace with a profound sorrow he had buried for over a decade."Go in, Aroan," Silas said, his voice unusually raspy. The former Commander leaned heavily on his massive battleaxe, his body physically exhausted from the catastrophic clash against Aelius. "This is a reunion between you and your mother. Nyx and I will guard Lyra out here."Aroan gave a slow nod. He stepped into the obsidian palace.The moment he crossed the threshold, purple fire torches ignited autonomously along the corridor walls, blazing to life as if welcoming the ret

The capital city of Sunforge had never known the taste of fear. For a thousand years, its towering walls—plated in burnished gold and heavy bronze—had remained entirely untouched by the fires of war. This city was the beating heart of the Southern Continent, a monument to unyielding arrogance built directly upon the ashes of the Umbra Clan.But today, the blaring of warning bells echoed ceaselessly, inciting mass panic throughout the city streets.Atop the fifty-meter-high city walls, thousands of Solari archers and mages stood with violently trembling knees. Their horrified gazes were locked onto the desert horizon to the north.A colossal sandstorm was rapidly approaching. However, it was no ordinary weather phenomenon. Within the billowing clouds of dust, the silhouettes of five gargantuan worms—Sand Leviathans—could be seen burrowing just beneath the surface, generating massive waves of earth that pulverized the dunes in their path.Riding atop the leading leviathan stood one hund

The Grand Plaza of the Silver Peak Palace had been transformed into an abyssal crater. The pristine white marble, which for thousands of years had stood as the unyielding pride of the clan, was now shattered into jagged fragments, heavily stained with the blood of Silver Knights and the putrid, blackened fluids leaking from Valerius’s mutated form.Aroan stood perfectly upright amidst the devastation. His black duster remained untouched by the dust. The intangible black crown flickered majestically above his head. Behind him, Kaelor—severely wounded and missing an arm—could only stare at his exiled son with a humiliating concoction of sheer terror and desperate relief."A-Aroan..." Kaelor’s voice trembled as he clutched the bleeding stump of his left shoulder. "Valerius... he has completely lost his sanity. Please... do not let him suffer any longer."Aroan didn't even turn his head to acknowledge his father."Fascinating," Aroan said softly, yet his voice echoed with freezing resonan

Night anchored itself over Silver Peak with a suffocating, heavy silence. There were no grand celebrations for the end of Valerius’s era. The city's citizens cowered behind tightly locked doors, utterly terrified of the shadow army now patrolling their pristine streets. In the Grand Plaza, the residual blood from the Clan Tournament massacre had been scrubbed away by The Hollowed’s cleansing magic, yet the metallic stench still hung palpably in the freezing air.At the city’s main gates, Aroan stood with his back to the palace he had just violently conquered. He wore a brand-new black duster woven from pure shadow silk, a premium creation from the *Emperor's Armory* within his system. His pitch-black half-mask was secured, hiding his cold, calculating expression."Silver Peak is completely secure, My Lord," reported Gael, having just returned from a final perimeter inspection. "Elder Jaxon and the remaining puppet ministers have been confined under maximum security. The three hundred