Silence ruled the world. Not the silence of peace or the silence that followed victory. It was the suffocating stillness of something ancient awakening. The Void Domain stretched without end. The familiar streets of Rust-Town had disappeared beneath an endless ocean of black. Buildings, walls, and broken roads were swallowed by darkness until they became little more than vague silhouettes drifting inside an infinite abyss. Above there was no sky or stars or moon or sun. Only endless darkness stretching in every direction. Three thousand outlaws stood frozen inside it. Their torches had vanished. Their magic had failed. Even the sound of their own breathing seemed unnaturally distant. Panic spread like poison. Voices trembled. Someone began praying. Someone else dropped to the ground, desperately clawing at the black earth as though digging might somehow reveal an escape. Nothing answered. Only darkness. Then... A single footstep echoed. The sound rolled through the Domain like

The Void Domain remained draped over Rust-Town like an endless night. Three thousand hardened criminals remained crushed beneath the overwhelming pressure of Kaelen's will, their foreheads pressed against the black earth, too terrified to move. General Marcus still knelt at the center of the square. His white flag of truce lay forgotten beside him. No one spoke. The silence stretched long enough for every heartbeat to become deafening. Kaelen stood motionless. His obsidian eyes rested on the broken general for only a moment before slowly drifting away. Past the kneeling army and past the ruined streets toward the towering stone fortress that overlooked Rust-Town and toward the cellar hidden beneath it. His gaze lingered there. In the deepest chamber carved into the bedrock, a black box rested upon a stone platform surrounded by cold silence. Purple chains wrapped tightly around Elara's sleeping body. The cursed Soul-Locks pulsed rhythmically like living serpents. Each pulse mad

The Imperial Capital stood before them. Even from a distance, it no longer resembled the proud heart of an empire. Dark smoke drifted endlessly into the heavens from dozens of districts. Great towers that had once reflected the morning sun now bore deep scars, their white marble stained black by fire. Several noble estates had collapsed entirely, while sections of the outer wall still carried fresh marks from enormous explosions. The city looked wounded. Broken. Like a kingdom already mourning its own death. Yet despite the destruction, the enormous capital still inspired awe. Its outer walls stretched across the horizon like a mountain range carved by giants. Towering watchtowers stood every few hundred yards, though many now sat abandoned, their banners hanging in tatters beneath the wind. Beyond them rose the true entrance. The White Gates. For centuries they had symbolized the absolute authority of the Empire. Each gate stood nearly one hundred feet tall, carved from en

The march through the capital came to an abrupt halt. The thunder of marching boots faded into an uneasy silence as Kaelen's army emerged from the smoke-filled boulevard and entered the vast palace square. The magnificent plaza that had once hosted royal celebrations had become a battlefield waiting to happen. Broken statues of former emperors lay scattered across the polished marble, their shattered faces buried beneath ash and dried blood. Burning wagons lined the edges of the square, while abandoned weapons littered the ground where desperate defenders had made their last stand. But none of that held the army's attention. Standing between them and the palace gates was an unbroken wall of silver. Nearly two thousand elite warriors stood shoulder to shoulder, their polished shields locked together so perfectly that they resembled a single solid fortress. Long silver spears jutted forward through carefully measured gaps, each tip glowing with concentrated mana. Every soldier wor

With Elder Vanya defeated and the Thorne Clan surrendering their weapons, the last organised resistance outside the palace crumbled. Thousands of silver shields lay scattered across the white marble, while soldiers from both sides worked together to clear the square of the remaining Corrupted Void Beasts that had wandered into the fighting. The once-pristine palace was scarred beyond recognition. Towering statues of former emperors had been shattered during the conflict, leaving broken marble heads and severed stone arms strewn across the ground. Crimson blood mixed with ash, flowing through the carved gutters that had once carried rainwater away from royal ceremonies. Smoke drifted lazily across the battlefield. Somewhere in the distance, another building collapsed with a deafening crash. Yet despite the destruction, a strange feeling spread through the square. Hope. Since All-For-One had seized the capital, the people dared to believe the nightmare might finally end. The Ar