Prologue II – The Last Light of Serion

  Year 0 S.Y. – The Fall of Veritas

  The skies bled fire.

  Crimson fractures rippled across the clouds like torn flesh, lightning screaming downward in arcs of unnatural color. At the heart of this chaos, the ancient battlefield of Veritas groaned beneath the weight of history. Blood soaked the soil deeper than rain ever had, and corpses formed a sea of silent witnesses.

  And then, Velgranth came.

  The Womb of Ruin, the entity that devoured kingdoms, roared with a voice that cracked mountains. Its form was a shifting storm of teeth and wings and writhing black matter. It didn’t move—it consumed space.

  Before it, a flicker of resistance remained.

  The Hero Party stood at the eye of the storm their weapons dulled, their bodies failing, but their eyes unyielding.

  They stood within a circle carved with sacrificial runes, the final seal drawn in ash, blood, and light.

  Serion’s voice was firm, steady, as he placed a hand on the glowing core.

  “Once we begin, there’s no undoing it.”

  Kaeron scoffed, the corner of his mouth twitching with a cynical smile.

  “Undoing? After what we’ve done to get here, I’m more worried we’ll survive this.”

  Lysara glanced up at Velgranth’s shrieking form, her lips tight.

  “If we do… the world won’t.”

  Elenwyn wiped a streak of blood from her cheek.

  “So we don’t survive. But we end it.”

  Silence.

  The kind of silence born only on battlefields—where life held its breath.

  Then Serion spoke again, quiet now.

  “…I’m sorry I dragged you all here.”

  Lysara shot him a sharp look.

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  “Don’t you dare.”

  Kaeron chuckled, a hollow sound.

  “We followed. Don’t make it sound poetic.”

  Elenwyn’s eyes shimmered with restrained grief.

  “Let’s make it worth something.”

  The ritual flared to life.

  The seal awakened, golden light pulsing through the runes beneath their feet, intertwining with their lifeforce. The air turned heavy, the ground trembling with a deep, otherworldly hum.

  Velgranth sensed it.

  It screamed—a sound that tore at the soul, a thing not meant for human ears. It surged forward, wings unfurling like nightmares, jaws wide to devour—

  The light struck it.

  Chains of pure mana wrapped around its grotesque limbs, its howling mouths, binding it mid-lunge. The spell fed on the heroes’ lives, every second draining years, memories, essence.

  Kaeron staggered, blood streaming from his eyes.

  “Faster, Serion—this thing’s trying to burn through the tether!”

  “I know!” Serion gritted his teeth, forcing the core deeper into the weave.

  “Just a little longer!”

  Lysara screamed as Velgranth’s tendrils struck the outer edge, shredding her side. She stood back up.

  “He’s breaking through—Kaeron, Elenwyn—NOW!”

  Kaeron drove his blade into the heart of the sigil.

  “Take it, damn you. Take everything.”

  Elenwyn chanted the final words, tears streaming.

  “Let this be our grave… and the world’s rebirth.”

  The core ignited.

  A dome of searing, mirrored light erupted outward, drawing Velgranth in, piece by piece—its form unraveling, its screams becoming distorted until finally—

  Silence.

  And then…

  Explosion.

  Collapse.

  Finality.

  When the dust settled, the seal hovered where Velgranth once stood—silent, eternal, cold. The four heroes were gone, their ashes carried by the wind.

  Below the hill of magic and madness, amidst the shattered ranks of the fallen, a lone warrior clung to the last edge of life.

  Half his face was gone. His legs were dust. His sword shattered beside him.

  But his eyes… still burned.

  He watched the skies quiet, the red light dim, the seal glow faintly. And he laughed.

  "Let the world burn and the heavens weep—I no longer fight for salvation or glory. I fight because there is nothing left worth saving. The light turned its back on me, so I carved my path through shadow. Call me monster, call me damned… but know this—I chose this silence over a world that forgot me."

  With a final shudder, his hand falls limp. The battlefield holds its breath as the warrior slips into silence, leaving behind only the faintest trace of bitter defiance. Around him, the corpses of countless heroes lie strewn—names lost to time, their sacrifices buried beneath the ashes of a world that no longer remembers.

  Author : Hey everyone, Helios here. This is my first work so forgive me if anything goes wrong but I will always do my best. Please comment on it or review it even if it’s criticism , I will reflect on it and make sure you are getting a quality product. Thank You

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