The battlefield was chaos.
Screams tore through the smoke-choked air as steel clashed against claw, and the blood of knights mingled with the corrupted ichor of demons. The once-orderly valley had become a graveyard of banners and broken weapons.
King Edward Stoneheart stood in the center of it all, his once-polished armor dented, scorched, and drenched in blood. His greatsword trembled in his hand—not from fear, but exhaustion.
Around him, the two thousand who had stood tall just days ago had been cut down to less than a thousand.
"Hold the line!" he bellowed, his voice raw. "Stand for Eldoria!"
But the tide had turned.
The sky above twisted with dark clouds, and the blackened sun cast an eerie crimson glow upon the slaughter. In the distance, Lucifer's legions—demons of all forms, some winged and monstrous, others slithering and skeletal—surged forward in wave after wave, endless.
A knight collapsed beside the king, his throat torn open. Another screamed as he was dragged into the air by a horned beast.
Edward fell to one knee, panting, his sword braced in the soil. The world spun around him.
"This is it…" he muttered. "The end…"
But then—
BOOM.
A blazing explosion split the sky.
A storm of scarlet flame rained from above and incinerated the front line of demons. The battlefield shook as a pillar of fire erupted on the western ridge.
All eyes turned.
From atop a scorched hill, clad in shimmering crimson armor, Eris Vaeloria stood like a goddess of war. Her long hair whipped in the wind, eyes blazing with wrath.
"Let me show you how a real fire mage fights!" she roared, launching forward.
Her flames weren't just heat—they were alive, dancing with sentient fury. They swallowed hordes of demons in a tidal wave of crimson, melting weapons, flesh, and bone.
Beside her, the wind howled.
Lyra Dreamshade, in a flowing cloak of sea-blue and silver, floated down gracefully. She yawned.
"This is such a pain… but if Rael's watching, I guess I'll try."
She raised both hands—and the wind screamed.
A massive tornado whipped across the battlefield, lifting hundreds of demons into the sky before collapsing into a tidal crash of water. Lightning crackled in its wake, arcing across the stunned army of hellspawn.
From the eastern flank, another surge of light swept in.
Evelyn Starwyn, cloaked in glowing spirit energy, strode into battle with an army of summoned spirit warriors flanking her. Elementals, beasts, and glowing figures of ancestors crashed into the enemy ranks with divine fury.
"FOR RAEL!" Evelyn cried, her voice cracking with emotion. "We fight until he wakes!"
The knights cheered, renewed by hope.
And at the center of it all—cutting through the darkness like a sword of judgment—came Raiden Valenhart.
The wind parted for him.
His blade gleamed like starlight, his movements a blur of perfection. Every swing severed limbs, every step tore open paths through the abyss.
He didn't yell. He didn't boast.
He simply fought—his expression hard, eyes distant.
"This isn't enough," Raiden muttered. "Until Rael wakes up… I'll carve the way."
Thousands of reinforcements poured in behind them—knights, mages, archers, warriors from allied territories who had ridden through the night, answering the silent call of war.
The battlefield turned.
From despair to defiance.
From defeat to hope.
The demon army, now cornered and burned, began to retreat—but not before the four prodigies and their army wiped out the remaining forces with a combined assault that lit the sky with every element known to magic.
As the smoke cleared, King Edward rose to his feet, stunned and bloodied. He looked at the newcomers—his eyes wide.
"You… you came," he breathed.
Eris stepped forward, her armor scorched but her smile fierce. "Took us long enough, huh?"
"We came for Rael," Evelyn said gently, her eyes filled with tears. "And for all of you."
Raiden stood in silence, staring off toward the tower where Rael still lay unconscious.
Lyra flopped onto a rock and sighed, "Ugh. Wake up already, sleepyhead. You're missing all the fun."
But as cheers echoed across the broken valley, and survivors began tending to the wounded, a cold wind stirred the air.
In the distance, black clouds churned with unnatural power.
This wasn't the end.
It was only the beginning.
The shadows of the Demon King himself—Lucifer—watched from beyond the veil.
And somewhere deep in the healing tower, Rael's fingers twitched.