The Threshold of Despair
The great chamber of the Aura Council in Paris no longer felt like the heart of the world.
It felt like a mausoleum.
Five chairs stood empty, veiled in shadow:
Amélie Dufort — her banner draped in blue silk, now torn and blackened at the edges.
Sophia Carter — her seat lit faintly by a single white candle.
Maria Torres — the Brazilian flag folded across her armrest.
Klaus Weber — his memorial marked with a broken steel pendant.
Dmitri Ivanov — only a pile of dust in an urn, the Russian crest carved into stone.
The silence was heavier than stone.
The Survivors
Those who remained stood apart, their auras dim but unbroken.
Akira Tanaka stood like a statue, katana resting across his back, eyes lowered.
Ethan Blake leaned against his crutch, bandages covering his ribs and arm, jaw clenched in quiet fury.
Zahir Al-Fahim's sand aura flickered like restless dunes, his eyes hollow with grief.
Hyejin, wrapped in heavy bandages, stood stiff despite the pain, frost trailing faintly at her feet.
Ishita, scarlet aura licking faintly at her hands, fists clenched so tightly they bled.
Rehan, golden aura simmering beneath the surface, stood beside her, steady as stone.
And at the center, Li Wei, the Soul Wielder, robes torn but presence unshaken.
Above them, the seal map pulsed crimson in three places, each pulse a silent toll of death.
---
The Council Fractures
Arashi, the Aura Leader, struck his staff.
"The Council of Ashes is called. Speak freely, for tomorrow may not exist."
Ethan slammed his fist on the table.
"Zarvok's crimson mist devours Rio. Azarkon buries Egypt alive. Xerath turns Shanghai into silence. And we sit here, counting the bodies!"
Zahir's aura surged. "My homeland is gone! The Nile runs dry, the pyramids crumble, my people turn to ash—and you want me to wait?"
Akira's eyes lifted, voice calm but cutting.
"Recklessness will not bring them back. Only precision will bring survival."
Zahir's fist trembled. "And what has precision saved? The demons do not bleed!"
The chamber erupted. Delegates shouted, wielders clashed.
Ishita flinched, the Scarlet inside her thrashing wildly.
"Stop… please…"
Rehan caught her wrist, golden aura wrapping hers, steadying her storm.
"This is what the demons want. For us to break before the fight begins."
---
Li Wei's Revelation
Then Li Wei rose.
The chamber silenced under his Soul aura, heavy as iron.
"You quarrel over nations while you ignore the truth. You see corpses. You see ruins. But you do not see what is being built from them."
He pressed his palm against the map. Crimson veins pulsed like spreading wounds.
"Do you remember Dmitri Ivanov?"
The chamber stiffened.
Li Wei's voice hardened.
"Dmitri was not simply slain. A low-rank demon stole his aura before death. His body crumbled to ash because he was emptied. This was no accident. It was practice."
Gasps rippled through the chamber.
"When wielders die, their aura dies with them. But if harvested before death…" Li Wei's aura surged, "…that aura lingers. It becomes fuel. Dmitri was the first step."
He swept his gaze across the room.
"The Upper Demons are not killing randomly. They are harvesting. Each death is counted. Each soul adds to their abyss."
Zahir's voice broke. "How many?"
Li Wei's words were a blade.
"Fifty thousand souls. That is the threshold. When it is reached, the Lord Ghost Demon will awaken—not bound, not weakened, but whole."
---
Shattered Hearts
The hall filled with grief.
Hyejin's frost spread across the stone floor, her voice trembling.
"I fought with everything I had in Seoul… and it meant nothing."
Zahir's roar echoed, sand scattering.
"Fifty thousand! Then the world is already lost!"
Ethan bared his teeth.
"Then let's go down swinging. Better that than wait like lambs."
Akira's hand rested on his blade, his bow shallow but firm.
"If the path leads to death, then let us meet it with honor."
Ishita trembled, her voice cracking.
"I feel them. Every soul they take… it rips through me. They whisper in my head. They want me to break."
A delegate spat. "She is the Scarlet key! If she loses control, she will doom us all!"
Rehan's golden aura flared, his glare lethal.
"Say that again, and I'll end you before the demons do."
Scarlet flared at Ishita's fingertips, but before it burst, Li Wei's Soul aura pressed it down, steady and cold.
"Scarlet is not the curse," he said. "It is the counter. Fear it, and you lose. Trust it, and you may yet live."
He looked directly at Ishita. "But you must master it. Or it will master you."
---
The Oath of Ashes
Arashi's staff struck stone.
"Then it is decided. We do not scatter. We do not despair. We carry the oath of the fallen. Until the last wielder stands, humanity fights."
But his words rang hollow.
Because outside these walls, crimson mist devoured streets, sand swallowed villages, and silence claimed cities.
And in the abyss, a deeper voice stirred.
"Soon. Feed me. Reach the threshold. And I shall walk again."
The Lord Ghost Demon was listening.
The harvest had already begun.