The conversation between the two Kings was abruptly curtailed by the sheer, devastating force of General Thrain Ironhand's renewed violence. Even as his masters spoke above, Thrain had already massacred nearly fifty thousand enemy soldiers and five loyalist Ministers on the ground. He unleashed his terrifying power—a concussive wave of pure Void energy mixed with lightning—that scattered the remaining troops around him like debris, creating a zone of sudden, sterile emptiness. His mastery was chilling; he killed efficiently, without effort or visible emotion.
Then, with a casual disregard for gravity, Thrain used his Void element to rise rapidly. He surged into the upper atmosphere, floating effortlessly on a cushion of raw power, joining Gronak and Borin at the zenith of the battlefield. The Tier 3 Elemental Master stood between the two royals, his presence a colossal, undeniable weight of power that instantly shifted the balance of the entire war.
He instantly teleported directly in front of Gronak. Thrain's eyes, normally cold and deadened by centuries of conflict, began to well with tears—the sight of his long-lost companion finally cracking his steely facade.
"Hey, man, where have you been all this time?" Thrain's voice cracked, a deep, emotional tremor appearing in the ancient General. "Did you truly come back to life, or are some other beings using your shell to play cruel, unforgivable tricks on us?"
Gronak nodded slowly, his eyes reflecting the deep, bloody bond they shared. "Hey! Iron. I am the same person you protected all those centuries, the same person who fought every endless battle along with you, and the same person who was finally defeated and cast out alongside you. My soul remembers you."
Thrain's final, lingering doubt dissolved. This was his King. This was his brother in arms, the only person who had given him purpose after the world consumed his family. Thrain immediately surged forward and embraced Gronak fiercely, a hug that spanned over six centuries of shared destiny, bloodshed, and unwavering loyalty. "I was utterly alone all this time," Thrain confessed, the grief pouring out of the stoic warrior. "I wanted to die every single day, but the promise you made me—that promise kept me alive, holding off death until the gods themselves came to take me away from this cruel world."
The promise Thrain clung to was Gronak's instruction to transcend his suffering, become a respected figure of terrifying power, and endure until natural death claimed him—a death that never came naturally to masters of their caliber.
Gronak allowed the emotional release, his face slowly transforming from nostalgic warmth to a terrifying, predatory menace. He knew Thrain's loyalty was absolute and unbreakable.
"Hey, Iron," Gronak said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, dripping with cold malice. "Could you grant me one last wish before we depart this world for our duel?"
"What is it?" Thrain asked, already willing to sacrifice his life for his King.
Gronak's smile widened, pointing at Borin's rapidly reorganizing forces below. "I want you to kill all of Borin's troops. Every single soldier. Leave nothing standing."
Borin, hearing this chilling command, was instantly shocked, his human face momentarily losing its composure. Thrain was not just a General; he was the only Tier 3 person left who could effectively lead the entire Dwarf Kingdom, second only to Borin himself. Thrain was the strongest individual remaining on the Dwarf Kingdom, an ultimate weapon. Borin knew, with a sinking dread, that he was the only one capable of stopping him, but his duel with Gronak was now paramount.
Just as Gronak spoke, he felt a familiar, potent elemental surge, a distinct Core Energy radiating from the palace far below. Gronak scanned the distance and located the source: a concentrated, golden light emitting from the Dwarf Palace. The energy was flowing from the two emergency bracelets that Queen Beatrice had gifted to her descendants, Jai and James, proving their hated lineage.
Gronak's smile turned fully venomous. "Thrain," he hissed, his voice filled with ancient, burning malice. "There are two specific individuals who carry the cursed lineage of that fucking Beatrice! I want you to kill them immediately. They are in the palace, emanating that disgusting light. Kill both of them, and then destroy the entire kingdom after. Start with the traitors."
Gronak then projected his voice across the entire battlefield, amplified by his colossal elemental power, sounding like the wrath of a vengeful god. "Hey, Guys! It's me, your previous King, the true ruler, and the father of your present King, Gronak Stonehead! I want some troops to support me! If anyone volunteers, you will be rewarded beyond measure. But if you refuse to help us, my General, Thrain Ironhand, will see to it that you are all brutally massacred! Make your decision, now!"
The chilling ultimatum paralyzed the troops below. The fear of Borin, was nothing compared to the immediate, visible terror of Thrain Ironhand—the blood-soaked legend who had just effortlessly annihilated an entire division of soldiers.
The troops fractured. Around half of Borin's side—mostly those older soldiers who remembered Gronak's tyrannical reign as a time of unbridled power and wealth—switched allegiance to the resurrected King. With the surviving Zeron troops, Gronak's side instantly swelled to four lakh (400,000) soldiers. Borin's loyalist forces dwindled drastically to only two lakh eighty thousand (280,000), retaining a mere 300 experienced Ministers. The numbers were catastrophic, and the scales were tilted entirely by the defection of the single, devastating Tier 3 General, Thrain Ironhand.
With the stage set, the war between Gronak and Borin was reignited, but on a cosmic scale. Thrain, without hesitation, turned his back on the duel and began his deadly, inexorable flight toward the palace.
Borin and Gronak exchanged one final, chilling, hate-filled look. They both activated their elemental power to the maximum, and with a blinding, dimensional flash, they teleported away from Aetheleon.
They reappeared instantly on a neighboring, unnamed planet—a desolate, aquatic world dominated by a vast, churning ocean, broken only by patches of blue, ice-covered surfaces and monolithic, rock-solid blue continents. The planet was inhabited by strange, feminine, aquatic creatures. The moment the creatures sensed the intrusion, they rushed to attack, only to be instantly crushed and vaporized by the sheer, overwhelming pressure of the Kings' combined elemental vortexes and auras.
Gronak and Borin immediately drew their swords. They were both Tier 2 Masters (a Tier level that belied their true, evolved power) who, through centuries of battle and deep mastery, had honed their skills to effectively use all 18 elemental powers in perfect harmony, making them the most formidable duelists in the known universe. Their knowledge of element manipulation was absolute.
Their first clash was catastrophic. The metal of their swords met with the force of an exploding star, generating a shockwave that violently shook the core of the entire water planet. Massive tsunami-like water waves began to rise kilometers high, towering over the blue continents, triggered by the residual energy of their physical contact. The fight was transcendent, a blinding, furious dance that resembled the legendary, earth-shattering conflict between two elemental gods .
Back on Aetheleon, the immediate, overwhelming threat was General Thrain Ironhand, who fixed his single-minded gaze on the palace where the final scions of Queen Beatrice—Jai and James—were recovering. His mission: patricide by proxy, eradicating Borin's peace and heritage.
Inside the palace, Morlin, Borin's Queen, was overseeing the medical recovery of Jai and his allies (James, Zayn, Brokk, and Winston). A terrified, out-of-breath soldier burst into the room.
"Your Highness! Marshal Thrain Ironhand is coming towards the palace! He wants to kill us all!" the soldier stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief and terror.
Morlin, utterly confused, demanded, "Why? Explain yourself! I haven't heard what madness is happening outside!"
The soldier recounted the shocking sequence of events: the resurrection of Gronak, the sudden, emotional allegiance of Thrain, and Gronak's chilling threat to massacre the entire kingdom and the lineage of their human enemies. "Madam," the soldier concluded, his voice barely a whisper, "your father-in-law wants to kill you, Prince Zayn, and his friends. After eliminating all of you, he is going to destroy the entire Dwarf Kingdom, turning it back into the chaotic hell of his reign!"
The news felt like a waking nightmare—a specific, terrifying premonition Morlin had seen in her deepest fears years ago. The peaceful life Borin had built was crumbling around them, and the ultimate weapon was aimed squarely at her family. Her priority was absolute: protecting her son and the vulnerable heroes.
She knew the truth of Thrain's power: Borin had spoken many times of Thrain's peerless strength, endurance, and mastery of the elements. The same man her husband revered as a formidable, near-unbeatable force was now coming to murder her family.
Morlin, channeling the quiet, desperate strength of royalty, instantly issued a protective order: "Bring me 150 Ministers immediately! They are to form a defensive cordon around the Prince and the recovering heroes! They must buy us time! The remaining Ministers are to reinforce the loyalist troops on the field! We must hold the palace at all costs!"
Morlin looked at the wounded Zayn and the comatose Jai. She knew 150 Ministers, however skilled, were merely speed bumps to a Tier 3 master like Thrain. But the hope of the Dwarf Kingdom rested entirely on their ability to survive the Tier 3 Elemental Master now rapidly approaching the palace walls. The fate of the entire new Dwarf Kingdom now rested on the fragile shoulders of the Queen and a handful of loyalists, facing the overwhelming, elemental vengeance of Thrain Ironhand.