Part 1: The Leftovers
The heavy footsteps of Warlord Thorne faded into the burning ruins of the fortress keep.
Valen stood in the mud, staring at the empty doorway. "He took the King," Valen said, gripping his shield. "We have to clear the board."
He turned around.
Across the crater, the 11 Lieutenants of the Dynasty stood ready. They were battered from the initial ambush, but their eyes were clear and focused. These were the "Fangs" of Thorne—Level 38-40 veterans who had held the lower floors in a chokehold for three years.
The Dynasty Vice-Captain, a towering tank named Gorge, slammed his visor down.
"Formation Delta," Gorge ordered, his voice dangerously calm. "Don't underestimate them. They have high burst damage. Grind them down."
The 11 Elites moved with the terrifying discipline of a raid team.
The Wall: Three Shield-Tanks locked shields.
The Artillery: Four Mages began chanting, blue mana shielding appearing around them.
The Fangs: Four Rogues vanished into stealth.
"They're turtling," Isara hissed. "Standard Raid formation."
Valen stepped forward. "Titan. Open the door."
Part 2: The Immovable Object.
"Comin' through!" Titan yelled.
He charged the shield wall like a bowling ball.
CRASH.
Titan slammed into the center. But the Dynasty tanks didn't budge.
Gorge and his flankers dug their boots into the mud, activating [Skill: Iron Root].
They caught Titan. Then, they crushed him.
Two flankers hooked their shields onto Titan's arms. Gorge drove a steel shoulder into Titan's chest.
[Skill: Hydraulic Press]
"Guh!" Titan gasped, pinned by the superior stats of three adult warriors.
"Kill the tank," Gorge commanded.
Behind the shields, the four mages finished their chant.
[Spell: Magma Lance]
Four spears of molten rock materialized, aimed point-blank at Titan.
Part 3: The Struggle
"Pull," Roger whispered from the sky.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
The sniper shots hit the spells mid-air, shattering the magma lances with anti-magic dust. Liquid fire splashed over the Dynasty tanks.
But they didn't let go.
"Ignore the pain!" Gorge roared as fire scorched his cape. "Crush the boy!"
He tightened his grip on Titan. Titan's armor began to creak. His HP dropped slowly. [-50... -50... -50].
"I... can't... break... free!" Titan gritted his teeth, his strength stat failing against the level gap.
"Valen!" Isara shouted. "The mages still have shields!"
Isara and Jax tried to rush the backline, but the Dynasty Mages were ready this time.
[Spell: Fire Wall]
A wall of flames erupted, blocking the assassins.
"You think we fall for the same trick twice?" the Lead Mage sneered, casting a second spell. [Gravity Well].
Isara fell to one knee, the gravity magic pinning her to the mud.
Part 4: The Rogue's Ambush
"The healer is open!"
The four Dynasty Rogues broke stealth. They didn't just rush Seraphina; they coordinated.
Two threw smoke bombs to blind Roger's line of sight.
Two lunged for Seraphina with poison daggers.
CRACK-BOOM.
Prince Thal'dor dropped from the sky, slamming between Seraphina and the rogues.
"Back off!" Thal'dor roared, stabbing his lightning spear.
But the Rogues were fast. They dodged the spear thrust.
One Rogue slid under Thal'dor's guard, slashing his thigh.
[-300 HP]
"Too slow, bird-man!" the Rogue hissed.
Thal'dor stumbled. The Rogues were using their higher Agility to dance around the Prince's heavy attacks.
Part 5: The Turn of the Tide
The battle was turning against Eclipse.
Titan was being crushed.
Isara was pinned by gravity.
Thal'dor was bleeding, unable to hit the elusive rogues.
The level gap was real. The Dynasty veterans had better stats, better cooldown management, and higher defense.
Valen looked at the chaos.
"Lyra," Valen said calmly into the comms. "Change the track."
Lyra, perched on the wall, stopped playing her fast tempo. She switched to a heavy, grinding rhythm.
[Song: Anthem of the Iron Mountain]
[Effect: Defense +30% | Crowd Control Resistance +50%]
The buff hit Titan.
"RAAAH!" Titan roared. With the extra resistance, he finally broke the stun lock.
He didn't try to push the three tanks back. He fell forward, dragging them down into the mud with him.
"Valen! Now!"
Valen charged. He didn't aim for the tanks. He aimed for the Fire Wall blocking Isara.
[Sun-Forged Style: Solar Cut]
His sword slashed through the magical fire, dispersing the mana.
"Isara! Go!"
Isara, free from the gravity well, didn't waste a second. She didn't attack the mages. She threw a Flash Pellet.
FLASH.
The mages were blinded.
Jax slid in, hamstringing two of them before they could recast shields.
Part 6: The Combo
"Thal'dor!" Valen shouted, turning toward the backline where the Prince was struggling. "Lock them down!"
Thal'dor, bleeding from three rogue wounds, grinned.
"Gladly."
The Prince slammed his spear into the ground. He didn't aim to hit the rogues; he aimed to electrify the water.
[Sky-Kin Art: Thunder Cage]
Electricity arced through the wet mud. The rogues tried to dodge, but they couldn't dodge the ground itself.
ZZZZT.
Their muscles locked up.
[Status: Paralyzed (2 Seconds)]
"Two seconds is all I need!" Valen roared.
He vaulted off a piece of debris, his sword glowing white-hot.
He swung a massive horizontal arc.
[Solar Flare]
KA-BOOM.
The plasma explosion engulfed the paralyzed rogues. They were blasted into the fortress wall, their HP bars dropping from Green to Red instantly.
Part 7: No Loose Ends
Gorge, the Dynasty Vice-Captain, managed to kick Titan off him. He stood up, mud dripping from his armor, his HP flashing red at 5%.
He looked around.
His mages were hamstrung and bleeding out.
His rogues were smoking heaps against the wall.
He was alone against Valen, Titan, and the Prince.
Gorge didn't drop his shield. He spat a mouthful of blood onto Valen's boots.
"You think this is over?" Gorge wheezed, a manic grin spreading across his face. "We are the Dynasty. We have thousands of members. You can beat us today, but we will hunt you. We will camp your spawn points. We will—"
SHIIING.
A blade passed through Gorge's throat.
Isara appeared behind him, her dagger dripping.
Gorge choked, his eyes going wide. He dropped to his knees, grasping at his neck as his HP hit zero. He shattered into blue pixels.
Valen looked at Isara. He didn't look shocked. He looked grim.
"Elian said no loose ends," Isara whispered, wiping her blade. "These are Level 40 veterans. If we let them live, they heal up and stab us in the back while we fight Thorne."
Valen looked at the other surviving Dynasty members—the mages writhing in the mud, the rogues groaning against the wall. They were helpless, but they were still enemies.
He tightened his grip on The Sun-Forged Blade.
He remembered the ambush. He remembered the arrogance. He remembered that if the roles were reversed, the Dynasty would have slaughtered them without hesitation.
"Titan," Valen said, his voice hard. "Crush the tanks."
"Jax. The mages."
"Thal'dor. The rogues."
Titan hesitated for a fraction of a second, looking at the pinned tanks.
"Sorry," the boy whispered.
He raised his massive Gorgon Shield and brought the edge down.
CRUNCH.
The tank's helmet caved in. [System: Foe Vanquished.]
Jax moved through the backline like a grim reaper. The mages tried to crawl away, begging for mercy.
"Please! We surrender!"
Jax didn't answer. He simply severed their spines one by one.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
Prince Thal'dor walked over to the paralyzed rogues. He looked down at them with cold, alien eyes.
"Groundlings usually beg before they die," Thal'dor noted.
He thrust his spear four times. Precise. Efficient. Lethal.
[Kill Count: 11/11 Elites]
Silence fell over the crater.
The mud was stained with digital residue and fading particles. There were no groans. No threats. Just the crackle of the burning fortress nearby.
Valen sheathed his sword. He looked at the empty spot where Gorge had stood.
He felt heavier. Not physically, but mentally.
They had crossed a line today. They weren't just playing a game anymore; they were fighting a war.
"Clear," Isara stated, sheathing her daggers.
"No witnesses. No future enemies."
Part 8: The Island in Chaos
Valen nodded, but before he could answer, a thunderclap echoed from the northern jungle—nowhere near the crater.
Then came a scream, cut short by the crackle of electricity.
"It's not clear," Valen said, his head snapping up. "Listen."
The silence of the crater was a lie. Beyond the walls, the Iron-Root Archipelago was a chaotic warzone.
Titan's "Meteor Drop" had shattered the main army and killed the vanguard, but nearly four hundred Dynasty soldiers had survived the blast. They had been blown into the treeline, the swamps, and the ruins. They were injured, terrified, and cornered—but they were still armed.
And they weren't alone in the jungle.
Prince Thal'dor's thirty Sky-Kin warriors weren't just watching from the clouds. They had descended.
"My brothers are hunting," Thal'dor said, looking toward the treeline where blue flashes of mana lit up the smoke. "But the rats are fighting back. They are digging into the ruins."
Roger's voice crackled over the comms, breathless. "Confirming visuals. Dynasty survivors are grouping up in Sector 4 and the Docks. They're trying to set up anti-air ballistae to shoot down the Sky-Kin! If they establish a perimeter, this turns into a siege."
Valen looked at his team. They were tired. Their mana was low.
But the mission was absolute.
"Elian said Zero," Valen reminded them, his voice hardening into steel. "We don't give them time to regroup."
He pointed The Sun-Forged Blade toward the jungle.
"Eclipse! Sky-Kin! Fan out! Hunt them down!"
Part 9: The Purge
The island became a hunting ground. The battle fractured into dozens of brutal skirmishes as the Dynasty fought for their lives against the aerial supremacy of the Sky-Kin and the surgical strikes of Eclipse.
In the Northern Treeline (Sky-Kin vs. Spearmen):
Fifty Dynasty spearmen had formed a defensive line in a clearing, pointing their long weapons at the sky to deter the dragons.
"Hold the line!" a Dynasty captain screamed. "If they dive, impale them!"
High above, a squad of five Sky-Kin warriors circled. They didn't dive. They synchronized.
"Thunder Rain!" the Sky-Kin leader shouted.
They didn't throw their spears; they channeled mana through them. Five bolts of chain lightning struck the center of the spearmen.
CRACK-BOOM.
The formation shattered. The soldiers convulsed as electricity jumped from armor to armor.
As the formation broke, the Sky-Kin dove. They swooped down like hawks, their crystal spears glowing, impaling the stunned soldiers before pulling up into the air again.
[Kill Count: 350... 380... 410...]
In the West Ruins (Eclipse vs. Ambushers):
Isara and Jax sprinted through the burning remains of the barracks.
Suddenly, a Dynasty Mage popped out from behind a wall, casting a [Fireball].
"Die!"
Isara slid under the spell, the fire singeing her hair. She threw a dagger, catching the mage in the throat.
But more enemies emerged—twenty swordsmen rushing from the smoke to corner them.
"Titan!" Isara yelled.
CRASH.
Titan smashed through a solid brick wall in a cloud of dust and debris, appearing right behind the swordsmen. He didn't use a weapon; he used a stone pillar he had ripped from the foundation.
He swung the pillar like a giant club.
The impact sent five players flying into the burning rubble.
[Kill Count: 450... 475... 500...]
At the Docks (The Final Stand):
The largest group of survivors—nearly a hundred players—had reached the pier. They were frantically loading onto the last transport ship, firing arrows at the Sky-Kin trying to stop them.
"Cut the ropes! We're leaving!"
The sails unfurled, catching the wind. The ship began to drift away from the dock, escaping the range of the battlefield.
"We made it!" a Dynasty archer cheered, dropping his bow. "We're out of range!"
"Range?" Roger chuckled to himself, the wind whipping his trench coat. "Range is a suggestion."
He didn't aim at the soldiers. He aimed at the waterline.
He cycled the bolt. He loaded a specialized round Luna had crafted just for this moment: [Alchemical Round: Hydro-Core].
"Wind shear... negligible. Drop... calculated."
Roger exhaled.
BANG.
The rifle kickback was strong enough to shake the dragon he was riding. The bullet tore through the air, leaving a spiral of displaced mist in its wake.
It took two full seconds to travel the distance.
The Dynasty archer on the stern of the ship was still waving his bow in victory when the hull beneath him simply ceased to exist.
The bullet struck the water just below the ship's center line and detonated. It wasn't an explosion of fire; it was an implosion of pressure. The water expanded violently, snapping the keel of the transport ship like a dry twig.
CRACK-BOOM.
The ship folded in half. The cheering stopped instantly, replaced by screams as the vessel was sucked into the churning white water.
[Kill Streak: 550... 600... 640...]
Roger pulled his eye away from the scope. He watched the wreckage vanish beneath the waves.
"No escape," Roger muttered, chambering a fresh round. "House rules."
Part 10: The Silence of Ruin
Back in the mud of the fortress courtyard, silence finally returned.
The battle was over. The 11 Lieutenants of the Dynasty lay scattered across the crater, defeated by the combined force of Valen's shield, Titan's strength, and Isara's speed.
Valen stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving. His golden armor was scorched black from mage-fire, and his shield was dented, but he was standing.
He looked around. The Sky-Kin were landing on the ruined walls, cleaning their crystal spears. The fires of the barracks were dying down to embers.
"Status?" Valen called out, his voice hoarse.
"Alive," Jax grunted, pulling his dagger out of a piece of timber.
"Hungry," Titan added, sitting on a pile of rubble, looking relatively untouched thanks to his shell.
Isara didn't speak. She was staring intently at the Burning Keep—the massive central structure of the fortress that was currently engulfed in flames.
Inside that inferno, Elian was alone with Warlord Thorne.
A massive explosion rocked the Keep, blowing out the stained-glass windows of the throne room.
BOOM.
Valen flinched, his head snapping toward the fire. The victory at the docks meant nothing if their Captain died in the duel.
"He's taking too long," Valen whispered, the adrenaline spiking in his veins again.
He gripped his sword, taking a step toward the burning doors.
"We go in," Valen commanded. "Now."
But before he could take a second step, a red laser dot appeared on his chest plate.
High above, Roger watched through his scope. He wasn't aiming to shoot his friend; he was aiming to stop him.
"Hold your position, Hero," Roger's voice crackled through the comms crystal, cold and devoid of emotion. "The Captain is painting his masterpiece. Don't you dare step on the canvas."
Valen looked up at the sky, teeth gritted, torn between duty and brotherhood, as the Keep burned brighter against the darkening sky.
[Chapter 66 End]