"We'll split into our usual teams," Sylen instructed, his voice a controlled whisper. "Tom and Leonard, you're with me. Roy, you lead the others."
After ensuring the corridor was clear, Sylen signaled his team forward. They moved with practiced stealth, their footsteps silent against the cold stone floors. Navigating through dimly lit passages, they ascended a narrow staircase, emerging into a corridor lined with heavy steel bars. The air was thick with the scent of damp stone and aged timber. Tom's eyes scanned the area, and he noticed a figure lying motionless on the cold stone floor within one of the cells.
"Should we assist the target?" Tom murmured, his gaze fixed on the occupied cell.
Sylen shook his head. "Our mission parameters are clear. We can't afford deviations."
They ascended the ancient staircase, its steps creaking underfoot, until they reached a narrow opening in the wall of the staircase. Peering into the darkness beyond, Sylen noticed the passage extended into an impenetrable blackness. Suddenly, the faint sound of footsteps descending from above halted them in their tracks.
"Hide," Sylen ordered, his voice barely audible.
They pressed themselves into the shadows of a recessed alcove, the cold stone pressing against their backs. The footsteps grew louder, holding their breath, they watched as a pair of guards passed by, engrossed in conversation.
Once the guards were out of earshot, Sylen exhaled slowly. "Let's move. Stay alert."
As they ascended, a chilling scream echoed from below, piercing the silence like a blade against paper. A voice—frail, desperate—pleaded in terror.
"P-Please… no!"
The words barely escaped before a sickening crack split the air, followed by an agonized wail. Another lash. Another shriek. Sounds of flesh being torn apart reverberated up the staircase, each cry more broken than the last.
"Sylen… should we do something?" His voice was calm yet was filled with a sense of curiosity.
Sylen didn't so much as glance back. His tone was cold, devoid of hesitation. "No. We have our orders."
And with that, he kept ascending the stairs as Tom and Leonard followed quickly behind.
As the team ascended the stairs, they entered a vast, dimly lit chamber. The silence was suffocating, the air thick with tension. Their eyes swept the room, instincts sharp. Then, in the far corner—subtle yet unmistakable—a camera.
Without hesitation, they dove back down the stairs, pressing themselves against the cold stone wall just as the camera whirred to life, scanning the area with mechanical precision.
Leonard exhaled sharply. "What's the plan for that?"
Sylen's expression remained unreadable. "We run. I'm not wasting three hours setting up for every damn camera we see."
Without another word, he sprang into action, vaulting over the edge and sprinting across the room. His movements were fluid, perfectly timed—ducking, weaving, slipping behind a pillar before the camera could register him. Tom and Leonard exchanged a quick glance before following suit, mirroring Sylen's path with calculated precision. One by one, they regrouped in silence.
Sylen raised a hand and pointed upward. Their gazes followed—an air vent, partially concealed in the ceiling's shadows. Understanding passed between them in an instant.
Sylen moved first, launching himself off the pillar with practiced ease, gripping the vent's edge before pulling himself inside. Tom followed, slightly slower but just as efficient. Leonard was last, moving quickly to avoid any unnecessary exposure.
Inside, the air was stifling, the metal beneath them groaning under their weight as they crawled forward.
"Let's head this way." Sylen's voice was hushed but certain. "I've been sensing mana coming from this direction for a while. I assumed you both felt it too."
Leonard and Tom nodded silently.
Half of earth suddenly turned into darkness, blinding everyone and everything. An cataclysmic surge of energy erupted, tearing through the world. The entire castle trembled as an overwhelming aura expanded, half of Earth itself quaked under its sheer presence. A radiant, golden brilliance descended from the heavens, piercing through the endless void like the decree of a god. The air crackled, space itself warped, and time seemed to stutter under the weight of its arrival.
Amidst the devastation, where the city of Vern lay in ruin and despair hung thick in the air like a death shroud, a lone figure emerged from the wreckage.
In the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared, space itself bending to their will. A heartbeat later, they reappeared at the heart of the castle, their arrival warping reality with an unseen force. Golden light was all that was seen.
"Xypher," their voice rang out, a decree that trembled through the walls—until suddenly, it fractured, distorting into a burst of static before reforming. "Do thou understand the crime of attempting to—" Another glitch, like the universe itself struggled to contain their words. "Will thou accept punishment… or defy?"
A slow, deliberate movement. Xypher rose to his feet, a smirk cutting across his face.
"Took you long enough."
The room darkened. Then—detonation. Black, crackling energy erupted from Xypher's very being, the sheer force of it sending shockwaves through the castle. Bolts of abyssal lightning crashed down around him, tearing through stone and steel alike, reducing entire sections of the fortress to nothingness. The air reeked of scorched reality itself as the battlefield was set.
"The Principle of First Light…"
As Xypher uttered the title, the very air around them convulsed. The atmosphere twisted, space itself recoiling as an unnatural wind howled to life. A force beyond comprehension rose with terrifying speed, a maelstrom so fierce that it devoured his words, cutting him off before he could speak the name aloud.
Then, a voice followed—calm, yet absolute. A decree carved into existence itself.
"Thou art unworthy to speak my name."
The blinding radiance poured forth, illuminating the ruined castle with divine brilliance. From within that light, a figure emerged—unshaken, unyielding.
"I am Veridion, the Principle who holds the First Light." His words rang with the weight of a celestial judgment. "For thy crime, thou shalt be erased… in the name of myself."
With a mere thought, the heavens responded. From the luminous void, a warhammer forged of pure golden light manifested in his grasp—its very form humming with the unrelenting power of creation itself.
Xypher let out a low chuckle, the sound laced with unshaken amusement. Then—darkness erupted. A void of pure abyss spiraled outward, devouring the space around him as reality twisted and convulsed under its weight. From this nothingness, a greatsword began to take shape—not in sight, but in presence. A weapon unseen, yet undeniable. His fingers curled tightly around the invisible blade, gripping destruction itself.
With a single thought, his knight lunged forward—an armored specter of ruin, a harbinger of the abyss. The ground quaked beneath its charge, a force of annihilation racing toward Veridion.
But before its blade could even taste the air, a pillar of searing light tore through the sky, swallowing the knight whole. Golden radiance coiled around its form, forcing it to its knees as luminous chains erupted from the ether, binding it to the very fabric of existence. The knight thrashed, its wretched form writhing against its divine shackles.
From the clouds above, an executioner's axe descended like a decree from the cosmos. There was no time to resist, no moment to react. The instant it struck, the knight shattered—its soul severed, erased from history.
Veridion stood unmoved, his gaze piercing through the darkness.
"Thy guardian of Ruins is but a flicker of futility. Against me, Xypher, thy power is nothing."
Xypher's smirk deepened as a low, guttural growl echoed beside him, his nine-tailed fox emerged—its fur a shifting mass of shadow, its eyes burning with an infernal glow. The beast radiated ruin, its very presence distorting the air as it lunged toward Veridion, claws extended, fangs bared, an unstoppable force of annihilation.
But Veridion did not flinch.
Before the fox could close the distance, pillars of divine radiance erupted around it, forming an unbreakable prison of light. Bars of pure celestial energy caged the beast, severing its connection to the abyss. It howled, its tails thrashing violently, its power surging as it tried to break free.
Then—the clock appeared. Suspended in the air, an ornate golden timepiece manifested above the struggling beast. The hands began to spin—slow at first, then faster, faster, faster. Time itself twisted into a blinding spiral, accelerating at an unfathomable speed. The fox's body withered before Xypher's eyes—its fur turned brittle, its flesh shriveled, its bones cracked and crumbled into dust.
In mere moments, the beast was completely erased from history. The golden clock faded into nothingness, as though it had never been. Veridion exhaled, his expression untouched by arrogance, his gaze locked onto Xypher with an authority that transcended words.
"Come at me thyself."
Xypher's smirk vanished. A flicker of something primal flashed in his eyes.
In an instant, he was upon Veridion, the sheer force of his movement tearing through space itself. His invisible greatsword carved through the air with a power so absolute that reality trembled—shockwaves of destruction followed in its wake, devouring everything in their path. The castle could not withstand it; massive sections of its structure collapsed, stone and steel plunging into the moat below as the world around them succumbed to ruin.
With nothing but a single raised hand, he met Xypher's strike. Golden light enveloped his palm, forming an unbreakable barrier of pure divinity. The greatsword—an abyssal weapon capable of sundering worlds—halted, caught effortlessly in his grasp. The air cracked around the two.
With a mere flicker of motion, Veridion's warhammer descended upon Xypher. The weapon blurred through the air, carrying the force of a collapsing sun. It was a direct hit.
The impact was instantaneous. Xypher was launched like a meteor, his body obliterating the castle walls as he tore through stone and magic alike. He crashed into the moat's outer barrier with such force that the very foundation of the stronghold quaked under the devastation.
Before the dust could settle, Veridion was already upon him. He appeared beside Xypher in an instant, grasping his throat with an iron grip. His golden eyes burned with celestial energy as radiant bolts of sharpened light materialized around them, each one humming with divine power.
Then, with no hesitation, the spears struck. One after another, they pierced into Xypher from all angles—searing through flesh, through bone, through the very essence of his being. The air howled with the sound of divine punishment as Veridion tightened his grip.
Xypher's body was wracked with pain—golden lances of pure radiance had pierced through him, searing his flesh, scorching his very soul. Blood dripped from the wounds, his mana dark and defiant, yet powerless against the divine that had been cast upon him.
Veridion's grip on his throat remained unyielding, his expression unshaken. With effortless might, he hurled Xypher away, his body becoming a blurred streak across the sky, tearing through space itself. The force of the throw shattered the air, sending shockwaves rippling through the heavens.
Xypher crashed down upon an ancient temple, its structure long since overtaken by nature's grasp. Towering trees surrounded the ruin, their roots intertwined with the remnants of a forgotten age.
Veridion exhaled slowly. His golden gaze surveyed the aftermath, his judgment absolute.
"Thy punishment has been carried out."
His voice was calm, and absolute.
Lifting his hand toward the sky, a final surge of golden light erupted from his form, illuminating the heavens as divine energy cascaded outward. In one last pulse, his presence faded, his essence dissolving into the very fabric of existence.
And then—nothing.
No trace of him remained. No footprints, no lingering aura. As if he had never been there at all.