Karlos appeared in a place untouched by battle.
A garden.
High above the main sect grounds, beneath the ancient cherry tree. Wind brushed petals past his face. Kell stepped beside him, tense but alert.
Across the garden sat Jacob.
He smiled. A chessboard lay between them.
"I've been waiting," Jacob said.
Karlos did not respond immediately. He stepped forward, his cloak dragging the scent of blood and fire.
"You're still playing games," Karlos said.
Jacob gestured at the board. "One last match. For the old times."
They sat. Kell remained standing.
Each move they made was mirrored below—soldiers dying, walls falling, elders clashing.
Jacob placed a pawn.
"You came with one lakh," he murmured. "Was I worth that much?"
Karlos moved his knight.
"I came for them. But I stayed for you."
Jacob's smile faltered just slightly.
Cherry blossoms drifted.
Hints of an old bond hung heavy in the air, not spoken but carved into the silence.
Karlos leaned back.
"I never thought I'd have to kill a friend."
Jacob sighed.
"Perhaps you won't have to."
But both men knew this story had only begun.
The battle raged below.
And the ghosts of their past had begun to awaken….
The battlefield was no longer a place. It was a living creature — screaming, shifting, swallowing lives whole.
Above the Uaan Sect grounds, dark clouds churned with unnatural speed, summoned by Daoists of Weather. Lightning cracked the sky like the wrath of the heavens, revealing fleeting glimpses of chaos below.
---
Zone A: The Fracture Begins (Jacob's Plan – Divide and Conquer vs Karlos's Force 1)
At the vanguard, Girath's iron will met its first true test.
He charged with Mad Demon at his side, but what they faced was not an army—it was a void. Dao illusions shimmered. The defenders seemed to scatter in fear.
"Too easy," Mad Demon grunted, blood-lust mounting.
Then came the collapse.
The ground beneath them exploded. Sinkholes hidden by illusory rock swallowed squadrons whole. Arrows rained from hidden cliffs. Behind them, the 'retreating' forces emerged—not broken, but baiting.
Girath grunted. "Tighten formation. This is misdirection!"
But his voice barely reached over the sound of a landslide triggered above them, stone and death rushing down.
---
Zone B: Midfield Counterplay (Jacob's Psychological War vs Karlos's Force 2)
Mido, Sera, and Hira coordinated beautifully. Ice and fire surged like an art form.
But something was... off.
Messages meant for Mido began arriving late. Conflicting signals sowed hesitation among their backup. A whispered lie spread: "Karlos has abandoned the frontline. Sacrifices must be made."
Hira faltered mid-cast, glancing toward Sera.
"He's not like that," she said, voice trembling.
But doubt had planted its seed.
From above, a sudden Dao storm erupted — conjured by Jacob's weather shapers. Hailstones the size of fists tore through unprepared wings of soldiers. Visibility dropped to zero. Fire met fog, creating steam that blinded even the most focused disciples.
Mido growled. "Push through the lies. Focus!"
But in the chaos, the twins were separated—by collapsing terrain manipulated with surgical precision.
Sera screamed her sister's name.
---
Zone C: Shadow Execution (Force 3 vs Elder Defenders)
Mafyuu moved like a blade in water, slicing without resistance.
But something gnawed at her.
She passed a dying elder. His eyes... were Karlos's. Not in color, but in sorrow.
Then came a whisper: "Did he send you here… alone, again? Just like the orphanage."
She paused.
Memories—twisted, sharpened—flashed. Karlos walking away as the fires consumed the children. Karlos choosing others. Always choosing others.
Behind her, the Masked Man noticed. "Stay sharp."
But her blade dipped, half a heartbeat late.
One of the elders struck back.
The illusion faded. The doubt remained.
---
Zone D: Fog of Death (Force 4 in Action)
Wolf 8 was not seen.
But he was felt.
Elders gasped for breath and found none. Dao shields failed as if eaten from the inside. Cries of "Help!" were answered by silence—and then vanishing forms dragged into the blackened mist.
Uaan disciples spoke of "ghost blades." Many simply ran.
The whispers intensified: "Even death has joined Karlos. Even ghosts obey him."
---
Zone E: Flanking Collapse (Force 5 vs Elemental Chaos)
Wolf 9's monstrous form loomed tall—until an earthquake split the ground.
Flames burst from hidden vents. Flooded tunnels swallowed beast and soldier alike.
His laughter turned manic.
"You call this chaos? I AM chaos!"
He transformed—growing wings of bat and serpent tails, flying above the floodwaters.
But even from the sky, harpoons of lightning chased him, guided by Uaan's storm shapers.
This was no random weather. This was orchestration.
---
Zone F: Rearguard Holds (Force 6, Old Man Neon)
Here, Jacob's strategy found less success.
Every attempt to flank the rear met the blade of Old Man Neon. He moved like time itself—slow, then sudden. Fluid. Lethal.
Illusions failed before him.
Daoist tricks were sliced in half.
Behind him, medics worked in peace.
He raised his sword only when blood dared drip past his threshold.
---
Zone G: The Phantom Spear (Force 7 Emerges)
And then — came the final stroke.
From the edge of the horizon, a massive flash of violet light.
The spearhead of Karlos's strategy, the final undisclosed element: Force 7.
Led by none other than the Vice Leader of the Wolves.
A silver-haired shadow riding a storm-forged beast, a spear in hand that trembled the Dao itself.
"End the farce," he said.
A new army—fresh, unbloodied—poured from the tunnels beneath the mountains.
Jacob's eyebrows twitched, miles away at the chessboard.
"So," he whispered, moving a rook-shaped piece forward, "you brought your hidden knight to the game…"
---
The war had only begun to reveal its true face. The next move would not be made by armies—but by the kings themselves…
The garden was quiet.
Cherry blossoms fell like whispers of time, drifting gently onto the ancient stone table where two figures sat across from each other. A wooden chessboard lay between them. The pieces — carved with symbols of Dao and destiny — stood frozen in a delicate standoff.
Karlos sat calmly, his eyes fixed on the board. Behind him stood Kell, arms folded, her usual sharpness dimmed by the weight in the air. A few paces back, the silent Butler watched — not as a protector today, but as a witness to something far older and deeper than war.
Jacob, dressed in a simple white robe trimmed with faint gold, stared at the board in silence.
Far beyond this serene scene, the war raged. Explosions cracked the sky. Daoists clashed with Wolves in brutal duels across the sacred grounds of the Uaan Sect. Craters scarred the land as Elders unleashed forbidden techniques, setting the heavens ablaze with elemental fury.
But here, in a garden sheltered by flowering trees and old memories, time itself seemed to hold its breath.
Karlos moved a piece forward — the black knight.
"You always opened with that," Jacob murmured. "Even back then, when we played in the orphanage."
Karlos said nothing at first. His fingers tapped the table — once, twice. Then his voice came, quiet and cold.
"Do you remember... the night the orphanage burned?"
Jacob looked up.
A gust of wind stirred the cherry blossoms.
"You asked me to come," Karlos continued, his voice steady but heavy. "To play chess. You promised we'd go see the stars afterward. But I waited. And then the fire came."
Jacob's hand froze above a piece.
Kell's eyes narrowed.
"You think I forgot?" Karlos said, his tone sharpening. "You and that strange man... the one in the black trench coat. You spoke near the storage room. I hid behind the crates. I couldn't hear everything, but I remember enough."
Jacob's face paled slightly.
"He told you something. You panicked. You said, 'We have to do it tonight.' That's what I heard."
The board remained still. The game paused in mid-thought.
Then Jacob finally spoke. "You think you know what happened. But you don't."
"Then tell me," Karlos said, his voice edged with ice. "Tell me the truth, Jacob. For once in your life."...