The Great Sage Arkael stood alone atop his tower—a fortress he had spent centuries shaping to his will, a sanctuary forged alongside those he trusted most.
The heart of the storm raging around him began to pulse with ethereal light, threatening to tear his creation apart. Raising his hands, he summoned every ounce of power to halt the destruction.
Runes glowed at his feet, humming with layered enchantments—wards, shields, and binding spells—all the defenses he could muster against such overwhelming force.
Then, he heard the sound of a deep chuckle, accompanied by the familiar echo of a staff striking stone.
Turning slowly, he saw his one and only disciple—a man he had trusted since time immemorial.
"Azareth."
Azareth's cloak snapped in the wind, dark as the void that had opened behind him. His violet eyes burned with a fury Arkael had only ever seen in the monsters they had defeated together—never from him.
"You've always been trapped in your old ways, Master," Azareth sneered. "Honestly, it's pitiful."
Then came the sharp pain in Arkael's abdomen, hot blood pooling rapidly. He realized with dread that Azareth was wielding forbidden magic—a dark force tearing through his body.
"You've come this far only to fall?" Arkael gasped, breath shallow from the blast's impact. "You were supposed to inherit everything."
Azareth didn't flinch. He raised his oak-twisted staff, the sphere at its tip glowing with a fierce red light. "You never understood, Master. I do this for the greater good of Astia."
Those words cut deeper than any spell. Arkael struggled to rise, but his limbs felt heavy, weighed down by soul-bound chains crackling beneath his skin.
In his old age, this was practically death itself.
"For whose good?!" Arkael rasped, eyes narrowing with a mixture of pain and disbelief. "This isn't you, Azareth. This is—"
"—me finally awakening," Azareth interrupted with a cruel smile. "Farewell, Master."
Then the world tore apart. The red light engulfed Arkael as agony unlike any he had ever known coursed violently through his mana circuits.
Then… darkness. Pure, absolute darkness.