The sands were blackened. Steam hissed where mana-cannon fire had melted obsidian and bone. The battlefield—once teeming with blood and steel—was now a graveyard of twisted metal and broken dreams.
In the eye of the storm, Ren stood—barely conscious, his blade planted into the scorched earth to hold himself up.
The demon was gone. Its body had disintegrated into ash, carried away by the desert wind. But its final words lingered like a curse etched in their bones:
"We are the vanguard."
Haru sat nearby, his pistols silent, cooling from overload. One of them had shattered during the fight. Icarus knelt beside Daiki, who had taken the brunt of the demon's final curse—a lingering corrosion eating away at his left arm.
The Ministry's monks surrounded them, their weapons lowered but ready, wary of both demon and Vatican.
Above, the Sanctum Ark hovered, casting a shadow the size of a city.
Cardinal Eva descended from a transport skiff, flanked by golden-armored Inquisitors. Her mechanical eye whirred as she scanned the crater.
Arch-Deacon Noro approached from the opposite side, hands raised in peace.
"Call off your war," he said.
"You activated ancient tech in direct violation of celestial accord," Eva replied coldly.
"You forced our hand by turning children into targets."
She narrowed her eyes.
"And yet these children destroyed a demon your entire garrison couldn't scratch."
That made her pause.
Her eyes flicked to the boys.
They were burned, bruised, broken—but alive. Heroes in a world that didn't deserve them.
"We need to talk," she said at last.
"We need to prepare," Noro corrected. "This was just the first."
Later — Inside the Sanctum Ark
A war council convened in a glass chamber that hovered high above the desert floor. Outside, solar sails and scripture-reactors hummed with silent power.
The room was filled with high-ranking officials from both sides: Vatican archbishops, Ministry shadow-priests, and even two representatives from the neutral Technoguild, who monitored the balance of arcane and technological power.
Maps displayed seismic shifts in the ley lines.
"Thirteen breaches have opened across the known continents," said a guild technomancer. "The Black Wound is the largest, but there are others… smaller, feeding off forgotten temples, mana-laced forests, even living cities."
Eva stood.
"We underestimated the scope of this."
Noro's voice was solemn.
"No… you ignored the prophecies for political gain. While you squabbled over who would control the boys, the enemy prepared."
The room fell silent.
One of the Vatican generals slammed his fist down.
"Enough riddles. Where are these demons coming from?!"
The screen changed again. This time it showed a tapestry from the Forbidden Libraries—ancient, burned, almost erased from time.
It depicted The First War, where humans, gods, and demonkind once walked the same world.
At its center was a massive, horned creature with twelve wings, impaled by a lance of starlight.
Noro spoke.
"The world was not always human. Once, it was theirs."
"And the Four," Eva added quietly, glancing toward the boys—now being healed in the Ark's sanctum, "were born to tip the scales."
Meanwhile — Ren and the Boys
Ren sat on the edge of the sanctum platform, shirtless, his body wrapped in bandages. He stared out across the desert where the crater still smoked.
"They'll make us weapons now," he muttered.
Icarus leaned beside him, sipping water like a monk.
"We've always been weapons."
"But at least before, we had someone pulling the trigger."
"Now we have to decide who we aim at," Haru added, arriving with Daiki limping behind him.
Ren exhaled, long and low.
"So where do we go?"
Daiki pointed at the world map on the holoscreen.
"The seals. The demon said more were coming. We find the old fortresses. The ancient prisons. Wherever the old world kept their monsters."
Icarus added, "And we do it before the Vatican or Ministry turns this war into a power grab."
"We don't serve flags anymore," Ren said.
He looked at each of them in turn.
"We serve each other."
Epilogue of the Chapter — New Orders
As night fell over the desert, another shadow stirred deep beneath the ice caps of the Northern Reach.
A new demon clawed free—a serpent crowned in rusted gold, with seven eyes and a voice that turned snow into flame.
"The war has begun," it hissed.
Back at the Sanctum Ark, the council ended with one agreement:
"The Four will operate as free agents. Neither Vatican nor Ministry will control them—but both shall support them. Their mission: Hunt demons. Seal the breaches. Or die trying."
The boys were given their first target:
"The Cradle of Ash."
An abandoned cathedral swallowed by a volcano during the First War.
Its gates were stirring. Its lock—a trial of mind, body, and soul.
And waiting beneath it… was a Crowned Demon with a name so old, even the stars had forgotten it.
.