The night was calm in Eldergrove Forest, where Glacius, Aurora, and Boreas had set up a makeshift camp after their harrowing encounter with Darius Kaine. The thick canopy of trees above them filtered the starlight, casting a soft glow over the campsite. Boreas sat against a tree, bandaged up from the wound inflicted by Darius’s Shadowsteel Blade, while Glacius and Aurora huddled close to the fire, its warmth a small comfort in the cold night.
Glacius broke the silence first. "We need to think about our next steps," he said, his voice steady but laced with concern.
Aurora, still shaken by the encounter, looked into the flames. "Do you think Darius was telling the truth? About Frostgale being gone?"
Glacius frowned, deep in thought. "We shouldn’t believe it outright, but we can’t dismiss it either. Our main concern should be the other members of the group Darius mentioned—The Eclipse Sovereignty."
Boreas, wincing slightly as he shifted to a more comfortable position, chimed in. "Darius said he was the seventh member. What does that mean? Is he seventh in strength? Age? Or just the last to join?"
Aurora shuddered at the thought. "If it’s based on strength, then the other members must be terrifying."
Glacius nodded, the seriousness of the situation weighing on him. "That might be true, but we’ll stay strong. We fight for what’s ours, no matter what."
Aurora looked up at the stars, her thoughts drifting to the unknown. "What’s next for us?"
Glacius followed her gaze to the sky. "We head back to Frostgale at dawn. We’ll talk to Icylis about what happened." His tone carried a hint of doubt, but he remained resolute. "We’ll face whatever’s there, and we’ll get to the bottom of this."
Aurora and Boreas exchanged glances, both sensing the uncertainty in Glacius’s words. But they nodded in agreement, knowing they had little choice but to return and find out the truth about their village’s fate.
The trio settled in for the night, the fire crackling softly as they kept watch over their surroundings, unaware of the dangers that still lurked in the shadows.
Meanwhile, in a distant part of the Land of Spade, lay the sprawling village of Elementis, a vibrant community where mages of all elemental affinities lived and thrived. The village was divided into vast sections, each dedicated to a different element—fire, water, earth, air, and more. Tonight, the village was alive with celebration, as the people gathered to honor their new chief mage.
Chief Mage Zephyra, a woman of great power and wisdom, stood at the center of the festivities, her long silver hair shimmering in the moonlight. Zephyra had just been appointed the new leader of Elementis, and the villagers had come together to celebrate her ascension.
Among the crowd were the famous duo of Elementis, Fyrion and Aquilas, known for their unmatched synergy in battle. Fyrion was a master of fire magic, his flames burning hotter and brighter than any other mage in the village. Aquilas, on the other hand, wielded the power of water, his control over the element precise and devastating. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with, and their presence at the celebration added an extra layer of excitement.
As the night wore on, a small, nimble man approached Fyrion, who was slightly intoxicated from the festivities. The man’s appearance was unassuming, his build slender and his movements quick.
"Hey, Fyrion," the man said with a mischievous grin. "How about a little contest? A blade dodging game. Simple rules—whoever dodges the most blades wins."
Fyrion, his pride slightly inflated by the alcohol, laughed and accepted the challenge without hesitation. "You’re on! Let’s see what you’ve got."
The contest began with a single blade being thrown. Both Fyrion and the nimble man dodged it easily. Then two blades, then three, then four—the number continued to increase, and to everyone’s surprise, the nimble man was dodging them with incredible skill, even better than Fyrion.
Frustrated and embarrassed, Fyrion decided to up the ante. With a wave of his hand, he used one of his abilities to replicate the blades, doubling and tripling them in an instant. But just as the blades multiplied, the nimble man disappeared, reappearing in front of Fyrion so quickly that no one saw him move.
Before Fyrion could react, the man struck, leaving a deep gash across Fyrion’s chest. The crowd gasped in shock as Fyrion staggered, his vision blurring. He felt his strength draining away as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The nimble man smiled and laughed, his voice cold and mocking. "Looks like I win."
People rushed to Fyrion’s side, flipping him over to assess the damage. What they found shocked them to their core. A claw mark, not a blade wound, marred Fyrion’s chest, and his body was shriveling up, as though his very life force was being drained.
Everyone turned to confront the nimble man, but he was gone. Panic set in as the villagers searched for him, their anxiety growing with each passing second.
Suddenly, screams echoed through the night as villagers started collapsing, one after another. From Fyrion’s body, dark, twisted creatures began to emerge—Tenebrax Demons. These small, agile demons with emaciated bodies and long, sharp claws moved with terrifying speed and silence, their sickly black skin covered in swirling patterns that seemed to shift and move on their own.
"Over there! I see him!" a villager shouted, pointing toward an alley where the nimble man had been spotted.
A group of villagers chased after him, but as they reached the alley, they realized too late that they had been lured into a trap. The nimble man turned out to be a Tenebrax Demon in disguise, and it swiftly dispatched the group, its claws slicing through them with ease.
Back at the celebration, more and more Tenebrax Demons spawned from Fyrion’s fallen body, spreading chaos and death throughout the village. Aquilas, realizing the gravity of the situation, unleashed his ultimate technique, Tidal Requiem. This powerful move created a massive wave of water imbued with healing and purifying properties, wiping out many of the Tenebrax Demons in its path.
But despite his efforts, more demons continued to emerge, overwhelming the village. Chief Mage Zephyra, seeing the dire state of her people, called out to everyone to evacuate and head west.
"We need to get out of here now!" she shouted, her voice filled with urgency. "I’ll stay and protect the village until the last of you are safe!"
Zephyra’s ability, Ethereal Gate, allowed her to teleport anyone she touched to a safe location. She began using it on the villagers, one by one, sending them away from the carnage as quickly as she could.
One of the mages, seeing the overwhelming odds against them, tried to convince Zephyra to leave. "You need to save yourself too, Chief Mage!"
But Zephyra was resolute. "Not until everyone is out. I won’t leave anyone behind."
The chapter ended with Zephyra and Aquilas standing their ground, desperately fighting to hold back the Tenebrax Demons while evacuating the last of the villagers. The night was filled with the sounds of battle and the screams of the dying, as the once-celebratory village of Elementis was transformed into a nightmare of darkness and despair.
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