The sky above Frya darkened, swirling with ominous clouds as if the heavens themselves trembled at the catastrophe about to unfold.

  Three years of brutal training had forged the warriors into something beyond human—beyond elf, beastkin, or mage. They were weapons, tempered by battle and sharpened by hardship.

  Yet, as they stood at the kingdom’s great gates, awaiting the call to war, unease crept into their hearts.

  Ren tightened his fist. He felt it—a shift in the air.

  "Something’s coming," he muttered.

  Rex cracked his neck beside him. "We’ve trained for this. Let them come."

  The air grew heavier.

  Then—

  BOOM!

  A deafening explosion erupted from the western sky, turning night into day with a hellish crimson glow.

  The seal had begun to break.

  The time had come.

  The First Clash

  The horde stretched beyond the horizon, an endless tide of demons surging forward, their sheer numbers turning the ground into a writhing mass of darkness.

  Ren clenched his fists. "How... how do we fight that?"

  Ramiel's voice cut through the tension like a blade.

  "Hold formation."

  His presence alone steadied them. Even as the demon army advanced, the warriors of Frya refused to falter.

  From the horde, a force splintered off, racing toward the capital.

  At the front—a three-star demon with a single crimson horn, its eyes burning with cruel intelligence. Three two-star demons followed, leading countless lesser beasts.

  Ren’s breath hitched. "That three-star... he’s the general. He’s commanding the others."

  Rex grinned, rolling his shoulders. "Then we take him down first."

  The battle erupted.

  Elwin, atop the barricades, unleashed razor-sharp winds, slicing through the oncoming swarm. His mana control had sharpened, every spell striking with deadly precision.

  Alys channeled nature's fury. Vines erupted from the earth, ensnaring demons and crushing them with relentless force.

  Adira, his body radiating heat, roared as he plunged his fists into the ground. Magma surged forward, incinerating anything in its path.

  Rex and Ren stood side by side, carving through the horde with ruthless efficiency.

  Ren's fists blurred, each strike amplified by his will, tearing through demons like paper.

  Rex tanked the heaviest blows, his Resilience blessing absorbing damage as his hammer crushed demons into the dirt.

  But the demons kept coming.

  A separate battle raged just beyond the walls.

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  Adira stood face to face with a monstrous two-star demon. Its entire body was covered in obsidian armor, its crimson eyes burning with malice. Molten cracks ran along its body, pulsing with an eerie glow.

  They stared at each other for a moment, tension crackling in the air.

  “I will melt you into ash,” Adira declared, his voice dripping with confidence.

  The demon let out a guttural laugh. “Try.”

  Adira’s grin widened. Flames erupted around his fists, the ground beneath him beginning to smolder. Without hesitation, he launched himself forward, his molten fist crashing against the demon’s armored chest.

  BOOM!

  The air trembled from the force of the impact, and the ground beneath them shattered. But the demon did not falter. Instead, it grinned, raising its massive claw and slamming it down toward Adira.

  Adira barely dodged, rolling to the side as the ground where he once stood was obliterated.

  “Heh,” he chuckled. “You’re tougher than I thought.”

  The demon lunged again, faster this time. Adira countered, his fists igniting with even greater intensity. The battle became a dance of fire and destruction, neither side willing to give an inch.

  The battlefield trembled beneath the weight of endless carnage. Fire, steel, and magic clashed, filling the air with the screams of demons and the defiant war cries of warriors.

  In the heart of the chaos, two figures stood against towering monstrosities.

  Two-star demons—massive creatures, their twisted bodies adorned with jagged horns and glowing runes—stalked forward. Their eyes, burning like embers, locked onto their next prey.

  Adasha cracked her knuckles. “I’ve been waiting for a real fight.”

  The first demon bared its fangs, its voice a guttural growl. “Foolish human… you will—”

  SHING!

  Blood sprayed into the air before it could finish.

  In a blur, Adasha moved. Her twin daggers carved a deep gash across the demon’s chest before it even realized she had attacked.

  The creature howled in agony, staggering back as black ichor dripped from its wound.

  Morgana, standing a few feet away, merely sighed. "Sloppy. You could have ended it in one strike."

  Adasha smirked, spinning one of her daggers in her palm. "Where’s the fun in that?"

  The second demon lunged, claws slicing through the air toward Morgana.

  But the moment its attack should have landed—

  Its movements slowed.

  A thick, creeping darkness spread from Morgana’s fingertips. The demon’s limbs trembled, its strength draining as an unnatural weight pressed down on its body.

  Morgana tilted her head. “Pathetic.”

  With a flick of her wrist, the dark tendrils wrapped tighter. The demon let out a strangled growl as its legs buckled.

  Adasha appeared at its side in an instant.

  SLASH!

  Her daggers gleamed, slicing deep into the demon’s tendons. The creature collapsed with a shriek, unable to stand.

  The first demon roared in fury, lashing out blindly at Adasha.

  But she was too fast.

  Ducking under its massive claws, she danced around it, each movement effortless, each step precise.

  She struck again—a dagger to the ribs, another across the throat.

  The demon gurgled as it staggered back, its body shaking from the rapid, brutal assault.

  Morgana sighed. "Enough playing."

  She raised her hand, and shadows pooled beneath the demon’s feet.

  SHLUK!

  Dark spikes shot up from the ground, impaling the creature from all sides.

  The demon let out one last agonized screech before its body collapsed into the abyss of Morgana’s magic, consumed whole.

  The second demon, still trapped in Morgana’s slow magic, could only watch in horror.

  It thrashed, desperate to break free, but it was too late.

  Adasha moved in.

  She whirled like a specter, her daggers flashing with deadly precision.

  SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.

  By the time she stopped, the demon stood still, its body riddled with deep, fatal wounds.

  It took a final, shuddering breath—then crumbled.

  Adasha exhaled, flicking the black blood off her blades. "That was almost disappointing."

  Morgana smirked. "You should thank me. I made it easier for you."

  Adasha rolled her eyes. "Please. I did most of the work."

  Morgana simply turned, her shadows already creeping toward the next target.

  "Then stop talking and find another demon to kill."

  Adasha grinned. "Gladly."

  With that, they vanished into the battlefield, ready for their next kill.

  Elwin panted, dodging another wild slash from the final two-star demon.

  It was too fast.

  Each strike came closer and closer.

  Elwin’s mind raced.

  I need to disrupt its mana flow.

  He focused.

  Wind whirled around him as he locked onto the demon’s magic.

  Then—he snapped his fingers.

  The mana collapsed.

  The demon’s next attack misfired.

  That was all Alys needed.

  She raised her hands—

  And the earth responded.

  Vines. Thorns. Roots.

  They pierced through the demon’s body.

  It screamed.

  Elwin smirked. “Too slow.”

  One last burst of wind—

  And the demon’s head was gone.

  As the champions fought, the three-star demon moved