ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

The dust had barely settled. The air still vibrated with tension. The world, once firm and structured, now felt wrong—as if the very fabric of reality was unraveling thread by thread.

Reeves staggered upright, his breathing ragged. Blood stained his robes, but his eyes were sharp—constantly scanning, calculating.

"Wait…" he muttered. "Where's… Castenada?"

Kaelen, bruised and breathing hard, looked up at Reeves, confusion flickering in his eyes. "What?"

Reeves narrowed his gaze, searching the battlefield frantically now. "Where's Castenada? Where's Chancellor Lockwood?"

His eyes darted from wreckage to rubble, from broken archways to collapsed towers. No movement. No sign. Not even a whisper of aura.

And then—

A slow, venomous voice slithered through the air like a knife through silk.

"You won't find them."

Everyone turned, their gazes locking onto The First Magi—his face still as unreadable as ever, his arms loosely crossed as if the events around him were no more significant than a child's dream.

"I made sure of that," he continued, as his voice was slowly filled with cruel satisfaction. "They screamed so bitterly… as if they truly thought they mattered."

Reeves froze. His heart skipped a beat.

The First Magi's next words came with a smirk that could be felt, even if as they could now see it.

"I added Castenada and Lockwood to the list of sacrifices that were necessary to unseal the Eternal. And I must say… their energy was particularly delicious."

For a brief second, no one moved. The words, heavy and soaked in malice, echoed in the minds of all who heard.

Then—

Boom.

A ferocious aura erupted.

Kaelen's eyes flared violently. Lila's lips twisted in horror. Marel's teeth clenched as he cracked his neck, barely containing the bloodlust radiating off of him. Even General Cao, who had once stood calm during an entire siege, now looked like a predator ready to tear flesh from bone.

They didn't speak.

They didn't need to.

With a synchronized roar of fury, they all lunged—Reeves, Kaelen, Marel, Lila, General Cao, and even the others. Their mana spiraled, domains unleashed with a sound that fractured stone and sky alike. Flames, shadows, lightning, earth—every form of elemental rage converged toward the First Magi.

A single moment of pure vengeance.

But just as they were within reach—

Reality itself twisted.

It was as if the air cracked in a way that couldn't be seen but only felt. The world bent backward. Their momentum stopped—not by force, but by a law they didn't even understand. Like their existence had been momentarily rewritten.

They were repelled.

Not by energy. Not by mana.

By the world's rejection.

All of them—Reeves, Kaelen, General Cao, even Marel—were violently thrown back, tumbling through air and debris like rag dolls, smashing into the rubble they had only moments ago stood atop with righteous fury.

Grunts of pain echoed as blood sprayed from mouths, ribs cracked, and bones screamed.

Silence followed… until a colder, more detached voice broke the air.

Endless.

He hadn't moved. His robe fluttered in the ether, his mask still obscuring his identity, his aura still eerily absent—yet more menacing than anything they'd ever faced.

"No one…" he said, tone completely indifferent, "is touching him today."

His masked head turned slightly toward the First Magi.

"Not while he still has use."

That phrase alone carried a pressure that made even the air feel hostile.

Kaelen groaned as he pushed himself up, blood trickling down his lip. "He… He's protecting him?"

Reeves clenched his fists, eyes burning with both rage and helplessness. "Not protecting… controlling."

The First Magi remained untouched, uncaring, as he stood behind the monumental shadow of the being that had just become the center of the world.

Lila's voice cracked. "So what do we do now…?"

Reeves, bitter and bloodied, finally answered her.

"…We survive."

And so, the deathly silence settled across the shattered coliseum. Endless remained floating above the warped ground where the fissure had been moments ago—his presence consuming all mana like a black hole devouring light. His mask, a twisted artifact of forgotten ages, hid the face of the being who had shaken the very foundation of Aetheris.

His voice came next—still devoid of emotion, yet somehow more menacing than a roar of wrath.

"First Magi…"

The most mysterious character after Endless there stood still as stone as he replied. "Yes, my Lord?"

Endless tilted his masked head slightly. "Do you know the locations of the Mana Veins in this world?"

Even Reeves flinched slightly at that question. The Mana Veins—the lifelines of the planet, the very arteries through which the world's energy flowed. To know them all was a feat no mortal, no matter how learned, should possess.

Yet the First Magi slowly nodded, lowering his head in servitude. "I do."

A long pause followed.

Then, with the audacity only the mad or truly gifted could wield, the First Magi added:

"But before I give that information to you, Lord Endless… I have a request."

A cold wind swept the battlefield. Even the wind itself seemed to retreat in fear.

For a moment, nothing happened. Not a sound, not a breath.

Then Endless moved slightly—no more than a tilt of his finger. Reality itself groaned at the motion.

"You presume much," Endless said quietly. His words made the air shiver. "You stand alive only because I find you… useful."

"I know," the First Magi replied, still kneeling. "And I do not question your power, my Lord. But this request—this task I ask of you—will remove two of the greatest potential threats to your emergence."

Endless did not respond. The First Magi lifted his gaze slowly, voice steady.

"The Blade of Eternity… and the Orb of Chaos."

Instantly, everyone went stiff.

'What?'

Kaelen's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his blade, the Blade of Eternity, now humming faintly against his touch as if reacting to the conversation. Kelvin, standing nearby, narrowed his eyes, his hand clutching at his chest where the Orb of Chaos rested.

"These two artifacts," the First Magi continued, "are remnants of the Old World—linked to the laws created by the other Eternals and Celestials. So long as they exist, your presence in this world is restricted."

The weight of his words hit like a divine hammer.

"Destroy them," he said at last, "and there will be no more anchors… to stop your return to complete power."

Kaelen's heart dropped into his stomach.

"No…" he muttered under his breath. He turned swiftly—his gaze locking onto Kael Dragonyx, the man who had always stood at the center of every turning point. The one who had coveted the Blade of Eternity. Surely—surely he would object.

Surely—

But Kael stood motionless.

His long black cloak rippled gently. His gauntlet-covered hands remained crossed. His eyes… unreadable.

He said nothing.

No protest. No smirk. Not even a flicker of disapproval.

Just silence.

Kaelen's grip on the blade tightened. "No… no, no… What are you doing?! Say something!" His voice cracked, no longer steady, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Kael…!" Reeves called out, confused and alarmed. "You… you want that sword. You told us—!"

But Kael remained still.

Not a word.

Not a twitch.

Although he later stared at Reeves as a smirk slowly formed on his face.

His silence was a betrayal greater than any dagger.

Kaelen's world trembled. His mind raced, drowned in confusion. The one man who should have fought for the blade… was watching it be sentenced to death without lifting a finger.

Kelvin stepped forward, teeth bared. "You think you can just take the Orb from me?" he growled. "Come try."

But the First Magi smiled beneath his hood. "Oh, we won't have to take them. He'll do it."

He gestured toward Endless.

The air turned heavier. The clouds above twisted unnaturally. The sun itself seemed to dim.

Kaelen's knees nearly buckled.

This wasn't a request.

This was the beginning of erasure.

And so, the moment Endless turned his masked gaze toward them, both Kaelen and Kelvin felt their instincts scream. A presence that should not exist—one that bent reality with every breath it took—was now focused entirely on them.

And they knew.

They wouldn't get a second chance.

Kaelen's fists clenched tightly around the hilt of the Blade of Eternity, still humming softly as if trying to resist what was coming. The silver-blue gleam in his eyes sharpened as he drew out the last dregs of mana from his damaged Eternal Guardian armor.

The fractured core in his chestplate cracked and hissed, glowing royal blue as his sacred light flared to life again—one last, desperate stand.

At the same time, Kelvin's form flickered with obsidian shadows. The air around him twisted unnaturally as the Orb of Chaos slowly appeared itself on Kaelen's forehead, feeding his core.

"Domain: Unending Darkness."

In a single heartbeat, an overwhelming blanket of black swallowed everything around them. The world turned void—deafeningly quiet, hopelessly still—like a graveyard untouched by time. Spectral eyes blinked open across the darkness. Endless tendrils writhed in the void like serpents hungry for life.

But none of it mattered.

Because in the very next moment, Endless vanished from his floating position—and appeared directly before them.

There was no sound. No movement.

Just his presence.

And then—

"Kneel." His voice didn't boom. It whispered. Yet the weight of it could have shattered mountains.

Boom!!!

His killing intent erupted like a tidal wave of compressed stars, slamming into Kaelen and Kelvin with such terrifying force that their mana domains collapsed instantly.

Kaelen's armor shattered, sacred light bleeding out as he was hurled backward like a ragdoll, carving a brutal trench through the debris-littered coliseum.

Kelvin followed next, slammed through what was left of a crumbling pillar, the Orb of Chaos flickering violently from the recoil of the backlash.

Both of them hit the ground hard, coughing out gouts of blood, bones cracking audibly from the sheer force. Their eyes barely remained open.

"KAELEN!!" Lila screamed, her voice raw with terror.

"KAELEN!! KELVIN!!" Reeves roared, stepping forward, fists trembling, uncertain whether to rush in or fall back.

Marel stood frozen, disbelief flooding her gaze. Even General Cao's usually unshakeable stance broke slightly, one foot sliding back. The battlefield—already a grave—felt like it had been buried again under a new, darker sky.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Endless stood over them like a god of annihilation, black robe flowing like it was alive, masked face still turned toward his broken prey.

Then…

He paused.

The entire battlefield felt it.

Endless tilted his head slightly—slowly. The air stilled. Even the floating mana particles in the air stopped moving.

And then, without warning, he looked up.

A low hum echoed faintly in the distance. A vibration in the fabric of the sky itself.

Endless stared for a moment longer, and then, in a calm yet chilling voice, he spoke.

"Took them long enough."

Everyone turned their heads toward the same spot he looked—up above, far into the firmament where clouds began parting unnaturally. What descended from there had yet to be seen, but the fact that Endless—a being who had made Kael Dragonyx stand down and shattered Kaelen's domain like glass—was acknowledging something…

Meant that whoever or whatever was coming next was not of this world either.