The sky was gray with the weight of sorrow, as if the heavens themselves were holding their breath. The battle hadn't ended; it had only transformed. The Watchers may have been pushed back, but the true threat now moved in silence—through shadows, through bloodlines, through betrayal.
In the forest clearing near the ruins of their father's old temple, the brothers stood in a tight circle. Cain's jaw was clenched, fire simmering just beneath his skin. Leo scanned the trees, sharp and calculating, while Eren bounced slightly on his heels, tense as a pulled wire.
Eira stood slightly apart from them. She had been quieter these days. The fire in her eyes dulled—not from defeat, but from acceptance. Something in her chest told her this chapter would close differently for her.
"I'm coming with you," she said quietly.
Cain turned to her, his eyes firm. "No. Stay back with Selene and the others. This fight isn't yours."
Eira's lips curled sadly. "I think it always was, Cain."
The trees suddenly screamed—branches splitting, wind rushing with a demonic howl. From the sky dropped the true heir of the underworld, wreathed in black smoke, eyes endless and cold.
He looked like their father.
No… worse.
He was a mirror warped by hatred and a thirst for power. He raised his hand and the forest around them began to rot in real time, life turning to ash in seconds.
The brothers leapt into action.
Cain surged forward, flames roaring from his fists, but the enemy was faster—stronger. He caught Cain mid-air and slammed him into the earth with terrifying ease.
Leo moved in a blur, blades glinting, only to be tossed back like a leaf in the wind.
Eren tried from behind—he struck a deep gash—but it healed within moments.
"You are not heirs," the monster growled. "You are failed experiments."
As he raised his hands to finish the job, Eira stepped forward, eyes glowing with forbidden magic—her own lineage awakening, ancient and reckless.
"Not today," she whispered.
With a pulse of light, she hurled herself between the monster and the boys.
Cain shouted, "EIRA, NO!"
She unleashed everything. Her body became a vessel, a radiant explosion of protective magic that collided with the dark force in a flash that blinded them all.
For a moment—just one heartbeat—the monster recoiled.
But the price was steep.
When the smoke cleared, Eira lay on the ground, blood seeping from her nose, eyes wide but distant. Her chest rose once… then stilled.
Cain dropped to his knees beside her.
"No, no, no," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. "You stubborn, reckless idiot. Why would you do this?"
Her lips moved faintly.
"To protect… my family."
Leo was frozen, eyes wide and wet. Eren just stood back, fists shaking, biting down on a scream that would not come.
Selene arrived seconds too late. She dropped beside Cain, placing a glowing hand over Eira's heart. "Let me—let me try—"
Cain stopped her. "She's gone."
The silence that followed was unnatural. The world felt paused.
Cain closed Eira's eyes gently. His voice cracked. "She never stopped loving us. Even when we didn't see it."
Eren finally walked forward, kneeling beside her. "She was the most annoying, dramatic, selfless person I knew. I hated how much I cared about her."
Leo crouched and pressed his forehead to hers. "Thank you. For giving us a chance to live."
That night, they burned a pyre for her near the edge of the cliff she once stood on when mocking Cain's brooding. They didn't say much. The fire spoke for them.
And as the flames rose, Selene reached for Cain's hand. He gripped it like it was the only thing anchoring him.
"She didn't die for nothing," Cain whispered.
"No," Selene said. "She died for everything."
The fire had long turned to embers, but none of them moved.
Cain sat on a low rock, elbows on his knees, staring into the dark woods ahead. His hands were still bloodstained. The kind of stain that wouldn't leave just because you washed it. Selene sat quietly beside him, her hand still in his, though now her grip was softer—like she knew his spirit had splintered.
Behind them, Leo paced. It was rare to see Leo this lost—his usual cool edge was gone. He had stopped strategizing. He had stopped calculating. And that terrified Eren more than anything.
"I should've seen it coming," Leo finally said. "I knew the energy signature wasn't right. I knew he wasn't just another demon."
"Don't," Cain said sharply, without turning. "She made her choice."
"That doesn't make it right," Eren said quietly. "She didn't deserve to go out like that. Alone."
Cain finally stood, fists clenching at his sides. "She wasn't alone."
That shut them up. The silence hung again, like fog. Cain turned toward the dying fire.
"She saved us. Even after all the times we pushed her away."
Eren let out a bitter laugh. "We were assholes to her."
Selene finally stood, voice steady but soft. "You were boys who didn't know how to trust someone who left. And she was a girl trying to make amends for a world that didn't give her time."
Cain looked at her, then to the stars above. "Well, now it's on us. We end this. For Eira."
Leo stopped pacing. "Then we go back to the ruins. We track down whatever that thing was and we end it."
Eren frowned. "You saw what it did to us. We were nothing to it."
Cain's eyes flickered crimson.
"Then we stop being nothing."
He held out his hand. Leo and Eren looked at each other—and, slowly, both of them stepped forward, placing their hands over his.
Selene joined a beat later, her eyes shining not from magic, but tears she refused to let fall.
"No more running," Cain said. "No more distractions."
"And no more hesitation," Leo added.
Eren smirked, though his eyes were still glassy. "And definitely no more hugging, I swear."
They broke the circle and walked into the night with a new resolve.
Just before they disappeared into the trees, Selene looked back one last time at the ashes where Eira had lain. The wind caught a stray ember and carried it into the sky like a whisper.
"Goodbye, Eira," she murmured. "You'll never be forgotten."
And from somewhere deep in the forest, the shadows trembled.
A new threat had felt the shift.
The sons of a devil were no longer just survivors.
They were a storm coming.