The journey to the Glassshade Basin was a descent into the forgotten corners of the realm. Shrouded in mist and corrupted mana, the region stood far removed from imperial order. Once a trade hub, it had long since become a fractured territory riddled with rogue Lords, mutated beasts, and abandoned ruins — the perfect hiding ground for the Serpent Court.
Kaelen stood atop the prow of his flagship, The Skyfang Leviathan, its massive arcane turbines humming with stored storm energy. Flanking the vessel were two smaller crafts carrying elite strike teams — each one handpicked from his evolved battalions.
At his side, Aria adjusted the glowing interface of her Summoner's Codex. Her hair fluttered in the wind, and two majestic creatures — the crystalline fox Nixira and the newly evolved avian wyrm Aetherwing — flew in synchronized loops above the fleet.
"Scans are coming in now," she murmured. "There's heavy interference ahead — mana turbulence and residual summoning auras. Whatever they're doing down there, it's big."
Kaelen's gaze hardened. "Then we strike first."
The fleet touched down on the jagged cliffs bordering the Basin. Crumbled towers and moss-covered obelisks jutted from the landscape like the bones of some ancient titan. Kaelen led the vanguard — his personal unit now bolstered by third-tier evolved soldiers, their armor adorned with blue sigils of Stormrift.
Reina, cloaked in shadow, knelt beside a broken statue, examining fresh scorch marks.
"Lightning magic… but not natural. Someone's warping elemental cores. I'd say they're crafting faux-evolved summons — twisted imitations."
Selene, ever calm, approached with a glowing tome. "Confirmed. Aria's scans matched multiple corruption spikes. The Serpent Court's building an army… but they're not just hiding."
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. "They're preparing to move."
That night, under the cover of a summoned storm, Kaelen and his elites approached the central basin — a half-buried ruin encircled by warding glyphs. The Serpent Court's fortress had been constructed atop an inverted pyramid of obsidian, its surface alive with runes pulsing green and crimson.
Inside, a twisted ceremony was underway.
From a hidden vantage, Kaelen watched through a spy crystal as Lord Vorn, one of the rogue commanders, addressed a crowd of dark-armored Lords.
"Our evolution tokens are ready! With these sacrifices, we will birth a new age — no longer pawns of the Empire!"
Kaelen's hand clenched around the hilt of his stormblade.
"We end this now."
Kaelen launched the assault with the precision of a master tactician. Lightning tore through the sky as Aria's summons took the air, raining elemental devastation on the defenders. Reina's shadows danced through enemy lines, silencing spellcasters before they could chant. Selene and her healers followed closely, mending wounds and reinforcing magical barriers.
Kaelen himself dove into the heart of the enemy formation, his Stormbound Vanguard crashing behind him like thunder. Every swing of his blade discharged arcs of chain lightning, cleaving through mutated summons and corrupted constructs alike.
Lord Vorn snarled, summoning a monstrous wyrm — its body stitched from the corpses of fallen evolved beasts.
"You cannot stop evolution!"
Kaelen responded by activating his Dominion Core, a glowing glyph on his chest surging with power.
"Then let me show you what true evolution looks like."
With a roar, his blade morphed — a mid-battle evolution unlocked from the latest war victories — into the Storm Sovereign's Fang, a legendary-tier weapon. A single slash cleaved the wyrm in two, the impact echoing across the valley.
The battle ended within the hour. The Serpent Court's inner circle lay broken, their evolution tokens seized, their ritual ruins in ruin.
Aria stood beside Kaelen as they surveyed the battlefield.
"Report says over 300 enemy Lords were involved. If the Court was planning a rebellion…"
"They weren't alone," Kaelen interrupted grimly. "Someone supplied them with corrupted evolution trees. Someone who wants chaos."
From the wreckage, Selene approached, carrying a shattered stone tablet.
"This was buried under the pyramid. It's… ancient. Older than the Empire."
Kaelen took it. In the flickering torchlight, archaic runes revealed a single name.
"Zerathar."
Aria blinked. "That's… from the Forbidden Histories. A World Devourer."
Kaelen's voice was low. "Then we're not just fighting rogue Lords. We're racing against something far worse."
Upon returning to his capital, Kaelen was summoned again — not by the Crown, but by the Council of Seven Lords, a ruling body parallel to the Empire. Within their crystalline chamber, Kaelen was offered a sealed seat.
System Alert:[You have been offered a seat at the High Table of Dominion.]Accepting this position will:• Unlock Political Skill Tree: [Lord of Diplomacy]• Grant Access to Tier-4 Evolution Labs• Increase Recruitable Summons and War Resources• Place you under global scrutiny
Kaelen stared at the notification… and accepted.
Far away, a mysterious figure received word of the Serpent Court's destruction. A long-haired man stood before an enormous vault.
"So, he found one of the seals."
He turned to the woman beside him — draped in ice silk, her eyes glowing like frozen stars.
"It's time we moved."
Night settled over Stormrift once more. Kaelen sat quietly in the strategy hall, maps strewn before him, his sword sheathed but never far.
Aria entered, tossing him a piece of crystal candy — her way of saying she was proud.
"You did good today," she said, sitting beside him. "But this Zerathar thing… it feels different."
Kaelen nodded. "It is. This isn't just about Lords anymore. It's about the world itself."
A single storm cloud crackled over the city, as if in agreement.