As the crowds gathered for the Soul Bond Ceremony and the future of the kingdom stepped into the light, a shadow darker than night fell upon the south-east border of Ashvalen. The once peaceful skies above Gliterpipe Ridge twisted into a storm of swirling black clouds. Thunder growled in unnatural rhythms. The air was thick, suffocating—charged with the kind of magic that made even the most seasoned adventurers' skin crawl.
From the horizon emerged five Darkwing Drakes—massive, serpentine beasts cloaked in void. Each moved like an omen of ruin, their wings tearing through the fabric of space as if reality itself recoiled from their presence.
Their scales shimmered with violet runes that pulsed like beating hearts of dying stars. Each flick of their tails or flex of their wings left behind ripples of distorted space and crawling shadows that oozed and slithered like predators.
Across a shattered cliff plateau, the Sunflare Covenant—one of the most elite guilds of the kingdom—stood ready.
Nine adventurers.
Five warriors. Four mages. All of them had faced death, monsters, and madness before.
But never like this.
The Sunflare Squad – Profiles & Loadout
Exalted Rank Illusion Mage – Treyan
Cloaked in a silver-threaded mantle, Treyan's eyes glowed with mystic sigils. He whispered spells into existence, turning mirages into weapons and phantoms into shields. Known as The Wraithmind.
Master Rank Warrior – Dilia
Lava longsword. Her strikes burned the air, and her armor steamed with heat. A force of molten wrath.
Master Rank Mage – Cove
Ice Mage. Calm, calculating, a tactician who could freeze the blood of his enemies—and sometimes his allies when annoyed.
Expert Rank Warrior – Keil
Dual daggers of enchanted ice. A blur in battle, nicknamed Ghost Fang for a reason.
Master Rank Warrior – Garrick
Warhammer and Earth Affinity. Each swing a miniature earthquake. Towering, bearded, loyal.
Master Rank Mage – Renae
Wind Mage, agile and precise. Often rode her own gales into battle.
Expert Rank Mage – Lightnia
Lightning Mage. Fast-talking, faster-casting. Electricity danced through her hair and fingertips.
Expert Rank Warrior – Dami
Bow of Water Affinity. Rain followed his arrows. A tracker, a sniper.
Master Rank Warrior – Oden
Greatsword with Fire Affinity. Proud and reckless, a frontline charger.
These were no ordinary fighters—each one a seasoned warrior who had survived countless battles, their scars a testament to the dangers they had faced and the victories they had earned. Among them, Treyan stood out as a master of illusion magic, a rare and unpredictable force on the battlefield. It was said that he could warp perception itself, conjuring dozens of phantom duplicates of himself and his allies to confuse beasts and enemy soldiers alike. Entire skirmishes had been won because opponents believed they were outnumbered when in truth, they were surrounded by illusions.
Treyan hadn't been chosen as the leader solely for his magical prowess. His calm under pressure, quick tactical thinking, and unwavering loyalty had earned him the trust of the squad.
But the enemy they faced today was unlike anything they had encountered before.
Towering before them were five Epic-ranked beasts—creatures of raw elemental power and terrifying intelligence. Each possessed a potent magical affinity and, more disturbingly, they moved with coordinated precision. For the first time in a long while, doubt crept into Treyan's mind. Would even their combined strength be enough?
"Positions! Spread out and don't group—those things warp space around them!" Treyan shouted, voice amplified through a minor spell. His illusory doubles scattered in a flash, confusing the beasts.
With an echoing screech that shattered distant trees, the largest Drake launched toward them. The sky above it cracked open in a swirl of violet lightning.
Keil vanished into mist, appearing behind the creature, daggers drawn. He slashed across its tendons, frost trailing behind each movement. "Got you—" But the beast's tail struck like a whip of shadows, smashing Keil into a cliff wall with bone-crushing force.
Garrick roared. "NO TIME FOR FLINCHIN', BOYS!" He drove his warhammer into the ground. The earth split open, stone pillars bursting forth, striking a second Drake and pinning one of its wings.
Renae soared above, riding a gust. "Dami—eyes on the wing joints!" She released slicing wind blades as Dami's arrows followed in rapid bursts, each one turning into spears of high-pressure water midair.
One of the Drakes opened its maw, releasing a void pulse—a cone of inverted light and silence that erased sound and tore through magic. Lightnia's lightning blast collided with it midair, triggering an explosion of chaos that turned the ground into glass.
"Too many...!" Dilia's lava blade danced as she fought off a third beast alone. Each swing split the earth, molten trails lighting her path. But the shadows from the beast's wings kept reforming, regenerating, refusing to die.
"We need to retreat!" Oden shouted. "They're regenerating faster than we can damage them!"
"No! Hold the line! I need more time!" Treyan's voice rang out as he stood at the cliff's edge, eyes closed, hands weaving an intricate illusion. His spell shimmered in layers—phantoms of false terrain, hundreds of illusory adventurers, cascading storms that weren't real—but they bought precious seconds.
A Drake lunged through the illusion, tearing it apart like silk.
"Damn it—these things see through some illusions!" Treyan hissed, sweat beading his brow.
Garrick, arm broken and bleeding, slammed his warhammer one last time. "Go, you bastards! Take 'em and run!" A quake opened beneath two Drakes—momentarily swallowing them in molten rock.
Renae was caught midair, her wind magic failing. "Treyan—!" Her scream was cut short as a tail of darkness slammed her into the ground. Silence followed.
Oden, engulfed in flames, charged. "Come on! Let's see what FIRE can do to you!" He landed a blow that split open one Drake's chest—only for the wound to vanish in seconds. The creature's shadow tail impaled him, lifting him off the ground.
"Oden—NO!" cried Dilia, fury igniting her blade to white-hot brilliance. She slashed a wing clean off one Drake, but it was too late—too many, too fast, too strong.
Only Treyan remained standing.
Burned. Wounded. His illusion cloak torn and flickering.
The four remaining Darkwing Drakes circled him like vultures.
He inhaled, then exhaled, releasing a shimmering mirage of himself—tenfold. Each one flickered with a different affinity. Fire. Water. Ice. Light. Lightning. Time.
He whispered a chant.
"Mirage Veil: Fractured Eternity."
The field transformed.
Time slowed.
Reality warped.
To the outside world, it seemed as though the beasts and the mage were locked in stillness.
Within that illusionary space, Treyan fought them again and again—splitting, cloning, bending their minds with visions of their own deaths.
But even illusions could not kill reality.
The Drakes endured.
And one by one, his clones were shredded by violet flames and darkened claws.
Treyan fell to one knee, coughing blood, the sky twisting above him.
He looked to the horizon—the villages were safe. His comrades lay still behind him.
"I bought you time," he muttered, lifting a trembling hand.
"Don't waste it."
The screen of reality snapped back into place with a deafening boom.
The five Darkwing Drakes howled into the skies, victorious.
As the last of the adventurers braced for death, bloodied and barely standing, a silence swept across the battlefield.
The Darkwing Drakes reared back, wings raised, their runes blazing violet, ready to unleash a final wave of devastation.
Then—
A flash.
No, not just a flash.
A sun.
From above, the sky split open, and a radiant light poured down like divine judgment. Shadows shrieked and recoiled, erased in an instant. The corrupted sky cleared, pierced by beams of white-gold brilliance.
The Drakes screamed, their forms flinching as their magic began to unravel.
The adventurers shielded their eyes.
"Wh–what is that light?" gasped Dami, barely conscious.
"I... I can't see...!" Keil muttered, blinking through the haze. "Wait... someone's standing there."
Through the shimmering air, a single figure descended from the light like a blade of justice.
She landed without a sound.
Clad in silver-white robes laced with golden runes, her long platinum hair billowed behind her. At her chest, an elegant, diamond-shaped crystal gleamed with layered hues of starlight—her Aetherband, pulsing with unimaginable power.
"That Aetherband...!" whispered Dilia, eyes wide. "It's diamond... That's... that's one of the Ten!"
"Liora..." Treyan breathed, stunned. "Liora the Lightbringer."
The Radiance of a Magisterial
Liora raised one hand calmly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Spell: Solar Veil – Radiant Cascade."
Above her, a golden sigil bloomed like a celestial flower. From it, a hundred swords of pure light rained down, each one striking a different angle around the Drakes. The impact sent shockwaves across the ridge, shattering stone and dispersing void magic in bursts of color.
The Drakes screeched and lunged.
One vanished in a blur—trying to close the gap.
Liora didn't move.
She blinked once.
"Spell: Argent Bind."
From beneath the beast, bands of enchanted silver metal burst forth from the earth, coiling around its legs, wings, and throat like serpents. The Drake fought—its shadows roaring in protest—but could not break free.
She floated upward, light gathering in both palms.
"Dual Magic: Luminsteel Lance."
A spiraling lance of light and metal formed above her, humming like the heartbeat of the sun. With a flick of her fingers, it launched—piercing through the Drake's skull and into the mountain behind it.
The beast fell without a sound. Dead before it hit the ground.
"Did you... did you see that?" Garrick gaped, mouth half-open.
"She didn't even dodge," Renae whispered.
Oden, still alive but gravely wounded, chuckled weakly. "This... this is what a real monster looks like."
"She's... beautiful," murmured Dilia, her lava blade dimming in awe.
"I hear she uses light and metal magic, a very rare combination among Magisterials," Renae said, admiring Liora.
The remaining four Drakes tried to scatter, sensing the tides had turned.
Too late.
Liora raised both hands, forming twin halos of light behind her.
"Spell: Dawnbind Array – Final Judgement."
Hundreds of radiant chains made of hardened gold and light shot across the sky, each one targeting a specific weak point. They wrapped the Drakes mid-flight, pulling them back into a swirling storm of holy light.
The light imploded—
—then exploded outward.
The sky turned white.
When it cleared... nothing remained. No ash. No roar. Not even the sound of wind.
Only the faint chime of magic fading.
Liora lowered herself gently to the ground. The ridge, shattered and smoldering, now stood quiet.
She turned toward the adventurers, eyes soft but unreadable.
"You all did well," she said, her voice like morning wind. "Rest now. Reinforcements will arrive soon."
Not a single adventurer moved.
They stared, speechless.
Finally, Treyan—once the Exalted leader of the group—bowed his head. "We... owe you our lives, Lady Liora."
Liora smiled faintly. "No. You protected the people. I simply arrived in time."
As she turned to leave, rays of light still trailing in her footsteps, hope returned to the broken battlefield.