The cold wind howled atop the Twilight Tower, whipping through the silence of the abandoned city.
The tower stood tall and solitary, overlooking the grand expanse of Sky City below—a marvel painstakingly built over several decades and one of the most prosperous metropolises in dragonkind's history.
This city had once been a vibrant haven for countless war refugees among the dragons, a bustling hub for cultural exchange and resource trade. Its brilliance had remained unmatched for the past century, let alone the last decade.
But now, the once vibrant and bustling city lay deathly silent. The pale moonlight illuminated empty streets and deserted plazas, and cold winds swept through the desolate alleys, carrying forgotten scraps of paper and leaves. Only its creator remained, standing as its last companion, determined to hold on until the bitter end.
The Tower Master's weary gaze swept across every familiar building and street below—this city, now devoid of its laughter and life, was the culmination of his life's work.
Yet, who could say whether this place would ever regain its vitality after the fateful battle to come? Would there even be a city left to return to?
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the thin, cold air before exhaling slowly, his breath misting in the night.
"It's about time to end all of this."
The sound of high heels clicking deliberately against the stone floor echoed from behind him, cutting through the wind.
Turning, the Tower Master saw an elegant woman with striking, sea-blue hair approaching him, her posture regal even in the face of desolation.
"Princess Claudia," he said, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise despite keeping his tone calm. "I didn't expect you, of all people, to be the first to arrive here, especially since you're stationed all the way in the Atlantis Sea."
"My father sent me a letter last month, warning me of the timeline. I've been staying in a outpost near Sky City since then, monitoring the situation. When I saw the messenger dragon you sent, I came immediately," Claudia replied, clasping her hands in front of her chest as she walked up to the edge of the tower, gazing down at the ghostly panorama of Sky City.
"The place is completely deserted now, Tower Master," she said softly, a note of sorrow in her voice for the silenced brilliance.
The Tower Master hesitated, his gaze lingering on the diminutive but formidable figure of the princess. After a moment, she turned to him, her expression unreadable.
"How much time do we have left?"
"Until midnight," he answered solemnly. "I can feel it. The thing beneath Sky City is stirring. Do you see those wisps of black smoke coiling in the streets?"
He pointed, and Claudia followed his gaze. Sure enough, faint, serpentine trails of black smoke were beginning to rise from the cracks in the ground between cobblestones, like venomous breath from the earth itself.
"It's a sign the seal is fracturing. The chaos power released by the Ultimate Fear is like blood in the water, and Shadow is the shark drawn to it. At this very moment, he's already on his way here. I can sense his approach."
Claudia nodded, her sharp eyes missing nothing. Then she asked, "Have you notified that guy?"
"The Silver Dragon prince was the first to be informed," the Tower Master replied grimly, "but given the distance and the circumstances, I doubt he'll make it in time to confront Shadow before he arrives and initiates the ritual."
Claudia's eyes narrowed slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching her lips, as if debating whether to voice a particular thought. The Tower Master noticed her hesitation and chuckled dryly.
"Princess, if there's something on your mind, feel free to speak it. There's no need for formality here at the end of the world."
"It's not formality," Claudia replied with a wry smile before sighing. Her tone shifted to one of dry amusement, like an elder recalling an old story. "It's just... knowing him, he'll definitely arrive after Shadow. That's just how he operates."
The Tower Master blinked, puzzled. "Why do you say that? Wouldn't earlier be better?"
"Because," Claudia said with a small, knowing laugh, "he's like a fated protagonist from a human epic. No matter how dire the situation, he always shows up exactly when he's needed most, making the most dramatic entrance possible. It's infuriatingly reliable."
The Tower Master mulled over her words, impressed by the sheer confidence behind them.
"To earn such unwavering faith from the Sea Dragon Princess herself, this Leon must be even more remarkable than the legends say."
What he didn't know was that Claudia's thoughts had drifted to a chaotic family dinner years ago, during a raucous game of Werewolf. Leon had swooped in at the very last second to "save" his daughter from false accusation, declaring with a grin that it was the "stylistic choice." And, infuriatingly, it had been indeed profoundly stylish.
Claudia shook herself from her reverie and continued chatting with the Tower Master as they waited, their conversation a quiet anchor in the tense stillness.
All too soon, the massive clock within the Twilight Tower's spire began to chime, its deep, resonant gongs shaking the very air. Twelve strokes echoed across the silent city, each one a hammer blow heralding the arrival of an ominous presence.
As the final chime faded, the cold winds surged, violently pushing thick, dark clouds across the sky to obscure the full moon, plunging the city into deeper shadow.
A suffocating, psychic aura began to spread from the city's center, one darker, deeper, and more ancient than anything Claudia or the Tower Master had ever encountered. It was a weight that pressed on the soul.
The Tower Master sighed heavily, the sound full of resignation and resolve, and exchanged a grim glance with Claudia.
"He's here."
"Yes... that was faster than I anticipated," Claudia murmured, her hands already beginning to glow with a soft, aqueous light.
The Tower Master silently gathered his spatial magic around him like an invisible cloak, his gaze fixed on the coalescing darkness in the distance.
"Looks like we'll have to hold the line alone for a while—"
Before he could finish, the air before them erupted.
A sharp, tearing whooshing sound was followed instantly by a deafening explosion of force. A gust of wind, thick with malevolent energy, hit them like a physical wall, forcing them to brace themselves.
The Tower Master's eyes widened as a dark figure materialized before them, moving with a speed that defied perception, as if he had stepped directly out of a shadow.
Both he and Claudia were caught off guard by the suddenness and violence of his entrance.
Quickly regaining their composure, they retreated several paces, creating a defensive distance.
The shadow—Shadow—floated into the center of the chamber, landing lightly on the stone floor without making a sound, as if he weighed nothing at all.
Claudia studied him. He wore a simple, yet unnaturally dark cloak with a deep hood that obscured his face in perpetual twilight, but his overwhelming, silent presence matched Leon's description perfectly.
"Shadow," she said, her voice steady, naming the enemy.
At her words, Claudia didn't hesitate. She summoned a swirling, pressurized tornado of water from the moisture in the air and hurled it toward him with lethal intent.
Shadow didn't flinch or even move. As the roaring vortex neared, a translucent black barrier, darker than the night, rose seamlessly from the shadows at his feet, nullifying the powerful attack entirely without a sound. The water splashed harmlessly against the invisible floor.
Instead of counterattacking, Shadow slowly raised a gloved hand from beneath his cloak, palm open and empty, and extended it toward the Tower Master in a gesture that was both demand and dismissal.
"Simon," he said, his voice cold, flat, and biting, devoid of any emotion, "I'm here to reclaim what is mine."
The "thing" he referred to was, of course, the Ultimate Fear buried deep beneath Sky City—the heart of the chaos he embodied.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down the Tower Master's temple, but he forced his voice to remain low and unwavering.
"Do you really think I'll just hand it over to you after all this time?" he asked.
Shadow lowered his hand, the motion final.
"Then I'll kill you both and take it myself," he said, his tone absolute, a simple statement of fact.
As the last word left his lips, the ground beneath them began to tremble violently. An overwhelming, tangible force of pure negation radiated from Shadow, a wave of dark energy that shattered half the Twilight Tower's summit in an instant. Stone screamed as it was pulverized.
As the tower crumbled around them, wood splintered and dust filled the air, the Tower Master and Claudia were forced to act. They shot out through a shattered window, hovering in the cold night sky, watching the ruins of the once-majestic tower disappear into a cloud of debris.
Watching a lifetime of work vanish into dust, the Tower Master's expression grew grimmer than ever.
He looked up at Shadow, who now floated higher into the sky, not using wings, not using magic as they understood it, but simply... defying gravity through sheer will.
"It's not 'flying,'" the Tower Master realized, his thoughts racing with terrifying implications. "It's... floating, a negation of the natural law itself."
Shadow raised his hand once more, his voice commanding and imperious, echoing across the dead city.
"Here is my final warning, you lowly beings... Give it to me."