The Black Host screamed as it charged, their voices like rusted chains dragged across stone.
Kael was the first to move. His greatsword carved through the first wave in a storm of black lightning. "Crimson Sever!" he roared, the named strike slicing through three armored husks in a single sweep, their voidlight extinguishing like dying embers.
"On your left!" Aric shouted. He darted in, his dual blades flashing silver arcs. With quick, brutal cuts he cut down a soldier lunging for Kael's exposed side. His grin widened. "Still too slow, brother."
Kael smirked briefly, but his focus never wavered.
Seliora raised her staff, runes igniting in a spiral. "Flames, answer me—Inferno Veil!" A wall of searing fire erupted before them, halting the next surge of enemies. Her hair whipped in the heat as she pressed forward, her voice steady despite her exhaustion. "Don't waste it. Cut them down!"
Darius bellowed like a war drum, slamming his shield into the earth. The shockwave cracked stone and toppled a cluster of foes. He waded into them, shield in one hand, sword in the other, a fortress of iron and will. "No one touches my friends!"
The battlefield roared with chaos, yet their movements meshed as if they had never been apart. Kael swung high, cleaving through the taller hulks, while Aric darted beneath his strikes, finishing the ones staggered by Kael's power. Seliora's firestorms controlled the flow of enemies, driving them into clusters, and Darius smashed through those clusters with unbreakable force.
But the Host adapted. A towering knight, its armor veined with crackling voidlight, stepped forward, wielding a black halberd. It swung wide, the strike tearing through Seliora's barrier and nearly cleaving Darius in two. Only Kael's blade met the halberd in time, black lightning grinding against voidlight in a screech that split the air.
The impact shook him to his bones, but Kael bared his teeth, crimson eyes flaring.
"Together!" he barked.
Aric leapt, spinning midair, his blades flashing as they tore into the knight's shoulder. Seliora hurled a burning sigil that detonated against its chest. Darius slammed forward, shield-first, pinning the knight in place.
Kael raised his sword overhead, the storm itself answering his call. "Black Thunder: Sovereign's Wrath!"
The blade came down like judgment itself.
The knight split in half, a shockwave ripping through the keep and scattering the lesser Host. For a heartbeat, silence reigned.
And then the companions stood, four against the tide, unbroken.
Kael turned his gaze on the horde still gathering in the shadows. His voice was low, but it carried across the ruin.
"This is where your march ends."