The battlefield was a maelstrom. Shadows surged like living waves, the screams of Voice-Eaters echoing off the distant mountains. Kael stood at the forefront, Ashrend a pillar of blazing red, each swing carving arcs of destruction through the endless enemy tide.
Lyra perched atop a jagged rock, firing volleys of arrows imbued with Sovereign steel. "Kael! Left flank!" she shouted, picking off the elite soldiers that tried to encircle them.
Darric's warblade met enemy hammers with a resounding clang. "Keep moving! We hold this line!" His armor gleamed in the crimson glow, a shield against the oncoming darkness.
Kael's eyes narrowed, the Crimson Mark burning hotter than ever. He leaped forward, spinning Ashrend in a deadly dance. Shadows evaporated under the sheer force of his strikes.
"Sovereign Cleave!" he roared, a wave of red flame slicing through an entire squadron.
But more poured in. The Voice-Eaters never tired; they came as if the Veil itself guided them. Kael's companions flanked him tightly, weaving spells, arrows, and steel in a perfect symphony.
Suddenly, the monstrous general reappeared, towering and impossible, a living void. Its presence made the earth quake.
Kael gritted his teeth. "Lyra! Isryn! Darric! Focus with me. We end this!"
They surged together, striking as one. Lyra's arrows pierced the general's dark form, Isryn's incantations wrapped it in chains of light, and Darric struck at its limbs, giving Kael the opening he needed.
Ashrend flared brighter, and Kael's aura ignited the battlefield. Crimson Ascendance—he called it with every fiber of his being. The blade became a comet of fire and lightning, cutting through the general's defenses.
With a final, devastating strike: Veilbreaker Slash, the general reeled, staggering, its form destabilizing. Shadows shrieked and scattered, leaving silence in their wake.
Kael fell to one knee, panting, blood and ash coating him. Around him, the battlefield was littered with the remnants of the Voice-Eaters. His companions regrouped, exhausted but alive.
Lyra's voice trembled. "Kael… that was… incredible."
Darric smirked, wiping blood from his blade. "Don't get used to compliments. We've still got a war to win."
Kael sheathed Ashrend, feeling the pulse of the Mark slow but still alive within him. He looked out at the horizon—more enemies awaited, more darkness to conquer. But for the first time, he felt the weight of his power, and the burden of what he had to become.
The final wave of the Voice-Eaters had been repelled, but Kael knew this was just the beginning. The Veil was far from finished, and something deeper, darker, awaited.