The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat.
The resurrected soldiers—tens of thousands of them—staggered forward. Then, like strands of shadow being woven, their bodies began to melt together. Bone fused with bone, flesh with flesh, armor groaning and snapping into twisted ridges.
The ground quaked as the amalgamation rose, its form grotesque yet awe-inspiring.
[Necro-Construct: Abyssal Colossus – Formed]
Height: 46 meters Tall
A skeletal giant now towered beside the Lizard, its hollow ribcage glowing with Kael's blue necromantic fire. The clash had shifted from one versus one… to two versus one.
The Fire Dragon halted its rampage for a moment, eyes narrowing, flames spilling from its maw in recognition of a new foe.
Kael did not move his eyes from the beast, but shadows whispered at his back. A presence stirred, and from the eastern skies a torrent of water cascaded down like a falling river.
The Water Dragon descended.
Her scales shimmered with liquid light, her wings leaving trails of mist as she landed gracefully outside Greyspire's gates. Unlike the Fire Dragon's madness, her eyes held sorrow as she looked upon her kin.
"This is no natural summoning," she said, her voice echoing across the battlefield like ripples in a still pond. "He is bound, twisted. My old friend suffers."
Her gaze shifted to Kael. "If you wish to save him, do not kill him. Knock him down. Break the one who enslaved him, and the chains will fall."
Kael's expression hardened beneath his mask. He gave a slow nod. "Then hold him still. I will deal with the puppeteer."
The Water Dragon's roar answered him. She surged forward, wrapping her serpentine body around the Fire Dragon's flank, grappling with it in a desperate attempt to restrain its rampage. Steam hissed violently as fire met water, cloaking the battlefield in scalding mist.
From the Dungeon's depths, the Twin Dragons appeared. But not as two.
They had merged again—one body, two heads, fire and ice entwined. Wings beating with storm force, they lunged together. With perfect synchronicity, one head released a jet of searing flame while the other unleashed a beam of freezing frost. The combined assault slammed into the Fire Dragon's exposed side.
The beast staggered, its roar breaking into a howl of agony.
For the first time, the Fire Dragon faltered.
Kael did not waste the moment.
His form blurred, shadows coiling around him. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the battlefield and reappeared within the heart of the enemy camp.
The commander's tent was dimly lit, heavy with the stench of incense and sweat. Inside, the enemy commander stood before the glowing summoning stone—its runes crackling with unstable power. His hands trembled as he raised a blade high above it.
One strike, and the contract would shatter.
Kael's eyes widened slightly. If the stone was destroyed, the Fire Dragon would be freed from its binding—not into peace, but into a berserk frenzy that no chain, no will, could stop.
The commander muttered frantically, sweat dripping from his brow:
"I will not let you control this… if I cannot win, then no one shall!"
His blade began to descend.
Kael's shadow burst upward, wrapping around the man's arm like living chains. The masked necromancer's voice cut through the air, cold and sharp as steel.
"Your mistake," Kael whispered, stepping fully from the shadows, "was thinking you ever had control."
The commander's scream froze in his throat as black tendrils coiled around his body, locking him in place. His blade clattered harmlessly to the ground. Kael's mask reflected the glowing stone as he reached forward, one gloved hand pressing against its surface.
The summoning stone pulsed like a living heart, runes cracking under his grip. Dark mana seeped into its veins, silencing its thrumming.
[System Notice: Contract Interference Detected]— Breaking Slave Seal…— Success.
A thunderous cry shook the battlefield. The Fire Dragon's rage suddenly dulled into exhaustion, its violent thrashing softening as the suffocating chains of bondage dissolved. Its eyes—once burning with madness—dimmed, revealing a weary beast crushed under pain and humiliation.
Kael closed his hand around the fractured stone, crushing it into dust. "No more chains," he murmured.
The commander, still bound by Kael's shadows, trembled. His fury melted into fear. "W-what are you?"
"You'll learn," Kael said coldly, before binding him fully in a cocoon of shadows. The man would live—for now. He still had answers to give.
With a flick of his hand, Kael opened a vast portal of darkness that tore across the battlefield. Shadows stretched outward like tidal waves, enveloping the Fire Dragon, the Water Dragon, the merged Twins, the Lizard, and the towering Abyssal Colossus. One by one, the titanic beings vanished into the void, drawn into the deepest halls of Kael's dungeon.
The battlefield grew eerily quiet. The only remnants of war were the smoking craters and the broken weapons scattered across the fields outside Greyspire.
Then Kael raised his hand again. The golems, standing sentinel atop the walls, turned in unison. Their eyes dimmed as he whispered the command.
"Return."
With thunderous steps, the constructs marched back inside the dungeon, vanishing into the portals prepared for them.
The once-thunderous defenses of Greyspire settled into silence.
On the wall, soldiers and citizens stared in stunned silence. The air was heavy with disbelief. The siege towers were nothing but ash. The enemy army—once 79,000 strong—had been annihilated in waves of fire, steel, and shadows.
Then Kael's voice carried across the city, calm yet unyielding.
"People of Greyspire. The war… is over."
A shiver passed through the crowd. Mothers clutched their children. Veterans dropped their weapons, relief overwhelming their faces. And then, like wildfire, cheers erupted.
"Greyspire stands!""The Princess has led us to victory!""Our walls are unbroken!"
Kael lowered his hand. The mask hid his expression, but his eyes lingered briefly on the crowd before turning away. His work was not finished—the true war was only beginning.
Still, for this night, Greyspire could rest.