The dungeons hummed with latent energy as Kael materialized within the cavernous space, his cloak brushing the stone floors. He moved purposefully toward the research floor, where the latest golem prototypes were lined up, their cores faintly glowing with absorbed mana.
"These are the upgraded models," he said, inspecting the ones specifically designed to draw mana from the surrounding environment instead of relying solely on magic cores. "If these work, they'll sustain themselves indefinitely in battle."
He gestured toward the control console, and a team of elite researchers began activating the absorption protocols. Slowly, the golems' cores began pulsing brighter, the system confirming success.
[System Notification: Mana-Absorbing Golem Model – Functionality 100% Confirmed.]
Satisfied, Kael turned to observe the growth of his other forces. The lizard had reached nearly thirty-five feet in height, its scales shimmering as its spine glowed with latent heat energy. Beside it, the merged twin dragons flexed their wings, tails lashing and claws digging into the dungeon floor, their combined aura radiating elemental dominance.
Kael walked toward the fire dragon's chamber, opening the reinforced doors. There it was—its scales singed slightly from its last battle, but otherwise fully recovered. The water dragon sat peacefully beside it, radiating a calm aura. The fire dragon's eyes focused on Kael, then slowly lowered toward Pyraflame, who hovered nearby. A low, resonant roar filled the cavern, and both Pyraflame and Kael felt their mana cores resonate with the blessing. Their power spiked exponentially, enhancing their elemental affinity.
Pyraflame, wings flaring, experimented and instinctively unleashed a newly learned exclusive fire spell—one that only fire dragons could wield. The walls around them shimmered as the heat flared, and Kael could feel the magnitude of this boost.
With all forces strengthened, Kael allowed himself a brief smile before moving to the village. The newlywed couple—a male elf and a human female—stood hand-in-hand in the village square. Their happiness was palpable. Kael approached them warmly, checking on their well-being and offering words of encouragement. "The world you choose to build together is yours," he said. "Live fully, and protect each other." The couple bowed respectfully, gratitude clear in their eyes.
Back in the dungeon, Kael returned to the mana-absorbing golems. "Time to move," he commanded. "The mining capital awaits."
The golems, now fully functional and capable of flight, took to the skies in disciplined formation. Two hundred mana-absorbing variants lifted off in synchronized precision, their glowing cores tracing arcs of light against the early dawn. Kael watched them depart, a calculated calm in his gaze. This was only the first step in ensuring the upcoming battle would not catch them unprepared.
With the lizard, twin dragons, Pyraflame, and the Abyssal Colossus remaining in the dungeon for further training and protection, Kael turned his mind toward the next threat—Gravemont and the magic circle forming in the heart of the mining capital.
The storm was gathering, and every piece was now in motion.
The skies over the mining capital began to shift unnaturally. Dark clouds swirled overhead, at first dismissed by the nobles and citizens as a coming storm. The air grew heavier, charged with static that prickled against the skin. The banners of the Foundation Day celebration snapped violently in the sudden gusts, and the festive chatter faltered into nervous murmurs.
Kael, watching from the balcony of the mansion, narrowed his eyes. "This… doesn't feel like weather."
Just then, Sara's voice echoed softly in his mind—clear, urgent, and unshaken.
"Kael, this is no storm. It's the beginning of a ritual. I can sense the abyssal resonance… Gravemont has begun."
Her words struck him like a blade. Kael's gaze immediately snapped toward the center of the city, where faint lines of glowing symbols shimmered across the cobblestones—barely visible to untrained eyes, but unmistakable to him. A massive magic circle was expanding, anchored beneath the city itself.
"Damn it. He's already started."
Outside the capital's defensive walls, the 200 mana-absorbing golems were already in formation. They had landed in precise geometric alignment, their glowing cores flaring as they linked together. Slowly, a colossal multilayered circle took shape around the capital—a lattice of mana absorption and reinforcement.
The first circle sealed the ground, preventing energy from leaking outward.The second formed a barrier, designed to draw abyssal energy into themselves.The third was precautionary—a buffer shield should the ritual breach their perimeter.
Their cores pulsed in unison, the lines of their formation sparking with a light so pure that it clashed visibly against the dark clouds above.
Kael smirked faintly, his hand brushing the mask on his face. "Perfect. Let's see Gravemont try to force his corruption past this wall."
But Sara's voice whispered in his thoughts again, more solemn this time.
"Kael… the circle isn't just to summon. It's a vessel. Something enormous is being called, and if it reaches full activation, even your golems won't be able to absorb it all."
Kael's eyes sharpened. "Then we'll make sure it doesn't reach that point."
Below, the unsuspecting nobles muttered about the 'bad weather,' dismissing the growing sense of dread. Only a handful of veterans stirred uneasily, their instincts screaming of danger. Meanwhile, high above, the mana-absorbing golems locked their formation tighter, glowing brighter with every passing second.
The city itself seemed split—one side celebrating in ignorance, the other, in hidden corners and alleys, beginning to realize something catastrophic was coming.
And at the very heart of it, beneath the capital, Gravemont's ritual pulsed like a malignant heartbeat, accelerating.
Kael clenched his fist. "It begins."
The mana storm overhead swelled like a black tide. Abyssal energy cracked through the clouds, streaks of violet lightning lashing across the sky. The nobles gasped and stumbled back, clutching at their robes as the very ground beneath them trembled.
The Archmage Veloria rose to her feet, her staff glowing faintly. "This… this is far beyond natural mana overflow! It's spiraling out of control—"
Marshal Cyras's gauntlet clenched. "Damn it, if this breaks through—"
But before the panic could consume the crowd, the rising abyssal wave suddenly stopped.
Not faded. Not diminished. Stopped, as though colliding with an invisible wall.
Gasps spread through the grandstands as the oppressive darkness that threatened to swallow the capital abruptly faltered in mid-air, tendrils of black energy writhing helplessly against some unseen counterforce.
Everyone turned to one another in confusion. Murmurs rose like wildfire. "What—what is happening?" "Is this part of the ceremony?" "Who is holding it back!?"
From the shadowed side of the platform, Kael's masked figure stepped forward, his voice calm but cutting through the chaos like steel.
"Do not mistake this for chance. This is Gravemont's doing."
The entire gathering went silent. Heads snapped toward him, the nobles whispering furiously, but his words carried with an authority that silenced even their doubts.
Kael continued, his tone sharp and deliberate. "The ritual you feel tearing at the city is his betrayal. He conspired with the Abyss. The energy you see blocked? That is my doing."
He raised a hand toward the sky. "Archmage Veloria—look with your eyes, and you will understand."
Veloria, still pale from the sudden flood of mana, snapped her staff forward and cast a diagnostic weave. Her eyes widened as the spell revealed the truth: hundreds of faintly glowing constructs stationed beyond the walls, their crystalline cores blazing in synchronized rhythm.
The barrier was not divine intervention—it was the masked man's army of golems, absorbing the abyssal overflow like living sponges of mana, redirecting the destructive force into their own cores.
Veloria's lips parted in disbelief. "Absorption models… no, not just that—an entire multi-layered network." She whispered, almost reverent. "Impossible… no mage alive has created anything so precise. Not even me."
The nobles were in stunned silence, while the Backbone exchanged heavy glances. Countess Elayne's face hardened, Marshal Cyras's hand instinctively went to his blade, and even Duke Harrond's normally stern gaze flickered with rare astonishment.
Kael's masked face turned toward the Backbone, his voice as cold as steel.
"You want to protect this city? Then order the evacuation immediately. My constructs can hold the tide for now, but if civilians remain above ground when this ritual fully erupts, not even my walls of golems will save them."
His command snapped through the tension like a whip. Veloria, shaken but aware of the truth, raised her staff high and bellowed, "All citizens! To the shelters! Now!"
Panic erupted into movement, soldiers rallying the crowd as horns were blown.
Meanwhile, Kael turned to Sara, his voice quieter but urgent. "Sara. Protect the princesses. Take them below. I'll hold the line."
She met his masked gaze, her flame-like aura already flaring. "As you wish."
Without hesitation, fire blossomed around her body—not wild, but controlled, wrapping around herself and both princesses like a blazing cocoon. The heat shimmered in protective waves, forcing back the icy dread in the air.
"Hold tight," Sara whispered to the princesses, who clung to her as the cocoon sealed. Then, in a burst of firelight, she guided them swiftly through the palace halls, down into the secured bunker beneath the mansion that Duke Harrond had prepared.
The doors slammed shut behind her just as another surge of abyss energy roared against Kael's invisible wall.
On the surface, with the nobles scrambling, the crowd fleeing, and the Backbone bracing for war, Kael remained standing at the edge of the platform—mask gleaming, cloak fluttering in the unnatural winds—staring directly at the writhing black circle in the center of the city.
His hand flexed at his side, the power within him thrumming.
"Your game is over, Gravemont."