ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

The smoldering silence that blanketed the ruins of Valoria was deafening.

Endless remained suspended in the air, his cloak billowing without wind, his cold, ancient gaze fixed on the now-empty space where the Magic Pandora had vanished. The aftershock of what had just occurred still echoed within the very fabric of reality, as the threads of fate twisted violently out of their ordained path.

He had failed to kill them.

Two of the inheritors had escaped.

His fingers flexed ever so slightly, and a pulse of barely-contained rage rippled through the air, cracking a nearby spire to pieces.

Down below, amidst the debris, the survivors—Reeves, Lila, Marel, General Cao, Elena, and others—stood in tense silence, staring at one another, grappling with the whirlwind of emotions. Relief. Terror. Confusion. Hope.

"They made it…" Lila breathed, clutching her side where blood soaked through her robes. "They actually got away…"

"They're not dead," Reeves confirmed, his eyes gleaming with urgency. "That's all that matters now. That cube… it didn't kill them. It took them somewhere. Somewhere safe."

"We need to do the same," Marel said sharply. "While he's still distracted. If we delay even a second, we all—"

"Going somewhere?"

A chillingly familiar voice interrupted.

All eyes turned sharply as two figures descended into their path—The First Magi and Kael Dragonyx, both cloaked in calm certainty.

Reeves narrowed his eyes. "What is the meaning of this…?"

The First Magi offered a serene, almost pitiful smile. "I'm simply ensuring a way forward. For myself, for my daughter… and for the Kingdom. Endless has changed the balance of everything. His favor is far more valuable now than our fleeting rebellion."

"You're handing us over?" Lila asked, disbelieving. "You'd sell us to him?!"

"I prefer to think of it as survival," the First Magi said. "Your lives, in exchange for safe standing with the one entity left on this continent who cannot be resisted. It's the logical course."

Behind him, Kael Dragonyx stood still, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. But his silence was a clear endorsement.

And then—Elena, bloodied and bruised but conscious once more, stumbled forward.

"Dad—please! Don't do this," she begged, her voice raw. "They're our people. And besides, don't you see that he doesn't care about our species one bit. And also,these people that you are trying to get killed didn't abandon me. You're making a mistake!"

His face tightened, but his eyes remained distant.

"Elena, sometimes choices must be made not with the heart, but with clarity. In this world, sentiment gets you killed."

He raised a hand—and runic chains emerged from the air itself, beginning to slither toward the stunned survivors.

That's when Endless moved.

The godlike being shifted ever so slightly, as though his thoughts had finally returned to the present.

His gaze swept across the small gathering.

And then his voice—calm, devoid of weight, yet absolute—drifted from his lips like judgment:

"Apart from the First Magi…"

"…the rest will have their end here."

Everything stopped.

The survivors' blood ran cold.

Reeves stepped forward, lips parting to speak—but he couldn't find the words.

Lila raised her staff, trembling. Marel's blade flickered with weak, unstable mana.

The First Magi himself went still, shock blooming behind his composed face.

"…Wait," he said, his voice sharp with uncertainty. "You… you agreed—"

"I said nothing," Endless replied, turning his gaze on him as if peering into the soul of a creature already beneath him. "I allowed you to speak. You assumed."

Kael Dragonyx frowned, stepping forward. "Aren't we valuable—"

"Not to me."

Endless' arm rose.

The sky screamed.

And in that instant, everyone knew—

Death was coming.

And for a long g while now, the air had grown heavy—so heavy, it choked.

The survivors could feel it, like a divine hand closing around their lungs. No more options.

No more running.

Only Endless. Only death.

For a breathless moment, no one moved. The ruins of the Valoria Kingdom stood still, as if the world itself was holding its breath in anticipation of its final gasp.

Then—

"Hahahahaha!"

Laughter.

A low, amused, almost sardonic chuckle echoed through the air. All eyes shifted toward the source—Kael Dragonyx.

His head tilted back, mouth curved in a twisted grin. "Heh… I knew it. I knew this would happen," he said, voice calm, even relieved. "You really thought this monster would keep us around?"

Endless glanced at him, unimpressed.

But Kael wasn't fazed. With one swift movement, he tore off the black half-cape slung across his shoulder and turned. Behind him, a swirling portal sparked open—crimson-rimmed and shaped like a spiral tear into another dimension.

The entrance to the Labyrinth.

Kael smirked at the others. "Well, I didn't come this far to die in someone else's prophecy."

And without a single glance back, he dove headlong into the portal. The moment he did, the portal sealed shut behind him like a wound being stitched closed by the void.

A stunned silence followed.

But it didn't last long as Endless suddenly muttered in contempt.

"Coward"

Just as Endless raised a hand—ready to release the end—a second portal tore open with explosive force behind Reeves and the others. A golden hue burst out, and from within it emerged a figure clad in glimmering ash robes, his silver eyes burning with urgency:

Aether.

"Aether?!" Reeves gasped.

No time for questions.

The moment he stepped out, Aether moved in a flash, grabbing Lila, Morris, Ethan, and Guinevere with unerring precision.

"Hold on," he ordered. "Don't look back."

And before anyone could protest or even fully process what was happening, the portal swallowed the four and Aether, disappearing just as quickly as it appeared.

Not everyone had seen it—but Reeves had.

As the final glint of gold vanished, a small, tired smile curved his lips. Hope, however fleeting, had survived.

"…Some of them made it," he murmured to himself.

But the moment ended as fast as it came.

He turned, fury and desperation rising inside him. "Zephryon!" he roared.

The sky cracked, and from the splinter of light above, a majestic, massive winged beast emerged, lightning trailing its feathers like storm-born fire.

Marel leapt onto its back without hesitation, and Forbes climbed up after, blood trailing from his side.

"GO!!" Reeves shouted, as he mounted Zephryon last.

The beast beat its wings once, generating a windstorm of force as it shot skyward in a desperate attempt to flee the coming devastation.

But Endless was already moving.

With a single flick of his fingers, the skies bent.

A faint ripple passed through the air—no flash, no sound, no explosion.

Just obliteration.

In the blink of an eye, a black void swallowed the sky.

Zephryon was torn apart mid-flight.

Marel and Forbes—gone.

Reeves—obliterated.

Only sparks of what they once were remained, spiraling downward like dead embers.

And still, Endless stood unmoved.

Below him, the earth cracked as residual power from his basic attack splintered the foundation of the ruined kingdom further was caused countless casualties to the remaining survivors all over Valoria.

Elena, too weak to run or fight, had tried to crawl to her father—the First Magi—pleading with him.

But she didn't make it.

She vanished like dust in the wind.

The First Magi dropped to his knees.

He did not scream. He did not cry.

But the way his hand trembled as he reached out to where his daughter once was told everything.

Endless, unbothered, turned away from the carnage, his gaze lifting to the chaotic red sky, still swirling from his prior awakening.

His voice was low. Commanding. Inevitable.

"So they run."

"Let them."

He closed his eyes for a breath—then opened them again, gleaming with promise.

"Kaelen. Kelvin."

"You've escaped once. You won't escape again."

His hand clenched slowly.

"The Magic Pandora… will be mine."

"Am coming to get you"

And with that, the age of annihilation truly began.