Outside, chaos reigned.
The castle gates had exploded under the combined assault of sorcerers and werewolves.
Asher led the charge, his eyes glowing red, surrounded by crackling magical energy.
Enemy sorcerers hurled fiery projectiles.
Asher raised his hands.
A magical shield unfurled, absorbing the impacts.
"Push forward!" Klaus shouted.
Axel, in semi-wolf form, charged a group of renegade hunters and slammed them into a wall.
Bryan moved with vampiric speed, snapping an enemy's neck before vanishing in a blur.
Eiden, wielding his blessed weapons, drove back two enemy vampires with precise strikes.
Ray and Gale covered the rear, while Isabella, Diana, and Marlie fought in perfect coordination, their claws tearing through their opponents.
Kira murmured an incantation.
Thick roots burst from the ground, immobilizing several enemies.
Alix appeared behind them, finishing the trapped foes with clean, lethal strikes.
The castle corridors had become a battlefield.
Screams.
Magic.
Blood.
Asher pressed on without slowing.
"We don't stop! Miria is down below!"
Enemy sorcerers tried to set up an ambush.
An explosion hurled the group against the walls.
Axel got back up with a growl.
"This is getting annoying!"
Ray smashed an enemy into a pillar.
Bryan moved to Asher's side.
"We need to split up now!"
Asher nodded.
"Groups as planned!"
Ray grabbed Isabella and Diana.
"With me! We're going for Miria!"
Alix joined Kira and Marlie.
"We'll search the lower levels!"
Asher turned to Bryan and Eiden.
"We'll clear the way."
Klaus joined Axel and Gale.
"We'll keep them away from the girls."
The groups split up.
The fighting resumed immediately.
An enemy werewolf leaped at Gale.
Klaus grabbed it by the throat and smashed it into a wall, covered in blood and breathing hard.
"There's too many of them!"
Axel grinned ferociously.
"Then we hit harder."
Meanwhile, Ray and his group descended into the depths of the castle.
Vampires surged forward.
Isabella intercepted them, claws extended.
Diana shattered a jaw with a single blow.
Ray unleashed a wave of slashing energy that finished the rest.
On the other side, Alix, Marlie, and Kira searched the corridors.
"Miria!" Marlie shouted.
A group of enemies appeared.
Kira unleashed a storm of energy.
Alix leaped forward, fast as lightning.
The path continued to open before them.
Deeper in, Asher advanced through a hallway littered with bodies.
His gaze burned.
His heart pounded.
*Hold on, Miria…*
The battle was only just beginning.
And the entire castle trembled under the war that had come to claim its prisoner.