As the wind blows and fire burns, the city crumbles while the world rumbles. A bloodied man sits alone in a ruined bar, drinking as if the chaos around him isn't his concern. Though injured and on the verge of death, he chugs the bottle of liquor in his hand.
"Ha... how I've missed drinking like this. Just me... and you."
He looks toward a shadow-like silhouette lingering nearby.
"Was it really all worth it?"
The man grunts, wincing in pain as one of his wounds reopens. He slumps to the ground, laughing through the agony.
"Hahaha... You were right. Trying to defy fate was never really possible."
He stares at the shadow like shlooute from the floor.
"This might not have happened if we'd planned for survival... not victory."
He groans.
"This world has finally met its fate—
Judgement Day! Hahaha!"
"We may not have saved anyone... but I know one thing for sure: somehow, you—Lucas—will, shall, and have survived. This may be the end, but it's actually just the beginning... isn't that right, Lucas?"
"LUCAS!"
"LUCAS, wake up!"
A woman's voice calls out. A little boy with black hair and deep blue eyes bolts upright from his sleep.
"Mum?" he says, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"Lord Lucas, we need to get you ready for the upcoming family meeting," says a gentle voice.
"Titi?" he murmurs.
"I had a strange dream. You weren't in it. Mum wasn't in it. Not even Big Sis."
Titi moves to adjust the curtains, letting soft moonlight spill into the room.
"Lord Lucas, we all have strange dreams sometimes," she says with a reassuring smile.
In truth, Titi has been worried. For days, Lucas has cried and trembled in his sleep. Fearing it could be a sign of illness, she decides she'll tell the mistress later.
"Alright, get ready, Lucas. We don't want to be late, do we?"
"What about Big Sis? Where is she? She's always the one who wakes me up."
Titi gently lifts the boy into her arms.
"Well, young sir, she's already gone to the ceremony. You're the only one running late now. Let's get ready before the mistress gets upset with both of us."
Elsewhere, a woman with flowing black hair moves gracefully across a battlefield. She dodges massive projectiles launched by a 26-foot-long war machine—each missile strong enough to destroy a mountain.
She evades five consecutively and slices the sixth clean in half without using a drop of mana.
BOOM!
The machine explodes behind her.
"Well done, Mama. Dodging and slicing missiles that could flatten villages, and without even using mana—still as impressive as ever."
"Enough with the praise, Walbert. Is Lucas ready?"
!!! DOORS OPEN !!!
"Mum! Mum!"
The woman turns, smiling.
"Lucas! Oh, my baby boy. How was your little sleep?"
"I had a weird dream..."
"Oh really? You can tell Mummy about it later. Right now, it's time to go meet Daddy and the rest of the family."
"Even Big Sis Laura?"
"Yes, even Big Sis Laura."
As they exit the room, the full scene is revealed: the chamber is enormous—large as a field—and clearly damaged, scarred with sword marks and signs of combat.
"Here's the Metabus, Mistress."
The Metabus is a mechanical, mana-powered transport device. It runs on processed mana stones and draws energy from natural mana, traveling along the Great Reeeg, a metallic highway connecting the empire.
Dark shadows move swiftly, watching from a distance as the family departs. They're on their way to the Velerion Annual Family Meeting, held in the heart of the great empire of Agos.
No one would have dared imagine that anyone would be reckless—or bold—enough to attack something that belongs to a Velerion.
But the shadows close in.
Fast.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
An explosion strikes the Metabus. It tumbles violently, flipping over as debris flies.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
Birds fly of as the metabus explosions caused tress to be blown and the destroyed
Walbert and the mistress hurriedly tried to find ways to stabilize the tumbling metabus.
After the metabus is stabilize and the individual in it try to escape the flame two shadow like figure appears infront of walbert and the Mistress as flames roared behind them. Lucas and the maids crawled desperately across the ground, scrambling to escape the inferno. The chaos unfolded swiftly—but Walbert stepped forward, his demeanor calm yet commanding.
"I am Walbert, Head Butler of the Ronhargg Estate and a proud member of the Great Valerian Knights." His voice resonated with authority. "For the crimes of disruption, obstruction, and attempted murder of a Valerian—by the power bestowed upon me by the Great Patriarch—I hereby sentence all involved in this act to death by absolute destruction."
Suddenly, more shadowy figures appeared—but this time, they stood beside Walbert. The veil lifted, revealing them as Valerian Knights, cloaked in power and purpose.
A mocking laugh cut through the tension. A man clad entirely in black stepped forward, his face concealed behind a mask—save for his glowing crimson eyes.
"Valerian Knights?" he sneered. "I didn't expect the great Valerians to care about a Mistress and her bastard child. Guess I was wrong."
With a flick of his hand, a dark fog surged across the terrain, revealing an army of shadow-like figures—each dressed in black, each without a face.
Titi, one of the maids, gasped in horror. "The All Black… No… Not now!"
The All Black, a mythical force said to be entities beyond life and death, beings bound by fate, capable of consuming all.
Even Walbert's eyes betrayed shock. The Mistress clenched her fist—and the mountains trembled. The ground cracked beneath her, her eyes glowing an ethereal blue.
"You attack my son... threaten our lives... insult my family..." she growled, her voice laced with venom. "But worst of all... you called my son a bastard. You will all die by my hand."
A fallen knight's sword flew into her grip, overflowing with mana. With a single slash, she split the mountain behind them cleanly in two.
She leapt again, channeling mana into her blade—this time obliterating the entire Metabus Road in one devastating strike. The Valerian Knights charged alongside her, clashing with the All Black.
Walbert followed with a horizontal slash just as destructive as the Mistress's attack.
The masked man watched, whispering to himself, "Those two... they'll be troublesome. Especially her... the Dark Myst."
But something was wrong. The knights were strong, their attacks precise—yet their blades passed harmlessly through the All Black.
Lordg, one of the knights, realized it first. "Walbert!" he shouted. "Regular mana attacks don't work! No matter how strong—we can't affect them!"
Walbert understood. If they continued like this, they would be overwhelmed.
With grim resolve, he raised his voice. "Swords of Shadow! We defend our Lord with our lives!"
The knights' mana darkened—no longer pure energy, but something far more ancient. The masked man stiffened.
"So… they finally use it," he murmured. "The First Shadow Technique."
Empowered by the forbidden art, the knights began cutting through the All Black with newfound lethality.
Meanwhile, the Mistress moved like a storm—unpredictable, ferocious, unstoppable. The All Black could not keep up. Her rage burned like wildfire, fueled by a mother's wrath.
The masked man grew uneasy. "She's stronger than I thought. Her Myst Flow Sword Technique... it adapts to destructive mana, flows unpredictably... She's versatile. Dangerous."
Then, the Mistress activated her third form.
"Shadow-Defying Myst!"
Her blade wreathed in dark energy, crackling with raw power. She swung—
BOOM!!!!!!
Most of the All Black army disintegrated in an instant.
The masked man looked up—too late.
She was already above him, blade raised for the killing blow.
BOOM!!!!!!!!
The ground where he stood erupted, leaving a fifty-meter scar in the earth.
The Valerian Knights fought like legends, their unity and strength decimating the enemy.
Silence fell. The All Black were no more.
But the Mistress felt something… wrong.
When she struck the masked man—it had felt real, yet hollow. The impact was there, but his presence was not.
He had been there… and yet, he hadn't.