We stood before the palace gate that had once witnessed the laughter and joy of the Ironfist family, now transformed into a terrifying battleground.
Draaken looked tense, his eyes filled with intertwined sorrow and anger, while Victor stood meters away from him, his face masked by cruelty and traces of old bitterness.
Draaken spoke, his voice barely emerging, carrying the bitterness of betrayal:
"So this is what you've descended to, Victor... betraying blood for power."
His words were heavy as if they were being squeezed from between the cracks of his shattered chest.
Victor smiled a cold, cruel laugh that held no trace of the warmth he once had.
"Blood? What use is blood if it prevents you from reaching your true potential? The Red Shadow Organization has shown me the path to true power!"
His voice resonated, but dripped with contempt for everything sacred in family bonds.
I said, as I watched my hand slowly approaching my sword:
"And it has also shown you the path to losing your humanity."
I wanted to reclaim that kind man we knew—the kind, compassionate one—but he had disappeared behind the darkness of power.
Victor raised his eyebrow in disdain and said:
"Humanity is weakness. And the weak have no place in the world we're building. This is reality, and you must accept it too!" His words were another sword cutting through whatever love remained between him and us.
Suddenly, magical warning signals echoed throughout the palace from all sides; emergency distress signals from the rest of our team.
Those glowing red and blue flashes filled the hall with warning sounds, and Victor said with an evil smile:
"It seems your friends have found themselves in a predicament. Don't worry, you'll join them soon."
Then he raised his hand, and a massive wave of dark energy surged through the hall like a wall erasing everything in its path.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
We moved quickly—Draaken skillfully jumped to the right and I leaped to the left, avoiding that attack which shattered palace furniture and turned pillars into scattered shards.
I screamed at the top of my lungs:
"Ember, protect the Count!"
Whoosh!
And the small fire spirit, Ember, surrounded by golden sparks, flew toward the table where Count Ironfist—Draaken's father—lay unconscious.
Ember created a wall of blazing fire around him, preventing the deadly magical machine that was draining his power from continuing.
Haaaaa!
Victor roared and launched from his hand a whip of darkness that twisted like a snake and struck the air violently.
Whoosh!
Boom!
But Draaken courageously intercepted his path, raising his sword that glowed with strong red flames. He declared defiantly: "You won't touch anyone else from my family!"
And the sound of their swords clashing echoed, where fire met darkness in a terrifying collision that released fiery and dark sparks.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The battle quickly spread throughout the hall. Three masked attackers came at me simultaneously, possessing formidable skills.
The first used ice magic; creating small snowstorms that launched toward me. The second sent dark wolves with sharp fangs. The third flooded the area with curse incantations that slowed my reactions.
I gathered my strength and screamed:
"Shadowind Technique: Multi-Flame Dance!"
Multiple fiery blades shot from my sword, swirling around me like fast red stars, attacking the wolves and deflecting the mage's strikes.
Boom!
Boom!
I dodged the ice storms with quick movements, delivering kicks and punches to wooden dummies that suddenly appeared beside me, and struck the wolves with the edges of my multiple swords.
But the masked attackers were stronger than I anticipated—one summoned an ice storm that hit my shoulder with its cold, and I began to feel the weight of the other mage's curses.
"This is more than I can handle alone."
Boom!
Hah! Hah!
I smiled without reason at seeing them, perhaps to reassure myself, but...
This isn't the time for such things!
Moments later, one of the palace walls exploded, and our friends entered with brilliance.
Smoke rose behind them, and their voices grew louder.
Zara, who always walked with confidence, shouted:
"Sorry we're late!"
And she launched a massive fireball directly at the group of shadow wolves, burning them in seconds.
I ran toward her, screaming to Elyana:
"Elyana, take care of the wounded!"
And Marcus moved quickly, protecting Luna who continued casting weakening spells, while Ash launched electrical shocks at the ice mage, melting the ice and turning it to steam.
But the foundation of the battle, and the most important fight, was Draaken's duel with his brother Victor. Draaken directed his strikes with all the anger he possessed, hoping to bring his brother back to his senses, while Victor faced his brother without mercy. Draaken shouted as he blocked a deadly strike: "Why?! Why did you do all this?"
Victor screamed, remembering childhood memories:
"Because I deserve more! I was always in your shadow.
Everyone applauded 'Draaken the gifted warrior,' 'Draaken the natural leader,' and all I saw were looks of admiration directed at you!"
Then he sent a massive wave of darkness toward him, nearly tearing him apart, but Draaken's evasion of the blows was swift.
Draaken screamed, tears of pain and betrayal streaming from his eyes:
"I never wanted to take your place! I loved you and saw you as my brother!"
For a brief moment, those words seemed to pierce through the darkness covering Victor's heart, and I saw a small light in his eyes, but it faded.
"Love is weakness. And I've rid myself of my weakness."
Victor summoned a sword of pure darkness as if it had been carved from the night itself, and attacked Draaken with tremendous force.
The darkness began eating away at Draaken's metal armor, leaving black gaps in the metal.
Elyana screamed as she watched:
"Draaken is in trouble!"
And I was still fighting the masked attackers when I saw Draaken in danger.
I didn't hesitate.
I screamed, "Oriolus!"
And the small dragon appeared, glowing with golden light. He roared and breathed a large golden flame toward Victor, forcing him to retreat.
"A dragon?! How...?"
I attacked one of the masked attackers,
Then lowered my head to avoid his strike and aimed a blow at the masked man.
That advantage didn't last long, as Victor left the fight with the dragon and turned toward his unconscious father, raising the darkness sword toward his chest. Draaken screamed, and I ran toward them, but time moved like a slow nightmare.
We saw Victor about to end his father's life as he said: "If I can't defeat you, I'll make you suffer!"
But before the sword could descend, Count Ironfist opened his eyes, and his strong hand, despite his weakness, reached out to grip his son's wrist.
"Victor, my son... what have they done to you?"
He said it with a tender, painful voice.
I saw the child hidden behind the darkness return for a moment, as Victor said while crying:
"Father... I... I didn't mean to..."
The Count replied calmly:
"I know you're not yourself anymore. Come back to us, my son. We can fix anything."
The darkness began fading around Victor, and I saw his eyes glistening with tears.
But fate didn't give us a chance.
From behind them, one of the masked attackers launched a dark spear at lightning speed, heading toward the Count.
Victor screamed in that moment:
"No!"
And threw himself in front of his father, so the spear pierced his chest instead of his father's.
He fell to the ground in his father's arms, blood flowing from his chest.
Draaken ran to him, crying. Victor spoke in a faint voice:
"Draaken... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
Draaken replied, crying:
"I know, I know, brother."
Then Victor spoke his last words:
"The organization... their leader is something worse than just human... be careful..."
He said it while fighting death...
And closed his eyes forever.
I felt a raging anger boiling inside me when I saw the killer masked attacker smiling.
I screamed at the top of my lungs:
"Ember!"
"Full fusion!"
My spirit merged with Ember, and I felt golden fire flowing through my veins, my body transforming into a blazing flame.
"Secret Shadowind Technique: Phoenix Step!"
And I launched at a speed that left no trace, striking the masked attacker with my sword melted in fire, turning him to ash in moments.
The other two masked attackers fled through a dark portal, and I heard a voice from the masked attackers telling us bitterly:
"This isn't the end! The final phase will begin soon! And then you'll see death with your own eyes!"
The battle had ended, but the taste of victory was bitter.
Draaken sat beside his brother's body, crying, while his father placed his trembling hand on his shoulder.
Elyana spoke as she comforted him:
"Love alone isn't enough, but it brought him back to us in his final moments. That means something."
We spent the night freeing the kidnapped townspeople and rescuing those remaining in other palace wings.
The Red Shadow Organization left traces that needed analysis, but they also left more dangerous questions.
At dawn, we stood in the family cemetery where Draaken buried his brother, and I was thinking about Victor's last words:
"Their leader is something worse than just human."
We didn't yet know exactly what that meant, but we realized what awaited us would be more difficult than what we'd been through, and that the final phase of their plan had begun.