Chapter 33 – The Crimson Downpour
The sky had been quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the birds had disappeared, and the wind had turned thick like molasses—heavy, choking. The ruins of the East Block stood eerily still, the crumbled Archive looming like a broken memory behind them.
Leo stood beside Vellum and Ari, Rayleigh ahead of them, crouched on a fractured pillar. They were still talking… planning… hoping.
But something was wrong.
Ari looked up first. "The wind's… stopped."
And then… it began.
A low groan echoed from the earth below, like the continent itself was grinding its teeth. The sky didn't darken like nightfall—it bruised. Red and black clouds swirled into each other, pulsating like veins. Thunder rumbled, but there was no lightning. And then—
Splatt.
One single, fat, crimson drop hit the stone floor. Ari flinched. It sizzled like acid.
More followed. Splatt-splatt-splatt. Red, thick, and warm.
Blood.
It was raining blood.
Vellum's voice was tight. "Get under cover—now."
But they didn't even make it ten steps.
Because the sky screamed. And from it—they fell.
Not just rain.
Monsters.
Deformed, grotesque things. Some with bone wings, others with twisting limbs and too many eyes. They fell like cannonballs, crashing into the ruins. Some burst on impact. Others landed… and crawled out of craters.
One raised its head and sniffed. Another giggled like a child.
A third looked directly at Leo and whispered, "Home…"
Then all hell broke loose.
Screams rose from what was left of the guild base. Civilians ran. Fighters rallied. Flames burst in the distance as fire mages began their desperate defense. Steel clashed. Magic cracked the sky.
"Stay behind me!" Ari shouted, her barrier blooming into a wall of shimmering gold.
Leo summoned a spell—but hesitated. Something inside him stirred, like a language whispering from beneath the world.
Not yet. Hide it.
"Rayleigh! What the hell is happening?!" Leo yelled.
Rayleigh's face was pale. "It's him. This is his message."
"Who—?"
And then, like the world held its breath, the elders arrived.
Three of them, robed in silver and blue, stood atop the wall remains. They raised their staffs, muttered in dead tongues, and slammed their magic into the battlefield.
A tidal wave of light roared outward. Half the monsters were reduced to ash.
But more kept falling.
Ari's barrier shattered. Vellum roared, conjuring a storm of blue flame and black frost. Monsters shrieked. One tried leaping at Leo—he dodged, blasting it mid-air.
They were fighting. Barely.
Then the voice came.
Not through ears—but into their bones.
> "You took what I lived for…"
Leo froze.
> "Now, I'll take everything you live for."
The clouds opened—not with light, but with shadow.
And he descended.
Floating above them, cloaked in black mist, eyes glowing like red suns.
Velyour.
> "I gave you harmony. I left it all behind. I trusted your peace."
His voice tore through the world like a blade.
> "But you ruined it. You destroyed what was sacred."
> "So now… I return the favor."
Every monster stopped and knelt. Even they feared him.
Leo gripped his head. The same energy from the dream—it was real. His old soul carrier's warnings… the war… this man—
"This is the storm," he whispered.
Then, salvation descended—or so they thought.
The Council arrived.
Seven shadows across the sky, their presence bending the clouds. A boom of pure white magic silenced the battlefield. The Silent One raised his hand and made a single gesture.
A hundred monsters burst without warning. No chant. No spell circle. Just will.
Leo gasped.
The Silent One looked at him. Their eyes met.
And Leo felt it.
The spark ignite.
His hands moved before he could think, symbols drawing in the air. Ancient magic—not just runes, but words with soul. He fired, slicing through creatures like paper—but he kept low. Hid it.
"Don't get caught. Don't get seen," Leo muttered, glancing nervously at the Council.
Vellum's breath was ragged, his arms burned with magic residue. Ari was bleeding from her forehead but still swinging her staff like a sword. The elders had thinned the swarm, but more monsters kept falling with the rain—like the heavens themselves were vomiting horror.
Leo clenched his fists. His vision blurred—too many. People were dying. The Guild was breaking.
"I have to do it," he muttered. "Even if they see…"
Ari turned to him, alarm in her voice. "Leo—what are you—?"
But it was too late.
His fingers moved like they remembered something older than him. Like someone else's hands had taken over.
He whispered a phrase in a language the world forgot. The air around him warped.
Ancient magic.
A glowing sigil formed beneath him—nothing like modern circles. This one pulsed with life, as if the ground was breathing with him. His body trembled with pressure—but he didn't stop.
He pointed a single finger toward the sky—
"Ṣeh'tu vahl ien!"
A burst of gold and black light shot upward, slicing through clouds and monsters alike. The shockwave sent Ari and Vellum staggering back.
Dozens of beasts in mid-air were vaporized instantly. The others howled and scattered.
But that wasn't the scary part.
Because across the battlefield…
The Silent One had turned.
The masked figure who hadn't flinched through the entire bloodbath… suddenly looked at Leo.
Through the storm, through the chaos, his glowing white eyes narrowed behind the veil.
One hand lifted slightly—his fingers curling into a silent spell.
Leo froze. He had never felt fear like this.
The Council. The one person he could not afford to let notice him.
The Silent One took a step forward. Then another.
Then—he vanished.
Not teleported—just blurred into motion, almost flying toward Leo.
"Leo, MOVE!" Vellum shouted.
But it wasn't Leo who moved.
It was Rayleigh.
Appearing from a nearby collapse zone, he wrapped his arm around Leo and snapped his fingers.
In a blink, they were gone.
Only smoke remained.
And in the center of the battlefield, as the blood rain thickened and Velyour's shadow loomed overhead,
The Silent One stood still, hand still raised mid-gesture…
Watching.
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