The fire came without warning.
One second, it was blood.
The next, the sky cracked open—literally cracked—and molten fissures spiraled across the clouds like lightning made of lava.
Then, fire rained.
Not sparks. Not embers. Columns of fire, bursting down in spirals and tornadoes, swallowing buildings and trees whole.
Screams.
Panic.
Magic barriers trying—and failing—to hold back the wrath of the sky.
And from that fiery downpour came the next wave.
Not beasts.
Titans.
Monsters taller than towers, with molten cores glowing from beneath obsidian armor. Some crawled on all fours, crushing everything. Others floated—yes, floated—like burning statues, their eyes glowing with symbols.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" a guild captain screamed before vanishing under one's step.
Elders and high mages leapt into action. This wasn't a battle—it was a war between worlds.
Ari, panting, cast shield after shield. Vellum summoned two glowing swords, slashing and burning through waves with a dancer's grace.
But Leo…
Leo stepped forward.
The heat curled around him—but didn't touch him.
Something in him woke up.
He whispered—not a chant, not a spell.
Just a name.
And suddenly, his body moved.
He dodged a flaming claw like he knew it was coming. Slid under a titan's swing, flipping into the air. No spell circle. No visible enchantment. Just raw, ancient motion—a martial dance lost to time.
He slammed his palm onto a beast's core—it exploded from the inside.
Ari froze mid-spell. "What was that?"
"I… I don't know," Leo replied, eyes glowing faintly. "But it feels like I've done it before…"
Then—the sky cracked again.
But this time, it wasn't raining.
It was Velyour.
Descending like a god fallen from grace, his arms spread wide, shadows trailing from his fingertips. His cloak billowed with the storm. The fire bent away from him.
Across the battlefield, the Council appeared.
No teleportation—just reality folding open for them to step through.
Then—everything erupted.
Velyour's scream pierced the air, and with it, he hurled a spear of raw chaos toward them. A council mage blocked it—barely. The explosion created a crater the size of a stadium.
They clashed mid-air. One council member summoned a crystalline dragon; Velyour shattered it with his hand.
Another rained light beams from above. Velyour redirected them—into the mountains.
The entire country could probably hear the battle.
And below them, chaos still roared.
Leo, panting, looked up.
The war had begun.
And this time, there was no place left to run.