The aerial approach was Cassandra's specialty.
She created platforms of solid ice suspended on thermal currents—invisible from below, strong enough to carry twelve people. They rose three hundred feet, circling north of the ritual site under cover of pre-dawn darkness.
"Two minutes to drop zone," Cassandra announced. "Prepare for rapid descent."
Below, they could see the ritual site—ancient stone structures surrounded by defensive positions, torches creating pools of light in the darkness. And in the center, visible even from this height, was Marcus. His shadow magic was already manifesting, dark energy spiraling upward like an inverted tornado.
"He's well into the ritual," Lia observed, her detection runes glowing. "Maybe twenty percent complete. We've got less time than we thought."
"Then we move faster," Valdris said. "Everyone remember the plan. Garrett breaches, Chen siblings clear, rest of us push through. No hesitation, no stopping until we reach Marcus. Clear?"
"Clear," they chorused.
"Drop in ten seconds," Cassandra warned.
Kaelen felt his stomach tighten. This was it. No more preparation, no more practice. Real combat against overwhelming odds with the world's fate hanging in the balance.
"Five seconds."
Elena's hands glowed with protective magic. Brother Matthias began a prayer that manifested as golden light around the team.
"Three. Two. One. Drop."
The ice platforms vanished.
They fell.
Three hundred feet in five seconds, terminal velocity, the ground rushing up impossibly fast. Kaelen's training took over—body relaxed, trusting the landing cushion, don't tense up.
Elena and Brother Matthias's combined magic activated ten feet from impact, creating a cushioning field that absorbed most of the kinetic energy.
They landed hard but survivable, immediately rolling into combat positions.
Alarms blared. Cultists shouted warnings.
"Breach, now!" Valdris commanded.
Garrett didn't hesitate. He charged the nearest stone wall with runic tattoos glowing bright. His fist connected with ancient masonry, and the wall exploded inward, creating an eight-foot gap.
Corrupted creatures poured through almost immediately—twisted things that had once been human, now just mindless violence.
The Chen siblings moved like lightning. Viktor's blade found throats while Sarah's dual weapons opened arteries. Five creatures down in three seconds.
"Push!" Valdris ordered.
They charged through the breach into the outer ring defenses.
This was where the plan met reality's violence.
Cultists were everywhere—more than intelligence had suggested, better organized than expected. They'd clearly prepared for exactly this kind of insertion.
"Left flank!" Ronan shouted.
Cassandra's ice magic exploded across the indicated direction, flash-freezing twenty cultists mid-charge. They didn't die—just became trapped statues, temporarily neutralized.
Drake threw fireballs indiscriminately, creating chaos and distraction. Buildings caught fire. Defensive positions collapsed.
Through the carnage, Kaelen and Lia moved with the team, Soulrender cutting through anyone who got too close. His shadow corruption was spiking from the combat stress—three new Scars in the first minute—but he couldn't afford to care.
"Barrier!" Lia shouted.
Her rune wall appeared just in time to block a concentrated spell attack from cultist mages. The barrier held for maybe two seconds, then shattered.
Good enough. Brother Matthias had already deployed his holy magic, creating a counter-field that disrupted shadow spells.
They pushed deeper.
"Mid-ring defenses ahead!" Viktor called. "Expect elite resistance!"
He wasn't wrong.
The mid-ring defenders were Marcus's veteran cultists—trained shadow mages, disciplined fighters, coordinated tactics. They hit the assault team with a prepared spell barrage that nearly broke their formation.
"Scatter and reform!" Valdris commanded, her tactical mind adapting instantly.
The team split into three groups—four people each, moving through different approach vectors, forcing defenders to divide their attention.
Kaelen's group—him, Lia, Yuki, and Thomas—took the left approach.
"I can't do this!" Thomas gasped, panic evident. "There's too many!"
"You can and you will!" Yuki's voice was cold steel. "Fight or die. Choose fast."
Thomas chose to fight, his inexperienced magic lashing out desperately. It wasn't elegant, but it killed a cultist trying to flank them.
"Good," Yuki said. "Again."
They fought through, every step paid for in blood and magic. Kaelen's Scar count climbed to sixty. Lia's echo-scars darkened ominously. Thomas took a hit that probably cracked ribs. Yuki moved so fast she seemed to teleport, her blade finding vital points with mechanical precision.
They reached the mid-ring breach point where Garrett's group had smashed through the defensive wall.
"Regroup!" Valdris ordered.
Nine people staggered together. Only nine.
"Where's—" Kaelen started.
"Drake took a spell through the chest," Garrett reported grimly. "Dead before Elena could reach him. Chen siblings stayed behind to hold a position so we could push through. They're not coming back."
Three casualties in five minutes. One dead for certain, two probably.
"We continue," Valdris said, her voice allowing no argument. "Their sacrifice means nothing if we stop here."
They continued.
The inner ring was worse.
Marcus's elite guard waited here—shadow mages who could match Soulrender's power, corrupted creatures that required multiple hits to kill, defensive formations that couldn't be bypassed.
"We need the resonance armor," Lia said. "There's no other way through."
"It'll drain you completely," Kaelen protested.
"I know. Do it anyway."
They activated the technique—shadow and purification spiraling together, hybrid energy exploding outward. The resonance armor snapped into place around both of them.
They became unstoppable.
Kaelen charged through elite defenses like they were paper. Soulrender, amplified by the resonance field, cut through magical shields and physical barriers indiscriminately. Lia's runes appeared instantly, without the normal casting delay, creating paths through impossible defensive positions.
They carved a route to the inner sanctum, the rest of the team following in their wake.
"We're through!" Valdris shouted.
But the resonance armor was already failing. Ninety seconds of sustained use had drained both Kaelen and Lia completely. The hybrid energy flickered and died.
They stumbled, barely staying upright. Lia's echo-scars had spread to cover her face, dark lines like cracks in porcelain. Kaelen's Shadow Scar count had spiked to seventy-five.
"I can't activate it again," Lia gasped. "One more use will kill me."
"Then we don't use it again," Kaelen said. "We're through. That's what matters."
They stood at the entrance to the inner sanctum—a cathedral-like structure where shadow energy visibly swirled, where reality seemed thinner, where Marcus Blackwood conducted his ritual.
"Final push," Valdris said. The tactical coordinator had taken multiple injuries during the assault, blood running down her armor. "We're down to nine. Expected worse. Let's finish this."
They entered the sanctum.
Marcus stood at the center of a massive runic circle, both Forbidden Blades drawn, shadow energy flowing through him into the circle. Around him, his four inner circle lieutenants maintained the ritual's structure.
The Shadow Lord's presence was palpable—not fully manifested, but close. Maybe forty percent complete.
Marcus looked up as they entered.
"Right on schedule," he said calmly. "I accelerated the timeline specifically to exhaust you during the insertion. Forced you to use the resonance armor early, drain your best weapon before the real fight. Strategy, not luck."
"It's still nine against five," Valdris pointed out. "You're outnumbered."
"Am I?" Marcus smiled.
The walls of the sanctum opened. More cultists poured in—dozens of them, fresh and ready.
"You're outnumbered," Marcus corrected. "But I appreciate the attempt. Truly. You've grown significantly, Kaelen. Under other circumstances, I'd be proud."
"Under these circumstances, I'm going to stop you," Kaelen said, raising Soulrender despite his exhaustion.
"You're welcome to try," Marcus replied. "But the convergence is already past the point of no return. Even if you kill me, the Shadow Lord manifests within the hour. You've lost. You just don't realize it yet."
"Then we've got an hour to prove you wrong," Ronan said.
The final battle began.