The Dark Mist advanced slowly across the valley.
There was no urgency in its movement. No hunger-driven frenzy. No violent charge. It simply approached with dreadful silence, as though distance itself yielded before its presence. Entire mountain ranges vanished inside the black fog surrounding it, swallowed without resistance or sound. What became of those mountains afterward, none of them knew.
Hurricane and August let out sharp cries before taking flight, their wings beating violently against the dead winds of the valley as they ascended to observe the approaching anomaly from a safer distance.
Below, the group stood frozen.
Artoria was the first to break the silence.
"If we are not meant to anger it," she said carefully, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade, "and if it naturally avoids this dragon named Ember… then why is it approaching us at all?"
Her golden eyes narrowed.
"What reason could it possibly have to come here?"
Atherius sighed deeply before answering.
"Well, for starters," he said, "you used Harmonic Atum inside a realm where its existence should be impossible unless one possesses divine authority."
His gaze slowly shifted toward Callum.
"However," he continued, "I believe your companion here is the true reason."
Callum frowned.
"Me?"
Atherius nodded slowly.
"I do not fully understand how," he admitted, "but breaking a space-time prison through sheer physical force alone… without powers… should have been impossible. A feat like that would attract attention."
He paused briefly.
"Especially its attention."
Callum's eyes flickered as he turned toward the approaching Mist.
"So what?" he muttered. "It wants to see me?"
For several moments Atherius did not answer.
The silence stretched.
Then Ember rose.
The gigantic wyvern slowly lifted himself behind the group, his colossal body towering over the valley like a mountain given life. Ivory scales gleamed beneath the dead light while his enormous draconic eyes narrowed upon the approaching Goliath.
Only then did Atherius finally respond.
"…It seems so."
Ember stared at the Dark Mist in absolute silence.
Then the wyvern roared.
The sound detonated across the Undying Valley like divine judgment itself.
Ivory flames erupted inside his maw before bursting outward in a catastrophic torrent. The inferno swept across half the valley in an instant, reducing stone, cliffs, and ancient remains into glowing ash before vanishing directly into the Dark Mist.
The valley trembled.
Ember's eyes narrowed further as the Mist abruptly stopped moving.
For a moment,
everything became still.
The White Demon and the Dark Mist stared at one another across the dead landscape in utter silence, like two primordial beings acknowledging each other's existence.
Then Ember growled.
And exploded forward.
The ground shattered beneath the sheer force of his movement. Mountains cracked apart as the gigantic wyvern launched himself through the valley with terrifying speed, his claws tearing through stone as he propelled himself directly into the Dark Mist.
"EMBER!"
Callum shouted instinctively before lunging forward after him.
But Atherius stopped him.
A single arm blocked his path.
Callum turned, fury visible in his expression.
"Move."
Atherius merely stared back at him.
"Do not interfere."
His voice remained calm.
"You are far weaker than the White Demon. It chose to protect you. Respect that choice."
Callum's jaw tightened.
"Don't give me that crap," he snapped. "I'm not leaving him alone."
He turned back just in time to watch Ember disappear completely into the black abyss.
The Dark Mist swallowed the wyvern whole.
Then,
light erupted within the darkness.
A gigantic silhouette became visible through the fog, illuminated by blazing ivory fire. Ember unleashed torrent after torrent of divine flame into the Mist, each blast violent enough to erase entire mountain ranges from existence.
And yet,
the Mist remained.
Then Ember suddenly stopped.
Silence returned once more.
A barren wind scraped across the stone.
Everyone waited.
Then came the roar.
The sound exploded through the valley with such force that most of the group were physically hurled backward. The shockwave alone cracked the landscape apart beneath their feet.
Chrome's systems activated.
His metallic eyes narrowed.
"Sir Caesar," he said rapidly, "please deploy Hachi immediately. I may have a method of driving it away."
Caesar turned toward him uncertainly.
"I don't know, Chrome. Maybe we should wait until Em-"
At that exact moment Ember's body was launched from within the Mist.
The gigantic wyvern spun violently through the air like a discarded corpse, his immense shadow eclipsing the entire group before he crashed into the mountains behind them.
The impact shook the valley.
Stone exploded upward in massive waves.
"…Right," Caesar muttered nervously. "Never mind."
The Dark Mist began advancing again.
Faster now.
Much faster.
Caesar immediately retrieved a metallic capsule from within his cybernetic frame before throwing it toward the ground.
A colossal machine erupted upward from the capsule in seconds, towering one hundred and thirty meters tall. Its frame was sleek yet massively armored, black metal layered over agile mechanical structures designed for overwhelming warfare.
Hachi had arrived.
Caesar activated the machine's primary systems through the device attached to his wrist while Atherius and the other sages stared upward in visible disbelief.
Atherius sighed.
"That machine will not stop the Mist, young man."
Caesar grinned slightly.
"That's not the plan."
Chrome was already moving.
His metallic body surged upward across Hachi's frame before forcing itself directly into the cockpit. The hatch sealed shut behind him while the machine's systems roared to life.
But Chrome ignored all of it.
His body dissolved into countless wires.
The machine absorbed him completely.
Chrome merged with Hachi.
The cores embedded deep within his systems suddenly ignited one after another. Strange voices echoed faintly through the machine's interior, the souls sealed within those cores synchronizing with the mecha itself.
For one fleeting moment,
Harmonic Atum emerged.
That single instant was enough.
Chrome focused.
Six gigantic plates detached themselves from Hachi's back before floating outward into formation around the mech. Black-and-white energy gathered between them, the same catastrophic force Chrome had once used to annihilate the Pendragon Dynasty centuries ago.
The machine roared.
Then fired.
A singular beam of impossible scale erupted across the valley, swallowing mountains whole as it tore directly into the Dark Mist. Entire landscapes turned obsidian-black beneath the attack's heat and pressure.
Then silence followed.
Smoke poured from Hachi's ruined frame.
The mech slowly collapsed onto one knee.
Atherius lowered his gaze with quiet disappointment.
"It is useless," he said softly. "The Mist nullifies all power that enters it. There is nothing you can do."
The Dark Mist accelerated.
Closer.
Then it reached them.
The black fog swallowed the group entirely.
Callum narrowed his eyes as the thick darkness consumed his vision. He turned toward where everyone had been standing moments earlier,
but no one remained.
His breathing quickened.
"Guys?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
Then,
a voice.
Not human.
Not truly.
Something pretending to be human.
Something that failed miserably at sounding alive.
"You need not concern yourself with them…"
The voice distorted strangely with every syllable.
"…Child of Pendragon."
Callum spun.
His hand dropped onto his sword.
And his eyes widened.
Standing before him was a figure resembling an angel carved from ivory light. Its body appeared almost human, dressed in flowing white garments that moved unnaturally within the fog.
But its face,
its face was entirely hidden behind dense black mist.
The creature stared directly at him.
Then slowly,
it smiled.