The battlefield was collapsing.
Smoke, blood, and shattered earth filled the surroundings as the war against the beast horde reached its breaking point. The village behind them was already half destroyed, and what remained was barely holding on.
Aragorn was not standing anymore.
He was being carried.
General Rony was supporting him on one side, and Jessy was holding him on the other, both struggling to pull him back from the frontline.
"Move! We need to get him back!" Rony shouted, cutting down a nearby beast while still supporting Aragorn.
Jessy gritted her teeth, "He has no mana left… he's collapsing!"
Aragorn's breathing was unstable.
His vision blurred.
His body felt like it was breaking from inside.
But even then his eyes were still fixed forward.
"I… still need to fight…" he muttered weakly.
Jessy tightened her grip, "No, Not like this."
Rony nodded, "We've done enough, Retreat!"
A strange pressure filled Aragon's chest again.
A voice… distant… deep… almost divine.
"My Lord… I rise…"
Aragorn's eyes widened.
For a brief moment, the battlefield disappeared.
He saw something else.
A vast, dark throne.
And upon it sat a figure, Noir….
Calm….Smiling…..
As if everything was already decided.
"He has chosen… and now he is awake… coming to you," the voice echoed inside Aragorn's mind.
Then silence...
Aragorn suddenly gasped and snapped back to reality.
The battlefield returned violently.
Steel….Fire….Screams….
But retreat was not possible.
The Buffalo King's roar echoed across the battlefield.
And in response, five beasts moved.
Fast...
Deadly...
As if they had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Incoming!" a soldier shouted.
The five beasts split instantly.
One wolf type beast rushed toward Rony.
One wolf beast lunged toward Jessy.
And three buffalo beasts charged directly toward Aragorn's position.
Rony reacted instantly, pushing Jessy aside.
"Take Aragorn and move!"
Jessy tried to pull him back ,but ,
BOOM!
The first wolf beast collided with Rony, sending him crashing into debris.
"General!" soldiers shouted.
At the same time, Jessy was forced back by another wolf beast strike, losing balance and sliding across the ground.
"Jessy!" Aragorn tried to reach out but his body failed him. Now only Aragorn remained exposed.
The three buffalo beasts closed in.
One of them stepped ahead of the others.
A normal rank buffalo beast smaller than the king, but still massive and brutal.
It lowered its head. Its horn aimed directly at Aragorn's chest.
Aragorn looked at it slowly.
"…So this is it…"
He couldn't move…..
He couldn't even lift his sword….
The beast charged…..
Impact was seconds away.
Jessy screamed, "Aragorn!"
Rony tried to stand, "Damn it…. !"
But no one was close enough.
The buffalo beast was about to kill him.
And then...…..
A shadow passed across the battlefield.
A sudden, overwhelming pressure crushed the air itself.
A black horse landed on the battlefield ridge above the cliff.
Its hooves did not sound like normal impact. They sounded like a judgment.
On top of it stood a man....
Black armor…..
Dark flowing cape.....
Eyes glowing faint blue through the helmet slits....
Varon had arrived...!!
Behind him,
An army….Silent….Perfect formation….
Black armored soldiers carrying swords, spears, bows ,standing like a living wall of death. The battlefield froze.
Even the beasts stopped for a fraction of a second. The man looked down at Aragorn. His voice was calm,
"So… you are the successor my lord has chosen."
The Buffalo King hesitated for the first time. The horn aimed directly at Aragorn's chest was still mid air, but it never reached. The armored man raised his hand slightly.
Not violently…..
Not dramatically...
Just a simple gesture...
The world responded...
The charging Buffalo Beast that was about to strike Aragorn stopped mid air instantly.
And started to rise upwards towards the sky….It struggled…Roaring....
The Buffalo King, watching from afar, stopped roaring for the first time.
Something unfamiliar entered his instincts.
Fear.....
The armored commander slowly raised his hand.
Not toward the army...
Not toward the battlefield…..
Only toward the frozen buffalo beast…
A simple gesture…..
No words….
No magic circles….
Just will…..
CRACK….!!!
The buffalo beast's body broke apart in mid air.
Not cut...Not burned…..
Erased completely into fragments of dark energy and dust.
A silent annihilation....
The battlefield went dead quiet.
Jessy's eyes widened. Rony stopped breathing for a moment. Even the remaining beasts hesitated.
Aragorn, half conscious, whispered,
"…Who… is that…"
The armored man lowered his hand slowly.
And behind him, the black army remained still, waiting for command.
The balance of war had shifted completely.
The war had just changed direction.
And something far more dangerous than the Buffalo King had arrived...….