Morning never truly arrived in Novaris anymore.
The storm clouds above the city had become so permanent over the years that sunrise existed only as faint gray light bleeding weakly through endless rain and smoke. Military sirens echoed constantly somewhere in the distance while transport aircraft crossed the skies above the capital without pause.
War had consumed normal life completely.
Yet this morning felt different somehow.
Heavier.
Like the world itself sensed something approaching.
Kaien stood silently near the observation deck attached to the military guest quarters while staring across the sprawling city beneath him. The rain slid slowly down the reinforced glass surrounding the balcony while distant anti-air batteries rotated across the skyline beyond.
Behind him, Nyra and Lyss quietly watched him in silence.
Neither of them slept properly after the conversation last night.
Because the fear in Kaien's eyes disturbed them more than anything else so far.
Not the reincarnation story.
Not Vijaya.
Not even the sunlight phenomenon.
Fear.
A person only feared something stronger than themselves.
And if Kaien truly possessed powers capable of destroying battlefields…
Then what exactly terrified him?
Nyra eventually broke the silence afterward while leaning against the doorway.
"You really think something's coming."
Not a question.
A realization.
Kaien remained quiet briefly afterward before answering softly.
"I know it is."
The certainty in his voice made the atmosphere colder immediately.
Lyss slowly stepped beside him afterward while looking toward the distant city too.
"Then tell us everything."
Kaien's expression shifted slightly.
"I already told you most of what I can."
"No," Nyra interrupted immediately.
"You told the council enough to avoid suspicion."
Her golden eyes narrowed slightly afterward.
"But not the whole truth."
Kaien fell silent again.
Because she was right.
He still hid too much.
Not because he wanted to lie—
because some truths sounded too impossible even now.
Then suddenly—
WARNING
INCOMING TRANSMISSION
HIGH PRIORITY MILITARY ALERT
The automated voice echoed through the quarters instantly afterward.
Kaien immediately turned toward the wall displays activating across the room.
A holographic projection of Dominion High Command appeared moments later showing emergency tactical reports flooding across multiple battlefronts simultaneously.
Something happened.
Fast.
Nyra frowned immediately afterward.
"That doesn't look normal."
It wasn't.
Officers rushed through the command feeds frantically while casualty reports updated faster than systems could process. Entire northern sectors were flashing red across the tactical map now.
Then Orion Vale himself appeared on the central transmission.
His expression alone immediately confirmed the situation was bad.
"All high-ranking personnel report to emergency command assembly immediately."
The transmission ended instantly afterward.
Kaien's chest tightened.
Too sudden.
Too fast.
The darkness moved already.
The central war chamber looked worse than yesterday somehow.
Not because of arguments this time.
Panic.
Military strategists filled the massive command center while holographic battlefield projections flickered nonstop across the room. Entire sectors near Vesper territory had gone dark completely while emergency communications flooded Dominion systems endlessly.
Kaien entered alongside Nyra and Lyss afterward while dozens of officers immediately turned toward them.
No one questioned the twins' presence anymore.
After yesterday—
everyone unconsciously treated them as connected now.
Orion stood at the center platform beside Lucien and Elias while discussing something urgently with senior commanders.
The moment Kaien approached—
Orion immediately looked toward him.
And Kaien already knew.
"It started."
The room fell quieter immediately afterward.
Orion slowly nodded.
"Three hours ago…"
The holographic battlefield shifted instantly afterward displaying ruined frontier sectors burning beneath dark storms.
"…Vesper forces launched simultaneous assaults across eight northern regions."
Nyra frowned sharply.
"That's impossible."
Even Kaien narrowed his eyes slightly.
The scale made no sense.
No military could organize a coordinated offensive that quickly overnight.
Unless—
the darkness already integrated itself into their forces.
Lucien continued afterward grimly.
"It gets worse."
The battlefield holograms zoomed further inward afterward.
And everyone inside the room froze.
Because the soldiers shown across the footage—
weren't entirely human anymore.
Black crystalline growths covered parts of their bodies while distorted dark energy surrounded entire battalions moving through ruined cities. Some soldiers continued fighting despite fatal injuries while others moved unnaturally fast through Dominion defensive lines.
And among them—
monstrous creatures marched alongside Vesper troops openly.
Not Hollows.
Something worse.
Kaien immediately recognized the corruption.
The darkness.
Nyra stared at the projections in disbelief afterward.
"…what the hell are those things?"
No one answered immediately.
Because nobody truly knew.
One Dominion commander finally spoke afterward.
"Our frontline divisions are collapsing."
Another added grimly,
"Conventional weapons barely slow them down."
"They ignore pain completely."
"They keep moving after sustaining fatal injuries."
Kaien quietly clenched one fist afterward.
Exactly what he feared.
The Entity wasn't simply helping Vesper.
It was transforming them.
Then another projection activated afterward showing combat footage from Sector Twelve.
A Dominion mechanized battalion firing relentlessly toward advancing Vesper forces. Explosions consumed entire streets while laser artillery devastated enemy formations repeatedly.
And yet—
the corrupted soldiers kept advancing through the destruction anyway.
Then suddenly the footage glitched violently.
Darkness spread across the screen unnaturally before massive distorted figures emerged behind the Vesper forces.
Towering creatures formed from black crystalline flesh and shadow.
The exact same beings Kael Draven witnessed earlier.
The command room went silent.
Even veteran officers looked visibly shaken now.
One strategist whispered quietly afterward,
"…those aren't biological lifeforms."
Kaien finally spoke.
"They're manifestations."
Every eye turned toward him instantly.
Kaien stared toward the projections afterward while memories surfaced again.
"These things don't fully belong in our reality."
The room became colder somehow hearing that explanation.
Nyra immediately looked toward him afterward.
"You've seen them before."
Kaien nodded slowly.
"…between lives."
That sentence disturbed the room even more.
Then suddenly—
another transmission interrupted the chamber.
Emergency audio from the northern battlefield.
Static filled the speakers violently at first before terrified voices finally emerged through the distortion.
"THEY KEEP COMING—"
"WE CAN'T STOP THEM—"
"SOMETHING IS CONTROLLING THE DEAD—"
Gunfire echoed loudly.
Screaming followed.
Then the transmission abruptly cut out.
Silence swallowed the command chamber afterward.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Realization finally settled across everyone now.
This was no longer merely war between nations.
Something else had entered the battlefield completely.
Then Orion slowly looked toward Kaien afterward.
"…you knew this would happen."
Kaien remained quiet briefly before answering.
"I knew it was possible."
Lucien folded his arms sharply afterward.
"And now?"
Kaien slowly looked toward the battlefield projections showing collapsing sectors one after another.
Then quietly—
"Now the world starts changing."
Nyra's gaze hardened immediately afterward.
"What do we do?"
The question lingered heavily across the room.
Because despite all their military power—
Dominion had no answer for supernatural warfare.
No preparation.
No understanding.
Only Kaien did.
And everyone inside the chamber realized it simultaneously.
The reincarnated warrior carrying an ancient divine weapon—
was now humanity's only person with experience against what was coming.
Orion finally spoke afterward.
"Then tell us how to stop them."
Kaien slowly closed his eyes briefly.
Fragments surfaced again.
Ancient astras.
Battlefields consumed by impossible powers.
The endless cycle.
Then his eyes opened once more afterward.
Cold determination replaced uncertainty now.
"We don't stop this with ordinary warfare anymore."
Vijaya lightly pulsed beside him.
Golden light flickered faintly through the darkened war chamber afterward while distant thunder echoed outside Novaris once more.
Then Kaien spoke the words that changed everything.
"If they've truly brought the supernatural into this war…"
His gaze sharpened toward the battlefield.
"…then I'll answer with the power they fear most."