Chapter 100: The Fall Into Darkness
The Xelthar Fortress loomed, its darkened spires piercing the night sky.
The Vanguard had split into four teams, each executing a mission that would shape the war.
But none of them knew—
That Xelthar had set the trap long before they arrived.
And now?
The game was about to change.
The battle inside the fortress was brutal.
Kael and Lucian stood in the commander's war room, surrounded by bodies of fallen Xelthar officers.
Blood stained the floor.
The room was silent.
Kael exhaled, wiping a cut from his cheek. "That's the last one."
Lucian flicked blood from his sword. "They fought harder than expected."
The Xelthar commanders weren't just tacticians.
They were warriors.
Each one had been personally trained in mana combat—faster, stronger, and deadlier than the average soldier.
And even together, Kael and Lucian had struggled.
Kael rolled his shoulders. "We should regroup."
Lucian nodded. "Agreed. Let's—"
Then—
A faint hum vibrated beneath their feet.
Lucian's golden eyes narrowed. "Kael—"
The floor collapsed.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Kael barely had time to react before they were free-falling into the abyss.
He activated Gravity Sigil mid-air, trying to slow their descent—
But the mana-infused walls disrupted his spell.
Lucian twisted mid-fall, his body glowing with golden draconic fire, trying to stabilize himself.
It didn't work.
They crashed hard.
Kael hit cold stone, rolling as dust and debris filled the air.
Lucian groaned, pushing himself up. "That was annoying."
Kael coughed, standing. His crimson eyes flickered in the dim light. "Where the hell are we?"
Lucian scanned the chamber.
It was massive—not a simple dungeon, but something far older.
Carved into the walls?
Ancient Xelthar runes.
Lucian's grip on his sword tightened. "This isn't just a fortress. This is a ruin."
Kael exhaled.
They had stumbled into something Xelthar wanted hidden.
Then—
Something stirred in the darkness.
A pair of golden eyes blinked open.
A low, guttural growl echoed through the ruins.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
Whatever was down here—
Had just woken up.
Cassian twirled his rapier, the razor-sharp edge gleaming in the dim torchlight.
Mira moved beside him, her blade held low, eyes sharp.
They had entered a hidden passage, descending into a series of narrow underground tunnels.
The deeper they went—the colder it became.
Mira frowned. "This doesn't feel right."
Cassian smirked. "What gave it away? The ominous darkness or the complete and total lack of people?"
Mira sighed. "You joke too much."
"It's called stress management."
Then—
The walls shifted.
Cassian stopped. "Oh. That's not normal."
Mira inhaled sharply. "We're not alone."
A whispering sound slithered through the tunnel.
Then—they saw it.
Dozens of humanoid figures—hunched, twisted by mana corruption—stood in the distance, their blackened eyes locked onto them.
Cassian exhaled. "Yeah. I hate this place."
Then the creatures charged.
And the fight began.
On the fortress's eastern front, Darius and Evelyne moved as one.
The sky above them crackled with mana-disrupting energy—an enchantment meant to suppress teleportation.
Darius rolled his shoulders. "Guess we're not calling for backup."
Evelyne scoffed. "Good. That means more for us."
Before them, a platoon of Xelthar soldiers stood waiting.
Their leader, a high-ranking General, smirked. "Eldoria sends children?"
Darius smirked back. "Xelthar sends corpses?"
The General's expression darkened. "Kill them."
The battle erupted.
Evelyne smashed through the first wave, her Titan's Resilience making her a walking force of destruction.
Darius moved like a storm, his lightning dancing through the battlefield, frying multiple enemies at once.
But then—
The General moved.
Faster than either of them expected.
And when his sword clashed against Evelyne's greatsword, she felt the impact in her bones.
Darius narrowed his eyes. "This one's different."
Evelyne spat blood and grinned. "Good."
The real fight was just beginning.
Rael and Selene were never supposed to fall.
Their mission was simple—locate Xelthar's barrier energy sources and sabotage them.
But as they moved through the corridors—they tripped something.
A hidden rune beneath their feet flared—
And the world exploded.
Rael barely had time to react before a shockwave sent them flying.
Selene tried to stabilize her mana, but the barrier around them collapsed, sucking them into the darkness below.
By the time they landed, the air was thick with a presence neither of them could understand.
Rael groaned, pushing himself up. "Okay. Ow."
Selene adjusted her gloves, eyes scanning the chamber. "This isn't the fortress anymore."
No.
This was something much older.
The walls pulsed like veins.
The air hummed with a presence neither of them could explain.
And then—
A whisper.
Selene stiffened. "Did you hear that?"
Rael frowned. "Yeah. And I don't like it."
Then—
The whisper turned into a voice.
"Eldoria's children… you should not have come."
The shadows shifted.
And something ancientstirred beneath their feet.
Leonel Faelwyn stood on the outskirts of the battlefield.
Watching.
Waiting.
He had been given a secret mission—one not even the Vanguard knew.
His fingers traced the edge of an ancient tome, his eyes flickering with mana as he deciphered the texts of a long-forgotten prophecy.
Then—he felt it.
The shift in the air.
The Vanguard had walked into the past.
And now?
Something from history was watching them.
Leonel exhaled. "So it begins."
He turned, disappearing into the shadows.
He had work to do.