Chapter 106: When Life Awakens
The cavern trembled as the Forsaken of Life raised her hand.
The air shifted—the mana around them bending, reshaping, pulsing with an energy unlike anything Kael had ever felt before. It wasn't raw power.
It was creation itself.
The Xelthar forces at the entrance hesitated.
They had come expecting a battle.
But what they saw—what they felt—was beyond their understanding.
"You fools," one of the commanders hissed. "Do you even know what you've unleashed?"
Kael's sword flared with crimson sigils. He didn't need to hear any more.
"We'll figure it out later."
And then—
The battle began.
The Forsaken of Life Joins the Fight
The first Xelthar warrior lunged, a curved blade glowing with corrupted mana, swinging toward the Forsaken of Life's throat.
She didn't move.
She didn't need to.
The moment the sword entered her aura—it rusted away, crumbling into dust.
The warrior stumbled, eyes wide in horror.
Then, she finally moved.
One step forward—and vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around him like living chains.
He screamed as they pierced through his armor, draining him of mana, of energy—of life itself.
She tilted her head, watching. Studying.
And then, she released him.
The man fell, unconscious.
Not dead.
But emptied.
Vanguard vs. Xelthar
Kael didn't have time to watch.
He was already moving—his gravity sigils igniting as he launched forward, slicing through the first wave of enemies with precise, brutal efficiency.
Lucian was beside him, his draconic aura flaring, his golden blade tearing through enemy lines.
Mira fought like a storm, her sword a crimson blur as she struck down warriors twice her size.
Selene moved with surgical precision, every attack landing exactly where it needed to—an assassin in the battlefield of gods.
Evelyne crushed enemies with the sheer weight of her strikes, her Titan's Resilience making her an unbreakable force.
Darius rained lightning from above, his magic disrupting and paralyzing anyone who dared to get close.
Cassian danced through the chaos, his rapier finding weaknesses in every enemy's guard.
Rael was a ghost, striking from the shadows, leaving nothing but bodies in his wake.
Leonel stood behind them, eyes glowing with unearthly energy. Whatever had happened to him in this cavern—he was different now.
And at the center of it all—
The Forsaken of Life moved through the battlefield, her power reshaping the land itself.
Grass and flowers bloomed in her wake.
But those who stood against her?
They withered.
Xelthar's Commanders – A Desperate Realization
One of the Xelthar leaders, a woman clad in silver-and-red armor, gritted her teeth as she watched the battle turn against them.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," she hissed.
A second commander, an older man with a scarred face, stepped back in horror. "We… we can't stop this."
Their mission had been to contain the ruins, not fight a Forsaken.
And now—
Their forces were being torn apart.
"Retreat!" the older commander barked.
The Xelthar warriors hesitated.
But before they could act—
The cavern shifted.
A deep rumbling echoed through the ground.
The Forsaken of Life's silver eyes narrowed.
"...He wakes."
The Awakening of Death
The air grew cold.
Not just cold—lifeless.
The battlefield froze as a wave of pure, silent darkness pulsed from the depths of the cavern.
And then—a second voice whispered.
"…So I am needed once more."
A massive stone door at the back of the cavern, one that had been sealed for eons, began to crack open.
And beyond it—a shadow moved.
The Forsaken of Life did not smile.
She simply watched.
And whispered a single word.
"Brother."