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Chapter 1: Operation to Retake Paxluma

  Drifter’s gaze swept over the se. The Evocaier Order stood in formation, a sea of resolute faces.

  The sky swirled with dark, stormy clouds, crag with lightning and strange energy. Below, the ruined city of Paxluma y in decay—dead pnts, stagnant water, and crumbling structures.

  “It’s been a long time...” he murmured.

  His eyes fixed on the gaping Abyssal Brea the sky—a void resembling a bck hole against the darkened heavens,

  The st Abyssal Breach... finally. Dad, Mom, Ein... everyone... soon, you all rest in peace, he thought.

  His mind drifted back—to a time when golden cities gleamed under a warm sun, when ughter and familiar voices filled the streets. Life had been simple, peaceful. He couldn’t even materialize his sword back then. Until they came.

  A loud voice broke his thoughts.

  "Stand firm. The light within us will prevail, even against this darkness," Shining Virtue anded.

  At the forefront of the formation, Shining Virtue, the First Grandmaster, stood. Her golden hair gleamed against the storm’s oppressive backdrop, and her pointed ears twitched. Her golden eyes, filled with unshakable resolve.

  "As usual, let’s finish this," came a calm voiearby.

  Drifter go his left—Jaden, a man with medium violet hair. On his right, Vina stood, clutg her staff, her long violet hair flowily in the breeze.

  As he looked at them, Drifter gave a faint smile and hose siblings had been with him since his time with the Evocaier Order. How many years had passed?

  Time had passed, but it felt like more than a decade—perhaps even longer. He could no longer keep track; the years had blurred together.

  Day after day, they had traveled across Vesteria, sealing Abyssal Breaches again and again—a relentless cycle of darkness and sorrow. Death had been his stant panion.

  But today, maybe, that long and painful journey was nearing its end. Maybe their world could finally be restored.

  The sound of creaking made him go the side. Vina reached into her pad drew out a glowing, oval-shaped blue crystal.

  "Let’s hope this works," she whispered.

  One by one, Vina pced the the crystal stones into their hands.

  "What about you?" Drifter asked, His gaze softened, lingering on Vina with a flicker of unease.

  "I’ve got mine. We all have to make it through this, okay?" she said, Her voice quivered, then firmed, steady and resolute.

  In the distance, Shining Virtue’s voice rang out again, sharp and resolute.

  "Today, we take the fight to them. Today, we do not retreat!"

  "For Vesteria!" she cried, thrusting her spear of light, Radiantel Sorion forward.

  Drifter watched as, one by ohe members of the Order activated their gleaming armor, light refleg in brilliant fshes across the group. The sound of their footsteps thundered in the air, and loud battle cries echoed from all around them.

  Drifter took a deep breath as a familiar surge of blue energy coursed through his body. His bck armor materialized around him, and a flowing bck cloak appeared, billowing in the wind. In his right hand, Exaltare maed—a dark gray sword with vine-like curves, a cwed tip, and glowing runes pulsing with blue energy.

  His heart pounded, blood r in his ears. Heat surged in his chest, his grip tightening on the hilt. Every muscle coiled, screaming that failure was not an option. It was all or nothing.

  Beside him, Jaden materialized his azure armor and bck greatsword, Nacht Zweihander, its edges wreathed in blue fmes.

  "Let’s go," he muttered.

  Vina raised her glowing hands, her white staff ed with a radiant quartz.

  "Stay safe," she urged calmly.

  As Drifter advanced, he watched The Order move as oheir synized footsteps echoed through the ruined city, the sound amplifying the rising tension in the air. His muscles tensed, a sense of forebodiling over him.

  Then, he heard it—the sound of the world crag, as if the sky itself was shattering. Instinctively, he looked up.

  Monstrous floating fortresses drifted above, their amoeboid shapes casting dark shadows. Cloaked in obsidian armor, they pulsed with chaotiergy, crimson and violet tendrils slithering through the air.

  The sky split open wider, sending shards of light and shadow casg like shattered gss. From the dimensional rift emerged a never-ending swarm of small, bck creatures—some round, others oval—adorned with writhing tendrils, scattered red orbs, and fluid, shifting armor.

  As the Order and the creatures closed in, the csh became iable. Otherworldly tendrils shed out with the speed and ferocity of lightning—some warriors fell instantly, their bodies torn apart. The Order’s response was swift aating. Those who wielded longbows loosed energy arrows that streaked through the air in brilliant arcs, eae finding its mark with deadly accuracy. Sorcerers, sigils in hand, summoned elemental forces, juring walls of fme, ice shards, and arcs of lightning. Each explosion lit the field in violent bursts, casting shadows that danced with the fury of battle.

  Vina directed the white-robed sigil bearers through the turmoil, guiding them to cast protective barriers and healing energies that sustaihe wounded.

  Jaden, alongside the greatsword and spear wielders, cut a bloody path through the enemy ranks. Their greatswords bzed as they cleaved through foes with relentless force. The Holy Knights formed an unbreakable wall at the vanguard, their sacred shields abs the enemy’s unyielding assault.

  Among those who wielded sword and magic, Drifter moved with fluid grace. His bde danced in sync with bursts of focused energy from his left hand, each strike aimed at the creatures vital points.

  "Bde Swarm," Drifter's voice low and resolute.

  Azure sigils formed, materializing dozens of spectral swords. They streaked through space like falling stars, pierg the bck creatures’ cores and redug them to nothing

  "Damn, as sharp as ever," Jaden called out, his grin visible even as he carved fiery destru through another wave of enemies.

  From above, a swarm of floating amoeboid vessels desded, their monstrous fradually blotting out the sky. A cold shiver ran down Drifter's spine as he watched them draw closer.

  Then, in an instant, the swarm unleashed their massive crimson and violet tendrils, shing out and tearing through the battlefield.

  While Drifter, Vina, and Jaden mao evade the onsught, one by one, members of the Order fell. Their natural barriers shattered uhe assault, their bodies withering and aging rapidly until they crumbled to dust.

  They struck back with relentless force—Drifter materialized sigils, unleashing volleys of sapphire energy bsts and spectral swords, while Jaden’s greatsword carved bzing azure arcs through the air. Vina cast radiant sigils, releasing a swarm of glowing, firefly-like projectiles, eae erupting in a brilliant explosion.

  The Holy Knights stood resolute, unleashing their massive crystalline dome barriers to repel the onsught. Meanwhile, the Sorcerers finally unleashed their deadliest spells, painting the sky with destru—torrents of meteoric fme and tless beams of ice that shattered their targets into glittering shards. Amidst the chaos, those who wielded longbows released massive energy projectiles, each shot cutting through the turmoil with unerring precision, dissolving floating monstrous fortresses into nothingness.

  Yet for each that fell, two more emerged from the void. Exhaustion began to cim the warriors as their magied, leaving them vulnerable to the merciless terattacks.

  The darkness shattered as thousands of golden arrows bzed across the heavens, falling like a rain of stars. The First Grandmaster appeared at the battlefield’s edge, her legions of warriors formed from pure light, their bodies gleaming with divine radiance. She raised her hand, and radiant sigils spun to life, unleashing searing beams of trated light that turhe floating fortresses and bck creatures to ash.

  “Do not give up... victory is within rasp!” Her voice rang out, infusing rerength into the battered forces.

  The battle shifted as fresh wave of swarms of small bck monsters surged forward, their tendrils writhing, red lowing fiercely within their bodies.

  Drifter wove through them, striking with lethal precision. Each blow shattered a core, sending waves of darkness and crimson light bleeding across the battlefield.

  His breath caught as he looked skyward once more. A new horror emerged—ay that defied physics. Its translut armor bent light, limbs moved unnaturally, and where a face should be, only a swirling void pulsed with malevolent energy. Its obsidian surface rippled, making Drifter’s skin crawl.

  “Ining!... Wait... I’ve never seen that type of Cataclysmaris before,” Vina shouted.

  Suddenly, the translut creature materialized behind Jaden, cleaving with dark elemental cws and thrusting transparent bck tentacles from its back. Jaden dodged the cws, cutting through some tentacles with his greatsword, but he was struck by others. His natural barrier flickered red, holding firm—but the creature was gone.

  What the... ?!” Jaden shouted.

  “It’s shifting dimensions... Stay sharp,” Drifter said coldly.

  In a fsh, the creature lunged with dark cws aimed at Drifter, but he raised his left hand, and a blue barrier fred to life, abs the impact. He tered, his dark gray sword cutting a blue streak through the air, spectral swords following—but the creature vanished instantly.

  "Damn it... too fast," Drifter growled.

  "Wait, I’ll take it!" Jaden called, pnting his greatsword and brag himself.

  "Be careful, Jaden. Don’t overdo it," Drifter warned.

  "Focus ohers—I’ll draw its attention!" Jaden shouted.

  Vina began her t, closing her eyes. Drifter moved closer to her, his focus shifting to the small bck creatures nearby. He sliced through their tendrils reag for him, and when their cores were exposed as their armor shifted, he struck with his spectral swords. The creatures shattered instantly.

  As she finished, a radiant golden barrier enveloped Jaden, shimmering like molteal, alive uhe oppressive sky.

  Jaden gave her a firm nod, taking a defeah his greatsword, his blue fme mixing with the radiant barrier.

  "e on, then!" Jaden roared.

  The creature appeared before him, a flurry of cws aacles crashing into the radiant barrier and his greatsword, sending waves of golden light. The shield trembled but held firm. Jadeh gritted, stood his ground.

  "Hold it there, big brother! I’m log it down!" Vina called out.

  Golden sigils spun to life in the air, f a plex ttice of radiant light. The energy web grew faster, brighter, as streams of blue and gold energy pihe creature, halting its dimensional shifts and trapping it in pce.

  "Now," Drifter anded, his voice sharp.

  His body dissolved into sapphire particles, reappearing instantly behind the ensnared creature.

  "Azure Tempest!"

  In a fsh, Drifter’s afterimages, streaked with blue light, engulfed the unknowure. Its form shattered, severed limbs crashing to the ground. Jaden's bzing greatsword followed, desding in a fiery arc. Vina, staff raised, unleashed a radiant nce. As they struck, the creature disied, leaving only small, crimson-tinged remains.

  Drifter observed, curiosity tugging at him. He stepped forward, brushing aside the scorched dust to reveal a cold Bck Cube. Its faint pulse matched by red engravings that throbbed like a heartbeat.

  The moment his fiouched it, a jolt of ice shot through him, his heart faltering for an instant. His eyes widened, and his mouth parted slightly.

  A low voice echoed through the suddenly heavy air. Blue lightning crackled across the battlefield, casting horrifying, dang shadows. The ground trembled beh Drifter’s feet, carrying an uhreat.

  "Drifter! Look out!" Jaden’s shout.

  The sky split. Blue light burst outward as a t figure emerged—a storm inate. Prismatic armlowed with sigils. Static rippled across its helmet, revealing a face of endless stars and cold blue eyes. A cloak of energy swirled around it, shiftiween clouds and mist, lightning crag at its edges.

  As the nearby swarm of small bck creatures shed out with their tendrils to the unknown lightniy, a dozen spinning hexagonal shields materialized in the air, intercepting the barrage. The lightning creature retaliated, its semi-transparent bde crag with unstable energy. With a single, devastating ssh, blue lightnied, obliteratiire swarms of creatures in an instant.

  But the lightning also turoward Drifter, who stood motionless.

  Gritting his teeth, Jaden charged toward him, positioning himself to shield him from the ining attack. His greatsword met the surging blue lightning with a csh, the two forces colliding in a brilliant explosion.

  The deafening shockwave tore through the battlefield, and Jaden was hurled backward, skidding across the scorched ground before ing to a stop.

  Meanwhile, Drifter staggered, his bance faltering as his head throbbed, his stomach ed, and his vision blurred. It felt as if his senses were being torn apart piece by piece. The Bck Cube in his hand burned hotter, nearly unbearable, but he g to it with grim determination. Sinister whispers invaded his mind, their venomous tones strig his thoughts like a coiling serpent.

  "Help... us..."

  Pain exploded in Drifter’s chest, sharp aless, like ieedles pierg his body. He swayed on his feet as the world spun violently around him.

  "Get out... Leave...!"

  The scream was raw, desperate, and unyielding, eg through his mind. The voice stricted around him like a crushing vice, his breath stolen by its crushing grip. His vision darkened further, a numbing cold spreading through his veins like creeping poison. His arms grew lifeless as the Cube’s pulsating energy dug deeper into his soul.

  "Drifter?" Vina’s voice rang out, ced with urgency as she rushed to his side. She shook him gently but desperately, her wide, anxious eyes fixed on his pale face.

  Drifter opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He was drowning in the whispers, choking on their relentless weight as they robbed him of air and reason.

  Then, his gaze locked onto the Lightniy. Its cold, glowing blue eyes fixed on him with deadly i. Without hesitation, it darted forward, its speed a streak of light, mere moments from reag him. It ignored both Vina and Jaden, as if they were no more than distras.

  Jaden rose, transf into a torrent of blue fmes. In an instant, he positioned himself betweeity and Drifter. His greatswnited in furious blue fire as he cshed against the creature’s bde, sparks flying from the violent impact.

  "Drifter! Just drop it!" Jaden shouted, his voice strained but anding.

  Vina positioned herself protectively in front of Drifter, her staff glowing with radiant energy. She fired a bolt of light, striking the Lightniy from a distao support Jaden.

  Move... damn it... move, Drifter thought, his mind screaming for a.

  He anded his body to respond, but it refused to obey. Darkness, rising like a dome from the ground, slowly began to envelop him. His heartbeat quied with each passing moment.

  In the final moments of his awareness, he saw the Lightniy frozen, uain. Jaden stood just meters away, his brown eyes wide with horror. Vina held her hands aloft in a futile gesture, her radiant magiow dim and powerless.

  A chill, unlike anything he had ever known, crept up his spihe cold tightened around his chest until it felt as though his heart had stopped.

  Then, a total void engulfed him, pulling him into an endless abyss of nothingness.

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