Chapter 438:War.

Chapter 438: 438:War.

On the Demonic Continent, Seragus stopped pretending to be merely a king. The first swing of his weapon destroyed an entire corrupted formation and the second split the ground.

Demonic soldiers stared in shock.

Lucifer laughed.

"Now I know where I get it."

"Fight."

"I am fighting."

Lucifer launched himself forward.

His axe ignited and dark flames covered the blade. A corrupted giant raised both arms but Lucifer didn’t slow, his axe struck and the creature’s upper body disappeared.

Lucifer landed.

Three more surrounded him.

He grinned.

"Finally."

Dark fire exploded.

Seragus glanced toward his son.

For the first time, he didn’t order him back.

Lucifer noticed. His grin faded slightly, then he tightened his grip on his axe.

"Father."

"What?"

"I’ve got the left."

Seragus looked at the army of thousands approaching.

He smiled.

"I’ll take the right."

They charged together.

In the Dark Elven Kingdom, the councillors who had spent years arguing across polished tables found themselves standing on the palace walls with weapons in their hands.

The noble elder looked toward the horizon. Corrupted creatures covered it.

Zelpher stood beside him.

"Do you know when His Majesty is returning?"

"No."

"Wonderful."

The Head Councillor looked toward him.

"You sound remarkably calm."

"I’ve served the Queen for years." Zelpher drew his weapon. "My standards for catastrophe have changed."

The first creatures reached the mountain walls. Dark Elven archers fired, the sky becoming black with arrows.

The Head Councillor raised his hand.

"Hold the formation!"

A messenger arrived behind them.

"My lord!"

"What?"

"It’s Councillor Renault’s son."

The Head Councillor turned.

"Cassian?"

"We finally found his location."

Zelpher’s expression changed.

"Where is he?"

"We don’t know, we only got a tip from one of our spies. His last known destination was an abandoned settlement after receiving a private message."

"From whom?"

The messenger hesitated.

"Klaith."

Everything stopped for half a second. Zelpher looked toward the noble elder.

Both understood.

"Send someone."

"We can’t spare..."

"Send someone." The noble elder voice became hard. "If Klaith contacted that boy, we find out why."

Another explosion struck the wall.

The noble elder turned back toward the battlefield. There would be time to mourn later... if they survived.

At the fairy sanctuary, Atheline landed beside Lyria.

"How long can you hold it?"

Lyria looked toward the cracking roots.

"Hours."

Atheline’s face changed.

"Only hours?"

"Maybe less."

Lilith appeared beside them, blood running from one arm.

Atheline immediately looked at it. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

"I’m fine."

"That’s blood."

"I know what blood is."

"Just checking."

Lilith ignored him and looked at Lyria.

"What happens if this section falls?"

Lyria pointed upward.

The sanctuary’s illusion vanished completely. For the first time, they saw where the roots went.

Across space, not physically, spiritually, an ancient connections stretchinh outward toward the Elven Continent, the Human Continent, beastmen, demonic lands, dragonic Island and the Blood Ocean. They were everywhere.

Lyria whispered.

"The remaining sections will carry more pressure."

Atheline understood.

The seal wasn’t one wall, it was a network. Every surviving piece supported the others.

Lose one and he others weakened, to make it worse lose enough... Fire returned.

Atheline tightened his grip on his bow.

"Then none fall."

Lyria looked at him.

"You cannot defend every anchor."

"No." Atheline turned toward Lilith. "But we don’t have to."

He activated the communication crystal. Draco appeared first, then Seragus, then the High Elven King and others followed.

Atheline looked at them.

"Change of plan."

Draco froze something offscreen before responding.

"We’ve had the first plan for less than an hour."

"It was a bad plan."

"You made it."

"I’ve improved."

Seragus laughed.

Atheline ignored him.

"The seal has multiple anchors." He showed them what Lyria had revealed. "Every major outbreak is probably happening around one."

The High Elven King immediately understood.

"The World Tree."

"One anchor."

Draco looked toward the frozen ocean beneath him.

"The Blood Ocean," he said.

"Probably another."

Seragus’s expression changed.

"The old ruins beneath my continent," he added.

"Find them." Atheline looked toward every ruler. "Stop thinking about defending kingdoms."

Silence.

"Defend the seal."

That changed the war. Armies moved again according to ancient roots. Dragons abandoned meaningless stretches of ocean and concentrated around seal points.

Dwarves redirected underground forces. Beastkin left several settlements after evacuating them and moved toward ancient Aether intersections.

Humans combined armies.

Dark Elves opened teleportation routes to former enemies. Demons crossed borders without invading.

High Elves allowed foreign soldiers into sacred territory around the World Tree.

For perhaps the first time since the Cataclysm separated them, the races of the world fought as though they belonged to one world rather than different continents.

It still wasn’t enough.

Because beneath the earth, Klaith’s mistake had done more than crack the seal. The Death Core reached Fire.

Thousands of years of accumulated Death Aether entered the incomplete god.

And Fire remembered what he’d failed to finish. The Divine Authorities he’d collected during the Sovereign War stirred.

The red wound across the sky widened.

Atheline stopped fighting and looked upward, everyone did.

Across every continent, the sky split and an enormous hand emerged, not fully, only fingers... made from flame and something darker.

The moment they crossed into the mortal world, mountains shook, oceans rose and millions of ordinary people collapsed from the pressure.

Draco looked upward, the Dragon King’s expression showed fear.

Seragus stopped smiling and lucifer’s axe lowered.

Lilith moved beside Atheline and her hand found his.

"That’s only his hand?"

Atheline swallowed.

"Apparently."

"Wonderful."

The fingers gripped the edge of the fracture and the world groaned.

Fire pulled but the seal resisted. Ancient roots ignited beneath every continent. Fairies screamed as formations exploded.

The World Tree bent and the Blood Ocean rose. One of the chains became visible across the sky, then snapped, the sound crossing the entire world.

Atheline’s fragment reacted and six Laws exploded from him.

Lyria stared up.

Lilith tightened her grip on his hand. Atheline looked at the thing forcing itself into their world.

He wasn’t ready.

He hadn’t discovered the truth connecting his Laws. He wasn’t a Sovereign, he certainly wasn’t a god.

The Supreme Sovereign had left him a possibility,nothing more.

And Fire wasn’t going to politely wait for him to understand it.

Atheline drew an arrow.

Wind wrapped around it, then Water, ice, fire, earth and lightning. Six contradictory Laws struggled against one another. His core screamed while blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

Lilith looked at him.

"Don’t."

"I have to test something."

"You always say that immediately before doing something stupid."

"Then I’ve developed consistency."

"Atheline."

He looked at her and the humor disappeared.

"If I wait until I’m ready, there won’t be a world left to be ready for."

Lilith stared at him.

Then darkness wrapped around the arrow.

Atheline blinked and turned to glance at her.

Lilith looked toward the enormous hand in the sky.

"You don’t get to do the stupid thing alone."

Atheline smiled.

Seven powers gathered around one arrow although they were not harmonious they still stayed together.

Atheline raised his bow.

Across the world, Sovereigns, kings, queens, princes, soldiers, councillors, fairies and ordinary people stood before enemies none of them could defeat alone.

Draco raised his hand. Eliana spread her wings. Seragus lifted his weapon. Lucifer’s dark flames returned. The High Elven King stood before the World Tree. Beastkin roared. Dwarven weapons thundered beneath the earth. Human formations advanced.

Dark Elven archers filled the walls. Fairies poured their lives into ancient formations their ancestors had maintained for thousands of years. Lilith’s darkness spread beside Atheline.

And for the first time since the ancient world shattered, every surviving race fought the same war.

Atheline pulled the bowstring to his cheek as the Fire Sovereign’s fingers tightened around reality.

The sky broke wider.

Atheline released.

The final war had begun.