Parallel Memory

Chapter 662: The Last Stand

The battlefield had turned into a sea of shadows.

Everywhere Kaelion looked, black fire burned—devil mana feeding off the corpses of soldiers who had fought until their last breath. The air itself had become poison, thick with the residue of Aamon's awakening.

Kaelion's grip on his spear was tight enough to draw blood from his palm. He no longer knew how many enemies he'd killed. Ten? Fifty? A hundred? It didn't matter anymore. Each one he struck down was replaced by two more crawling out of the corrupted ground.

Seraphine's wings tore through the haze as she landed beside him, her armor cracked, her sword nearly dulled to the hilt. "We're losing the west flank!" she shouted. "The devils have breached the inner trench—Nock's barrier is holding, but barely!"

Kaelion's eyes flicked toward the rear lines. He could see the faint shimmer of holy light still struggling to contain the corruption. Nock Fletcher knelt at the center of the formation, veins glowing gold as he poured his soul into a last-ditch barrier. Around him, hundreds of priests stood trembling—many already on the brink of collapse.

And above them, the Saintess.

Her once radiant form now flickered like a dying candle. The golden halo that had surrounded her was fractured—each fragment floating apart as she forced her mana to keep the front from collapsing entirely.

Kaelion swore under his breath. "We can't hold this line much longer."

Seraphine glanced at him, her voice trembling slightly. "Then what do we do?"

He didn't answer immediately. His gaze turned upward, toward the looming palace.

Even from this distance, the black light bursting from its heart felt alive. It pulsed with Aamon's rhythm—an echo of despair that reached every corner of the battlefield.

And somewhere inside that storm, Mia and Hiro were still fighting.

Kaelion exhaled, his eyes hardening. "We buy them time."

Seraphine blinked. "What?"

"We buy them time," Kaelion repeated. "If that thing awakens fully and they fail inside, everything out here means nothing. But if they're still alive… then we hold."

Seraphine stared for a moment, then nodded slowly. Her exhaustion didn't fade—but something steadier replaced it. Resolve.

"Then let's make it count," she said.

Kaelion raised his spear high. Lightning rippled down the shaft, splitting the red sky for a moment. "All units, form into assault lines!" he roared, his voice amplified by mana. "We charge forward—NOW!"

There was no strategy left—only will.

Thousands of soldiers, priests, and mercenaries tightened their grips on whatever weapons remained and surged forward behind him.

The ground erupted as Kaelion leaped ahead of the charge, his body blazing with lightning. His spear cut through the darkness, each strike exploding into white fire. Devils screamed, their forms scattering into smoke only to be burned again by Seraphine's twin blades that followed right behind him.

"RAAAAHHHH!" Kaelion shouted as his spear impaled a hulking devil twice his size. He twisted it, sending a bolt of thunder through its skull. "You want a war? THEN FIGHT US!"

The Saintess lifted her head weakly at the sound of his voice.

Her golden eyes softened—he was still fighting. Still believing.

"Nock…" she whispered, barely audible over the roar. "Keep the formation stable. Feed them light."

Nock bit his lip hard, blood trickling down his chin as he forced more energy into the priests' channel. "Understood!"

A golden surge expanded across the battlefield, thin but steady—like sunlight breaking through a storm. The soldiers felt it immediately: the suffocating pressure of despair lightened, if only by a fraction.

"Move!" Kaelion shouted, pushing the front line forward. "Don't let them surround us!"

The devils roared in defiance. Their wings tore open the sky as several commanders descended—towering beasts clad in bone-like armor, their weapons dripping molten fire.

Seraphine met the first one midair. Her blade clashed against its massive axe, the impact sending shockwaves across the plains. "I've got this one!" she yelled, spinning midair as her flames wrapped around her body. "Keep going, Kaelion!"

Kaelion didn't argue. He charged straight through the remaining wall of devils, his movements now purely instinct—each motion fueled by battle lust and desperation. The lightning around him screamed in resonance with his mana core. His rank SS power burned like a beacon amidst the chaos.

And still, it wasn't enough.

Everywhere he looked, the devils were winning. Human soldiers fell one after another, the front line collapsing under sheer numbers. For every five they cut down, ten more emerged.

Kaelion stopped, panting. He glanced up at the crimson clouds swirling above—the heavens bleeding from Aamon's corruption. "Damn it… this isn't war anymore. It's survival."

"Kaelion!" Seraphine's voice cut through the noise. She was pinned midair, her blade locked against the devil commander's weapon. "They're closing in from the north! If we don't pull back—"

"I know!"

He drove his spear into the ground, sending a surge of lightning outward. The shockwave carved a circle around him, incinerating a dozen devils in an instant. Smoke and sparks filled the air.

Then, for just a second, silence.

Kaelion turned toward the Saintess—she was on her knees now, her barrier flickering faintly like embers. Nock had collapsed beside her, his staff cracked in half.

They were out of time.

Kaelion clenched his fist. "Everyone, fall back to the second trench! Hold position!"

But before the retreat could even begin, the ground shook. A deep, rumbling vibration tore through the earth—coming from beneath their feet.

Kaelion froze. "What now—"

The soil split apart. Black energy erupted from below, bursting into a storm of infernal fire. The soldiers screamed as the blast threw them off their feet. From the newly formed crater, another figure rose—taller, broader, its presence suffocating.

A devil general.

Another of Aamon's direct lieutenants.

Seraphine landed beside Kaelion, eyes wide. "He's sending another one?!"

Kaelion gritted his teeth, lightning dancing wildly across his body. "Then this is where we end it."

He looked back once—toward the palace still pulsing in the distance. Toward the faint hope that Mia, Hiro, and the others might still be fighting inside.

He whispered under his breath, too quietly for anyone else to hear, "You better make it count in there, Hiro… because we're running out of time out here."

Then he turned forward, lightning flooding his body once again.

"Seraphine—cover me."

"Got it."

They moved as one. Kaelion charged head-on toward the newly risen general, lightning burning through his veins, his spear whirling like a storm. Seraphine followed in a streak of flame, her twin blades igniting as she let out a cry that echoed across the battlefield.

Behind them, the remnants of their army rallied, their war cries trembling but unbroken. The Saintess lifted her head just enough to whisper a final prayer, her light flaring weakly around them.

The devils advanced, a tide of shadows ready to drown them.

Kaelion met it headfirst, lightning roaring across the battlefield like the last heartbeat of humanity itself.