The world below opened like a memory trapped in stone.
The ruin stretched out endlessly before them—a city, grander than anything Valerius had ever imagined, swallowed by time itself.
Towering buildings rose like mountains of forgotten splendour, their stonework flawless, untouched by the rot of centuries. Jagged spires pierced the golden artificial sky, their surfaces shimmering with embedded crystals. Vines draped from broken balconies and shattered windows, yet the elegance of the city remained—a tragic beauty preserved by death.
In the centre of it all stood a black statue, easily a hundred meters tall.
It depicted a man—no, an emperor.
His long hair cascaded down his shoulders like a waterfall of stone. A regal beard framed his strong jaw. Pointed ears marked his heritage, immortal and proud. Robed in intricately carved garments fit for a king, he rested both hands upon the hilt of a massive sword, the blade pointed downward into the earth beneath him.
Every detail was perfect—every crease of the robe, every strand of hair, every line of the solemn face carved with devotion.
The statue stood like a sentinel of a world forgotten.
And behind it loomed something even greater:
A fortress.
It dwarfed the statue.
Its walls stretched into the heavens, battered but unbroken. Towers leaned but did not fall. The gates hung open like the jaws of a dead god. The scars of war marred the stones—collapsed bridges, shattered towers—but still, the fortress endured.
All around the city, a glowing river circled like a living moat, its waters pulsing faintly with light.
Bridges spanned the river at intervals—long, ornate pathways lined with statues.
Each statue was different—some holding swords, others trumpets, some pounding on drums—a parade of warriors and musicians frozen in time, each frozen in a moment of passion or battle.
Floating above the landscape, massive metal plates hung in the air—larger than houses—slowly rotating as if caught in an invisible current. They reflected the golden light like silver moons.
It was a kingdom of echoes.
A civilization carved into the marrow of Yilheim—and abandoned to silence.
---
Dreados inhaled slowly.
"This place is magnificent," he said, voice filled with rare reverence.
The awe didn't last.
Whispers rippled through the masses.
Then shouts.
Then screams of greed.
"TREASURE!" someone bellowed, shoving through the crowd.
A man grinned savagely, drawing his weapon. "I'm set for life!"
"I might even find a Seed here!" another shouted, eyes gleaming.
An Aurellian woman tensed, her body crackling with contained magic.
"Fools," she hissed. "Not might. Definitely. And I'll be the first to find it."
She bolted, sprinting toward the ancient city.
A Dragoon beside her snarled, "Over my dead body!" and gave chase.
The dam broke.
All at once, the horde surged forward.
Thousands of Unbound and Raiders sprinted across the field—over the bridges, through the water, screaming like madmen. The air trembled with the roar of bodies moving all at once.
Above them, floating midair, Orian burst into laughter.
"Yes! YES!" he shouted, scrambling to ready his camera. He turned to Omar and yelled, "Omar! We're being left behind!"
Omar sighed, flicking his wrist. Floatation.
Orian, Omria, and Ola all surged forward through the air, trailing the chaos below.
---
Among the madness, Dreados's team moved with surgical precision.
Dreados and Omfry cut forward at impossible speeds, Jeriana and Beily close behind, Anuel blazing ahead with Ziraiah still cradled in her arms.
Valerius and Eryndor, slung under Beily's massive arms, could do nothing but endure the whiplash.
The siblings' vision blurred. They couldn't even make sense of the shapes flying past them—Unbound racing, shouting, laughing, killing. It was a madness they weren't built to withstand yet.
Everyone around them moved like ghosts—faster, deadlier.
Eryndor clenched his jaw behind his helmet.
So… this is the dominion into which providence has seen fit to cast us.
---
The first bridge came into sight.
Some Unbound sprinted across the glowing river without hesitation, laughing wildly.
Others—braver, or dumber—leapt across the water in single colossal bounds.
Some, desperate to be first, dived straight into the river to swim across.
That was their mistake.
The river pulsed.
The water exploded upward—
—and the beasts came.
Monstrous fishes the size of wagons burst from the riverbed, their jaws snapping shut on entire men. Bodies disappeared in sprays of crimson.
Screams tore through the air.
A giant, eel-like creature coiled from the water, lashing out with electrified tendrils. Three Raiders were pulled under in seconds.
Orian floated higher, adjusting his camera to capture the carnage.
"Best footage ever," he said, giddy.
Omria paled. "This is… This is insane."
Ola pointed frantically. "Look—look at the water!"
More creatures rose.
Serpents of light. Insects with razored wings. Beasts shaped from things that had never seen the surface.
The river had never been a barrier.
It was a trap.
---
Dreados's team moved flawlessly through the chaos.
They soared over the bridge, slicing apart anything that lunged too close.
Dreados barked, "Stay close!"
Omfry swatted away a flying serpent with a backhanded slap.
Beily stomped down, cracking the skull of a creature that dared leap onto the bridge, all while still carrying Valerius and Eryndor like baggage.
Anuel darted between lunging beasts, evading jaws and claws with inhuman grace, Ziraiah shielded tightly against her chest.
---
The race to the fortress had begun.
Blood stained the ground.
The air was filled with the howls of dying men and roaring beasts.
And amid it all, the first treasures—long hidden in the city's ruins—called to them all.
Orian threw his arms up in the air, grinning like a madman, the camera in his hand waving wildly.
"Now this is what I wanted! This is the scoop of a lifetime!" he shouted, laughter bursting from his chest.
He lifted the camera high, letting it capture the battlefield below—the chaos, the monsters, the river of blood and greed—and screamed into the golden-lit cavern:
"Constant Update will be famous!"
He spun around in midair and pointed at Omar, still holding the spell tether that kept them afloat.
"You do realize if you drop us, we're dead, right?!"
Omar gave him a deadpan stare. "Don't worry. I've got more than enough mana to keep you idiots alive."
Orian's grin widened. "That's more like it!"
He swung his arm forward dramatically, pointing toward the distant city gates.
"Onward, Omar! Let's record the battle of a lifetime!"
Omria rolled her eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn't fall out. She tapped her own camera, adjusting the focus. "Honestly. You act like a kid seeing fireworks for the first time."
Ola chuckled softly from beside them. "He's hopeless."
Down below, the bridges stretched for kilometers across the glowing river—thin, battered, and already overflowing with desperate Unbound and Raiders.
The air was a maelstrom of roars, screams, and the dull thud of bodies colliding.
---
Dreados's team surged forward with terrifying efficiency.
Dreados and Omfry ran at the head, their movements too fast for most eyes to follow. Beily followed a heartbeat behind, carrying Valerius and Eryndor like luggage. Anuel flashed across the bridge with Ziraiah hugged securely against her chest, her body weaving between danger like a wraith.
All around them, monstrous fishes leapt from the river, snapping their jaws at the bridge runners.
Each time a fish leaped high enough to threaten—
CRACK.
A backhand from Omfry sent one exploding into mist.
A clean sweep of Dreados's blade bisected another midair.
Valerius, barely able to keep his head steady, glanced upward—and gasped.
Above them, wolfmen were flying.
Several Lycans, bodies sleek and massive, bounded through the air like missiles—launching themselves from one bridge to another, covering hundreds of meters with each leap.
They landed with earth-shattering impacts—then leapt again, faster than the human eye could follow.
Omfry scowled. "Oh no, you don't—"
"Hold it!" Dreados barked. "Don't chase them, Omfry! They're strong. Stay together!"
Omfry growled under his breath but obeyed, his arms flexing with bottled violence.
Ahead, the bridge cracked and shook as waves of Unbound sprinted across. Some refused the bridge altogether—running across the surface of the river itself.
Raiders, and Unbound used raw speed to hammer across the water, their steps so rapid they barely touched the surface. Each footfall detonated a shockwave, creating temporary solid footing through sheer force.
Ziraiah watched them in awe, clutching Anuel's shoulder.
They can run on water?!
Their arms and legs moved so fast she couldn't even see them—only their torsos floated above the shining river like phantoms.
---
Above it all, Orian's voice broke through.
"Damn it! We're being left behind!"
He spun to Omar, shouting, "Hey, make us move faster! Put more power into it!"
Omar sighed heavily, veins twitching on his forehead. Without a word, he clenched his fist—and boom.
They exploded forward like a cannonball.
"AAAAAHHH!" Orian screamed as the wind battered his face, his mouth warping into a ridiculous shape.
"What the hell, man?! Give us a warning next time!!"
Omria laughed openly, her voice clear through the gust. "Come on, Orian! Stop grumbling! If you had even learned the basics of magic, you wouldn't need Omar babysitting you every five seconds!"
Ola chuckled softly. She reached over, murmuring a quick incantation—a shield of air formed around Orian, breaking the force of the wind.
"You can't even shield yourself from the breeze," Ola teased. "Where would you be without us?"
Orian adjusted his camera, grinning under the shield. "Well, it's a good thing I have you guys then."
---
Below, Dreados's team blazed onward.
The land grew closer—the far side of the river loomed ahead.
"We're approaching land!" Beily barked.
Valerius, jostled under Beily's arm, craned his head forward to see—and felt his stomach tighten.
Ahead, a line of Lycans had already reached the far shore, tearing forward toward the fortress ruins.
Omfry cursed. "Those damn Lycans are already ahead of us! What if they get the good stuff first? What are you gonna say, huh, Dreados?!"
Dreados only smiled, calm and cold.
"Their lives are forfeit. The rest is inevitable."
Omfry grinned wide, fangs flashing. "Now that's the Dreados I like to see!"
A monstrous fish burst from the river, jaws open to devour Omfry mid-run.
Omfry didn't even slow.
He twisted, leapt into the air—and kicked.
The impact detonated like a bomb.
The fish exploded into a mist of blood and scales, raining down over the bridge.
Valerius's eyes bulged behind his helmet.
What the hell?! he thought, heart hammering in awe. That fish just… exploded...
He stared at Omfry's back as the giant landed with effortless grace, racing onward.
And just for a second—just barely—Valerius saw it.
Nine faint, shimmering stars floated above Omfry's head, spinning in a slow halo of unseen power.
Nine stars.
Valerius swallowed hard.
What are these people...?
The race to the city had only just begun.
And the true carnage was waiting.
---
But the ruin had more secrets to reveal.
Deep below the glowing river, something stirred.
More than fish.
These were monsters—twisted evolutions of flesh and instinct. Fish-like creatures, but with thick, muscular limbs, their slick bodies dark as oil, their eyes glowing faintly under the surface.
They swam vertically through the depths, then—launched.
One by one, they burst from the water, landing beneath the bridges. Their claws latched onto the underside like ants on glass, suctioned feet and claws sticking effortlessly to the ancient stone.
Then they ran.
Not crawled—ran.
At blinding speed, they tore through the underside of the bridge like shadows, darting forward in silence.
When they reached the edge, they didn't leap.
They climbed over the top—dozens of them—and crouched, waiting at the end of the bridge like sentinels of slaughter.
Anuel saw them and grinned.
"Well," she said, cracking her neck, "looks like they want to welcome us."
Beily narrowed his eyes. "The girl…"
"Don't worry," Anuel said, already gone.
She blasted forward, darting past Omfry in a blue blur.
Without slowing, she reached Dreados, grabbed his sword from his side, and blurred past him.
Still carrying Ziraiah in her left arm, she raised Dreados's sword in her right—then slashed the air.
The force of the slash exploded forward, a diagonal wave of compressed energy that split the air and cleaved through the monsters waiting ahead.
Boom—boom—BOOM.
Their bodies were torn apart instantly, black blood splattering across the bridge.
The rest of Dreados's team caught up behind her as the pieces fell.
Dreados arched a brow. "Oh? I didn't know you'd mastered that."
Anuel twirled the sword once and tossed it back to him. "Impressed? That happened in Oustar."
Dreados caught the blade with a smirk. "Yes. I'm impressed."
---
Behind them, the real battle had begun.
Thousands upon thousands of Unbound flooded across the bridges and water—and the river answered in kind.
The monsters leapt in greater numbers now, clawing, biting, dragging entire men off bridges. Roars filled the air. Beams of magic cut across the surface. Explosions shook the water.
One massive, round-bellied Valphraxsis man soared above the chaos, arms raised.
"You damned fishes!" he bellowed. "There's only one place you belong—"
He curled his fist high above his head.
"IN MY BELLYYYYYY!!"
He slammed his fist into the river.
The water exploded.
A shockwave tore a crater fifty meters wide into the surface. Fishes were launched skyward like ragdolls, torn apart by the blast.
And yet… the water didn't fall back.
It hovered—twisting, suspended by unseen force.
Then it split into thousands of water arrows, each razor-sharp, each glowing with magical force.
From the far side of the battlefield, a Dragoon woman ran across the river's surface, arms outstretched—controlling them all.
The arrows danced at her fingertips.
Then she grinned.
And turned them—not toward the monsters—
But toward the other Unbound.
"What?!" someone shouted. "What is she doing?!"
The woman laughed. "Sorry, boys. The fewer of you there are… the more treasure for me."
And then the arrows flew.
Blinding speed. Surgical precision. Ruthless intent.
Dozens were struck in an instant. Raiders screamed, armor pierced, bodies thrown. Many fell into the river. A few exploded on impact.
Others, stronger, resisted—thick-skinned people whose bodies absorbed the strikes.
Still, the chaos was complete.
And the Dragoon woman didn't stop.
She charged forward, flying toward the bridge where Dreados's team stood.
Omfry looked back.
Dreados frowned. "No, Omfry."
Omfry groaned, itching to leap. "Why not?!"
"Let others bear that burden.," Dreados said, folding his arms.
Omfry glanced back again.
Just as the Dragoon woman reached the bridge—
A blur from the sky.
A Lycan.
He dropped from above, claws outstretched, and slammed into her side mid-flight. His strike ripped through 80% of her torso, slicing through armor, ribs, and spine.
Her intestines spilled out, her lungs collapsed. She gasped blood as the Lycan's claws dripped with her life.
He licked them—slowly.
"Delicious," he growled.
Then, he launched forward again, leaping so hard the air itself detonated behind him—a sonic boom bursting in his wake.
The Dragoon woman dropped into the river below.
Dreados nodded, satisfied. "Taken care of. As I said it would be."
---
Eryndor watched in silence, still tucked beneath Beily's arm, the world blurring around him.
His eyes trailed the bloodstained air, the shattered bodies, the monsters, the madness.
This world, he thought, shows no mercy to the weak.
It is carved by violence, tempered by chaos, and ruled by the swift.
And in its shadow… only those willing to kill will rise.
---
To be continued…