The corridor twisted like a serpent, its dark stone walls pulsating faintly as though alive. Tendrils of Void energy slithered along the floor and walls, making his lip curl in disgust.

  Leonard led the way, with Dyeus glowing brightly in his hand. The golden light warred with the darkness, driving it back for several paces but never truly dispelling it. His men followed close behind, scanning every shadow for the next trap. They were battle-hardened warriors, but the unnerving atmosphere left even the most stalwart among them uneasy.

  “Trust in the Light,” Leonard commanded. “Do not let the whispers take hold.”

  The soldiers murmured their assent, but their faces betrayed the strain. The walls seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting in a slow, sick rhythm. Faint whispers echoed around them, seductive and persistent.

  You can end this suffering. Let go. Take what is yours.

  Leonard’s jaw tightened as he again ignored the voices. They had grown more insistent, and he knew why. The Void’s presence was a threat but also an opportunity. He had ascended during his battle with the incarnation, so why shouldn’t he have his apotheosis when facing it again?

  “Sir,” one of the soldiers said nervously. “The walls are moving.”

  Leonard turned and, indeed, saw that the Void energy was pooling in certain areas, forming bulges in the walls that pulsed like infected wounds.

  “They are not really there,” Leonard said firmly. “If you falter, you’ll give the Void an opening.” Without an open Breach, it could only temporarily affect reality, and the only way it had through was to infiltrate living beings, consuming them in its unending hunger.

  Thanks to his buff, his soldiers were safeguarded against infection, but that was only as long as they kept it out.

  The woman nodded, gritting her teeth. Leonard noticed and allowed a small surge of Light from his aura to brush against her. The trembling ceased, and she inclined her head in thanks.

  As they rounded a corner, the first attack came.

  The Void assassins struck with incredible speed, emerging from the shadows like wraiths. Their weapons were jagged, dark blades that absorbed the light, leaving trails of darkness in their wake. Leonard reacted instantly, spinning with Dyeus in hand and unleashing a wave of holy power that illuminated the entire corridor. The attackers hissed, their forms briefly revealed as the light burned away their cloaks of shadow.

  “Defend the flanks!” Leonard barked. He couldn’t eliminate the assassins in one strike without carving a path of destruction through the city behind him, which meant he needed his men to step up.

  The soldiers closed ranks around him, shields locking together as the assassins darted among them, striking with unnatural agility. One dared to lunge at Leonard, its blade aimed at his throat, and he allowed it to reach him close despite being able to carve the man in two. The Void weapon disintegrated on contact, and Leonard’s follow-through decapitated the attacker, the pieces evaporating into ash before they could hit the ground.

  “These things don’t fight fair!” Gareth growled, impaling an assassin with his crackling spear before shoving another one back with a grunt of effort.

  “They’re not meant to,” Leonard replied coldly. He thrust his hand forward, unleashing a beam of light that pierced two more assassins and obliterated the chill they carried.

  The battle was brutal, but the soldiers held their ground. The assassins fought with ruthless ferocity that would have seen them to victory in any other case, but they were no match for the elite forces, empowered as they were by Leonard’s blessing. Soon, the corridor was silent once more.

  “Casualties?” Leonard asked.

  “None, sir,” Gareth said, though his tone was uneasy. “But we can’t guarantee that’ll be the case if there are many more of those. They don’t tire like humans.”

  “They never do,” Leonard said, his voice clipped. “The Void takes, corrupts, and reshapes. That is why we must stop this here. Pollus might believe he has control over the spread without a Breach, but that never lasts.”

  The soldiers murmured their agreement, yet Leonard could see the unease in their eyes. They had watched him dispatch the assassins with terrifying precision, his movements almost inhuman in their efficiency. The Light he wielded was no longer merely a tool—it had become a force that made him seem less like a man and more like a god.

  To some, that was a positive, but the more experienced men knew better than to believe their leader was infallible. Leonard found it somewhat worrying that Gareth seemed to belong to the first group. His old friend had become more erratic since returning from Volten. I can only hope it can wait until we are finished here.

  After ensuring the corridor was secure, Leonard ordered a brief pause. His soldiers took the opportunity to catch their breath, though the oppressive atmosphere made rest fleeting.

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  Elder Wei approached him, tapping her staff softly against the ground. The orc shaman cut a striking figure, with her tall stature and tribal clothing. She stopped a few feet from Leonard, narrowing her eyes as she studied him.

  “You’re scaring them, you know,” she grinned nastily, showing off yellowed teeth.

  Leonard turned to her, unamused. “Fear is a natural reaction to the unknown.”

  “It’s more than that,” Wei snickered. “They don’t see you as a man anymore. They see you as something beyond them. Some people can’t wait to find someone to put their trust in, but others are just as easily scared off.”

  Leonard didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he looked back at his soldiers, who were tending to minor injuries and preparing to move again. He could see it in their eyes—the reverence, the awe, and the faint fear. It wasn’t new, but it had grown stronger with every battle.

  “They’re alive because of that same power,” Leonard said finally.

  Wei stepped closer. “You’re walking a dangerous path, Leonard Weiss. You’re not a god, no matter how much power you wield. If you let them forget that, you’ll lose them. And you’ll lose yourself.”

  Leonard met her gaze, his expression unreadable. For a moment, the whispers grew louder, promising him freedom from the burden of mortality. He clenched his jaw and pushed them away.

  “I know what I am,” he said quietly. “And I know what I’m not.”

  Wei’s expression lost its nastiness. “Good. Keep it that way. They need a leader, not a god. Those aren’t around anymore for a reason.”

  Leonard nodded, though he filed her words away for a later moment. He turned back to his soldiers, raising his voice to address them. “Rest time is over.”

  The Void's corruption became more pronounced as the group pressed deeper into the citadel. The miasma pulsed faster, and the air felt heavier with every step.

  Just one step, Hero. One step, and you can end this.

  Leonard’s jaw tightened. His power was immense, but the limitations of the mortal world still bound it. If he embraced the Light fully, if he took that final step into divinity, he could erase the Void in an instant. He could free Hassel of its taint in one fell swoop.

  But at what cost?

  He shook his head, focusing on the path ahead. The whispers receded, though he knew they would return.

  “We’re close,” Leonard said once he’d gotten himself under control.

  Indeed, soon after, sunlight filtered through the distance, and after another minute of marching, they emerged from the depths that Pollus’ traps had cast them in.

  "Prepare to rejoin the fight. I can still sense the taint, which means the inner citadel hasn’t been breached yet," he ordered, and he was proven right as a dreadful sight unveiled before them.

  The Loyalists, entrenched within the inner defenses, fought with a ferocious tenacity that bordered on madness. They unleashed Void-enhanced artillery with devastating results, ripping through the Revolutionaries’ ranks with unholy force. Traps were triggered in rapid succession—spikes burst from the ground, enchanted nets fell from above, and walls of fire roared to life, cutting off retreat.

  A deafening explosion tore through the air as a Void-forged cannonball struck the Revolutionaries’ front line. The blast hurled men and women like ragdolls, leaving a charred crater behind. The screams of the wounded mixed with the shouts of officers struggling to maintain order.

  “Hold the line!” A captain bellowed, hurling a firebolt at an enemy emplacement. The spell struck true, obliterating the cannon with a burst of flames. “Regroup! We need to push forward!”

  Despite his rallying cries, the tide seemed to shift against them. The Void-tainted artillery was unrelenting, and for every trap they dismantled, two more seemed to spring up. Morale wavered as soldiers hesitated, their gazes darting to Leonard for guidance.

  “Leonard!” Gareth called urgently as he sidestepped a falling boulder. “We need to intervene!”

  His troops were faltering, their once-impeccable formations unraveling under the relentless assault. Fear flickered in their eyes as doubt began to take hold. That had more to do with the Void’s side effects than out of genuine despair, but the result was the same nonetheless. They risked losing their bridgehead in the citadel at this rate.

  Dyeus pulsed in his hand, growing brighter as if sensing his resolve. Leonard raised the blade high, allowing its glow to cut through the smoke and darkness. He stepped onto a shattered section of the wall, and raised his voice so that it could carry over the cacophony.

  “Soldiers of the Revolution!” he roared. “Look around you! Look at what they had to resort to face us. They cling to the Void because they know we fight for something far greater than they could ever comprehend!”

  The soldiers stilled, their attention snapping to him as his words reverberated through the battlefield. Even the Loyalists paused, their artillery briefly falling silent as they listened despite themselves.

  “They fight for chains!” Leonard continued, blazing with inner light. “They fight for greed, for power, for a world where the many suffer so the few may feast. But we—” He pointed Dyeus toward the citadel, its light flaring like a second sun. “—we are freedom! We are justice! And we fight for the countless souls who will never know our names but will live free because of what we do here today!”

  A wave of energy surged through the Revolutionaries, their hesitation dissolving as their leader’s words reignited their resolve. Leonard’s aura broadened, and the warmth of the Light caressed each soldier like a gentle hand, steadying them.

  “We have come too far, bled too much, to falter now!” Leonard’s voice dropped, yet it still resonated with everyone. “Will you allow their lies, their cowardice, their cruelty to be the end of your story? Or will you rise and claim the future that belongs to all of us?”

  A deafening roar erupted from the troops, ripping through the unnatural fear that had caught them. Soldiers slammed their weapons against their shields, the sound echoing like thunder. The Light around Leonard brightened, suffusing the army with renewed strength.

  The Revolutionaries surged forward with a ferocity that surprised the Loyalists. The traps and Void artillery that had once seemed insurmountable were faced without fear. Soldiers worked in tandem, launching themselves at the enemy’s strongholds, safe in the knowledge that their Marshal was with them.

  “Push through!” Gareth shouted, slicing through a barricade and jumping into a cluster of enemies. “No mercy for the Void!”

  The Loyalists fought back with desperation, aware that their advantage was fading. A group of Void-corrupted knights charged from a side passage, their blackened armor shimmering with unnatural energy. Leonard confronted them head-on, barreling through their ranks with devastating effects.

  Each swing of his holy blade left trails of Light that burned away the corruption, cleansing the air around him. One of the knights lunged at him, aiming at his heart. Leonard caught the blade with his gauntleted hand, crushing it effortlessly before driving Dyeus through the knight’s chest. The corruption evaporated with a shriek, leaving behind only a pile of ash.

  “Grand Marshal!” one of his officers called, pointing to a series of reinforced gates ahead. “They’re falling back to the inner keep!”

  Leonard nodded, his expression grim. “Good. Let them concentrate their forces. It will make them easier to break.”

  As they approached the gates, another barrage of Void artillery rained down upon them. Leonard raised his free hand, a golden barrier snapping into place just in time to intercept the attack. The ground shook with the impact, but the Light held firm.

  “They’re throwing everything they have left at us,” Gareth muttered, his gaze fixed on the gates. “They’re scared.”

  “They should be,” Leonard replied, his tone cold. “They chose this path, and now they’ll face its consequences.”

  The Revolutionaries pressed forward, their momentum unstoppable. As they reached the gates, Leonard stepped to the forefront. He raised Dyeus, the blade humming with power as he gathered his strength.

  “Be cleansed,” he murmured in prayer.