A sharp voice cut through the clamor of battle.

  "Lady Rena!" A cleric rushed toward her, robes billowing as they clutched a glowing communicator in trembling hands. "A message from the capital!”

  Rena, deep in concentration, barely registered the call at first. Her hands were still raised, reinforcing the powerful barrier that shielded the stronghold from the relentless onslaught of titans. It flickered for a moment, golden light wavering against the force of the enemy’s attacks, before stabilizing once more.

  The cleric’s urgency, however, forced her attention away. With a slow inhale, she lowered her hands and turned, taking the communicator with an air of silent dread.

  Her sharp violet eyes scanned the message, her breath hitching. Then, her face turned pale. “Mother Gaea…” she whispered, a tremor in her voice.

  The words on the screen sent a chill down her spine. The capital is under attack.

  She tightened her grip on the communicator, her heart pounding. The grand city of Aurelia—her home, the heart of the Order—was in danger.

  Rena turned sharply, walking with measured urgency toward the edge of the fortress wall. From her vantage point, she looked down at the battlefield. The divine barrier she had cast earlier pulsed with ethereal light, shielding the keep from external threats. But she could feel it weakening, straining under the relentless assaults. It held, but for how much longer?

  Above her, twelve celestial figures—her angels—moved with divine precision, intercepting every titan’s strike before they could reach the walls. Blades of light clashed against monstrous claws. Wings of radiance sliced through the sky, weaving between the chaos like celestial sentinels. They fought with a will of their own, each embodying a fragment of Golden Nirvana's divine power.

  Her gaze drifted higher still—to the massive chains that had held for centuries, stretching beyond the heavens. The sacred bindings forged by the gods themselves.

  She swallowed hard.

  “Heavenly Father Uranus,” she murmured, placing a hand over her heart. “Please protect these chains…”

  A gust of wind lifted the ends of her robes as she turned her gaze back to the battlefield. The flames of war raged, the screams of men and titans alike echoing in the distance. But her thoughts were elsewhere—back in the capital, where another battle had begun.

  With one last glance toward the heavens, she whispered a final prayer. “Please… protect my comrades.”

  ——

  The battlefield was a sea of destruction—ashen clouds suffocating the sky, flames devouring the ruined landscape, and the air thick with the stench of blood and steel. The Titan Slayers clashed against the monstrous horde defending the last prison where the primordial titans were sealed.

  Then—a streak of shadow.

  Lorenzo Mazco charged forward alone, cutting through waves of monstrous creatures like a man possessed. His twin blades—Obsidian Fang and Dusk Reaver—sang with every strike, leaving trails of darkness in their wake. He wasn’t here for them. His crimson eyes burned with a singular focus. Find the leader. End this madness.

  And then, he saw her.

  Amidst the carnage, standing atop a crumbling monument, Rem shone like a fallen star. Her ombre hair shimmered with cosmic energy, hues of lavender to violet . The vast, chaotic forces of the battlefield seemed to bend around her as if she were the eye of a storm.

  Lorenzo’s heart pounded. The Traitor.

  He tightened his grip on his blades, his voice cutting through the cacophony of war. “REM!” She turned at the sound of her name, a slow, deliberate motion. And then—she smiled. That same smile, the one that once carried warmth, now laced with something far more sinister. He hated it.

  With a roar, Lorenzo lunged, his blades flashing like twin fangs in the storm.

  CLANG!

  Rem intercepted him with a single dagger, the force of their clash sending a violent shockwave through the air. Sparks rained down as their weapons ground against each other, neither giving an inch. Then, as if in silent agreement, they leapt. They soared into the sky, steel ringing as they clashed midair, their battle eclipsing the war below.

  ——

  Lorenzo twisted midair, shadows rippling from his body. With a sharp movement, he cast his own darkness outward, tendrils of pure void snaking toward Rem, attempting to bind her in place.

  But she was already moving. A pulse of cosmic energy erupted from her, obliterating the incoming shadows in an instant. The sheer force of it sent Lorenzo spiraling backward, but he caught himself, flipping midair and landing on a shattered pillar.

  Rem hovered just above him, her form glowing with raw, celestial power. Her eyes—once filled with light—were now abyssal, reflecting an endless void. Her voice was like silk laced with venom. “You can’t stop me, Lorenzo. The chains will break, and the Primordials will rise once more.”

  Lorenzo's breath was ragged, fury igniting in his veins. “I won’t let you breach the wall. I won’t let you destroy the chains. And I won’t let you take any more lives.”

  Rem chuckled, shaking her head. “You still believe you can change fate? The Order is crumbling, the capital is under siege as we speak. The era of the Primordials is already upon us.”

  Lorenzo's grip on his blades tightened. “I swore to protect Elysion. I will stop you.” Rem's smirk widened. “Stop me?” She raised her dagger and licked the blade, her eyes locked onto his. “You couldn’t even stop me from killing Neil.”

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  Lorenzo froze. A wave of ice crawled up his spine.

  Rem took a slow step forward, dragging her dagger lazily against her palm, leaving a thin trail of cosmic energy in its wake. “Oh, if only you could have seen his face, Lorenzo. The moment he realized I was the traitor. That every incident at the academy, every tragedy, was my design.”

  Lorenzo's breathing grew sharp. “You…”

  Rem leaned in slightly, voice laced with mockery. “And do you know what the best part was? He suspected you. Poor, foolish Neil. He died thinking you were the mastermind.”

  A flicker of hesitation crossed Lorenzo’s face—not doubt, but raw grief turned to fury. His fingers trembled against his blade’s hilt.

  Enough.

  His stance shifted. Shadows seeped from his body, curling around him like writhing specters, his very presence growing heavier.

  Rem only laughed. “Oh? Did I strike a nerve?”

  Lorenzo exhaled slowly, his crimson eyes glowing with renewed resolve. “You’ll regret this.”

  Rem's grin twisted into something darker. “Then come, Lorenzo.” She vanished.

  Lorenzo barely had time to react before she was on him, her dagger slicing toward his throat. He raised his twin blades just in time—steel met steel, and the impact sent another shockwave through the ruins.

  Their fight reignited, an explosive clash of shadow and starlight. Lorenzo fought with the weight of vengeance, striking with relentless speed and force, his twin blades a blur of lethal precision. Rem, in contrast, danced through the chaos, her movements unpredictable, elegant yet deadly. Her dagger, glowing with cosmic power, deflected each strike with terrifying ease. And then—she whispered through the clash. “Neil is dead.”

  Lorenzo's eyes flared with rage. “And soon, so will you.”

  He vanished, shadows consuming him, and in an instant, reappeared behind her, twin blades aimed for her heart. Rem barely turned in time, their weapons colliding once more. The battlefield below raged on, but up here, under the shattered sky, it was just them.

  ——

  Lorenzo and Rem were locked in a deadly dance, their swords clashing in a storm of sparks and energy. The battlefield around them was a maelstrom of destruction, torn apart by the sheer force of their attacks. Lorenzo could feel his strength waning, his limbs growing heavy with exhaustion. Each breath was a struggle as he fought to keep up with Rem's relentless assault. Her cosmic energy crackled around her, giving her an ethereal glow as she pressed her advantage.

  Then, on the precipice of defeat, Lorenzo's Ring—the Shadow Spectre—erupted with an inferno of blue hellfire, his consciousness teetering on the edge. Memories of past battles surged through him—each time he neared collapse, the ring would glow and take control. But this time, he hesitated. He refused to yield. As his vision dimmed, the blue flames ignited, their heat searing into his very soul, shadows writhing around him like grasping hands of death, trying to pull him under. He fought back. And from the heart of the inferno, a colossal three-headed hound emerged—Cerberus.

  “How dare you defy me, human?” Cerberus roared, his three heads bellowing in unison. Lorenzo did not flinch, his gaze locked onto the beast.

  “You're only alive because of me,” the titan hound snarled, flames licking around him.

  Lorenzo took a step forward, his voice steady. “No. I will not let you take control of my body again. This is my fight.”

  Cerberus let out a guttural laugh. “You think you can handle her? She is beyond your capabilities.”

  Lorenzo clenched his fists, determination burning in his ember eyes. “That’s why I need you to lend me your power! Together, we will defeat her and protect Elysion.”

  The beast's fiery gaze bore into him. “And why would I do that?”

  Lorenzo inhaled deeply, his voice unwavering. “Because you want to protect this world. You’ve been watching over me—over my comrades—every time I fall.”

  Cerberus hesitated. His glowing eyes searched Lorenzo’s face, and for a moment, memories of a forgotten past flickered through his mind. He saw the faces of Uranus and Gaea—his masters, the ones he had sworn to protect, and the world they once cherished.

  At last, the great hound exhaled, his stance shifting. “Very well. I will help you.”

  Lowering his heads, Cerberus’ entire form melted into shadow and blue flame, twisting and reforming until it took on a dark, spectral version of Lorenzo himself. The young warrior watched in awe as his own image emerged from the infernal haze—a reflection infused with the beast’s power. As the transformation completed, an overwhelming surge of energy coursed through him, and Cerberus’ voice echoed in his mind, a deep growl laced with an eerie reverence.

  “I shall be your shadow, and you shall be my temporary master,” Cerberus declared. “Call upon my true name—Oblivion's Fang—and my true power will be yours.”

  A deep pulse resonated from the band wrapped around his finger, and in an instant, a surge of raw power coursed through his body. His vision came back, shadows writhing around him like living entities. The air grew thick with an eerie blue flame that engulfed his entire form, casting an ominous glow across the war-torn ground. Behind him, an enormous ethereal form blazed to life—Cerberus, the three-headed beast, its burning eyes locked onto Rem with an unrelenting intensity.

  The moment his power erupted, Hans, Martin, and Rena felt the shockwave. Their own Emperor Rings pulsed in resonance, their energy thrumming in harmony with Lorenzo’s newfound might.

  Hans whispered, his voice barely audible over the chaos, "So what Lady Rena suspected was true... the Seventh Ring was with us all this time.”

  Lorenzo exhaled, feeling the inferno within him rise to an uncontrollable peak. His once-fatigued limbs were now brimming with power, his sword wreathed in an intense fusion of shadow and hellfire. He moved faster than before, each strike imbued with newfound ferocity. His blade clashed against Rem’s cosmic weapon, sending shockwaves rippling outward. The force of their battle cracked the very ground beneath them.

  Rem’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What… is this?” she hissed, struggling against the oppressive energy that weighed down on her. Her cosmic aura flickered, faltering under the pressure of Lorenzo’s ascended form.

  Lorenzo lunged, his movements now impossibly swift. He drove Rem back with relentless strikes, his blade carving through the air like a phantom. Each impact sent ripples through the battlefield, the air itself trembling under the might of their clash.

  Then, with a final, decisive blow, Lorenzo’s sword struck true, shattering Rem’s cosmic shield. The impact sent her sprawling across the battlefield, her weapon clattering away. She tried to rise, but her body refused to obey. Blood dripped from her lips as she looked up at Lorenzo, a strange mix of defiance and satisfaction in her expression.

  And then she smiled.

  “You think this is over?” Rem rasped, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’ve played right into our hands, Lorenzo.”

  The sky split open, and a barrage of cosmic beams shot toward the barrier protecting the chain of the keep. In an instant, the barrier evaporated, and half of the golden angels that Rena had conjured with her Emperor Rings disappeared. The impact shook the keep, causing chaos to erupt across the battlefield.

  The very air thickened with an unfathomable weight as the sky itself seemed to split open. Emerging from the darkness was a figure of unimaginable size, his massive form towering above them. Coeus, the Primordial Titan of Intellect and Cosmos, stood reborn, his darkened feathers reflecting the dim light. His piercing gaze fell upon the battlefield, an ancient and terrible intellect calculating his next move.

  Martin and Hans froze in the middle of their battle, the color draining from their faces. The memory of his ambush in Aetheris flooded their minds, a nightmare they had barely survived. From the backlines, Rena trembled, her entire body shaking as the Titan’s presence consumed the battlefield.

  This was no mere enemy—this was the force that had nearly shattered Elysion before. And now, he had returned, his goal clear: to break the chains and release his imprisoned siblings.

  Lorenzo clenched his fists around his swords, the blue flames still roaring around him. Despite his newfound power, he could feel the sheer vastness of Coeus' strength bearing down on him. The battle was far from over.

  “We have to stop him,” Lorenzo muttered, his voice filled with steeled determination.

  His allies gathered behind him, their expressions a mix of fear and resolve. The fight for Elysion had just begun.