The spear cut through the air—
a streak of obsidian and fire, spinning end over end.

The spear was nearly at his chest when the whole battlefield came to a stop.

It froze mid-air—rigid, suspended, the entire world clenching around it.
Ash held its shape frozen above the rubble.
Flames coiled in place, their light trapped inside their own heat.
A dozen shards of glass hovered mid-fall, weightless.

The heavens held still.
The breath of the world was gone.

And the world went dark.

The floor disappeared.
All light with it.
Even the air was gone.

Jaden stood ahead, locked in place—
One foot forward. Breath paused.

Kenneth was frozen too.
Trapped like everything else.
But his mind remained clear.
Completely awake inside whatever this was.

Kenneth stared.
His brother stood ahead—katana raised, unaware of what was coming.
The spear hovered in the air, just inches away.
A single moment from impact.

But in that suspended silence, it stretched.

And in that stretch, everything came back.

The nights he left Elise to carry their responsibilities and grief alone.
The fact that he couldn't save her.
And how, even now, Jaden stood alone, all because he hesitated.

Two failures.
One heartbeat from becoming three.

Then a voice spoke.

It didn’t come from above or behind.
It came from inside him.

The voice was clear.
Divine.
Each word carried weight—
not through volume, but presence.

It didn’t demand respect.
It simply assumed it.

It sounded like it had always been there—
a being no mortal could describe, let alone understand.

“You fear the outcome you already know.”

Kenneth’s chest tightened.

“You’ve lost her. Now you’re about to lose him.”

The darkness around him thickened—
This time taking shape.

Endless void.
Like sinking into a black ocean with no floor beneath him.

A slow drift.
Downward, deeper—
The weight of his helplessness didn’t let him rise.

Kenneth understood that feeling.
It was despair.

And as he closed his eyes, ready to give up—
Something stirred.

A faint silver light from above.

A crescent hung in the dark, cold and distant.

The voice returned.

“What would you sacrifice… to stop it?”

Kenneth didn’t hesitate.
The answer tore out of him before thought could catch it.

He screamed into the dark.
“Everything.”

Silence followed.

Then the voice said:
“Once, I walked your world beside my sister. But I made a mistake. And she has not looked at me since. Ten thousand moons, and still I am alone. You remind me of what I lost.”

Kenneth’s knees trembled.

“Would you give yourself? Not for glory. Not for vengeance. But to shield the last thing you love?”

He didn’t hesitate.
“He’s all I have left. If I lose him, there’s nothing left of me to save.”

The silver light grew.

“Then I will make you my Vessel. And I grant you my Regalia.”

The darkness shattered.
The world rushed back.
Time resumed.

And Kenneth stood in front of his brother.
Mask on.
Katana in hand.

The blade shimmered—
a pale glow across the steel, like it had been bathed in moonlight.

The obsidian spear struck.

Kenneth moved.

Steel met obsidian mid-air,
and the katana rang out like a bell struck by a god.

The impact sent cracks spidering through the earth beneath him,
but he didn’t falter.

The spear deflected—
launched into the distance, where it slammed into the ocean several kilometers away.

The force of the impact ignited the sea,
and a column of water erupted into the sky—
a big chunk of it turned instantly to steam.

Dust rolled.
Ash fell.

Jaden looked up, blinking through the haze.

“Kenneth…?”

His brother didn’t answer.
He just stood there—
mask glowing, sword steady,
between him and the end of the world.

Silence.

Kael’Dros didn’t move.

He couldn’t understand it.
The boy he’d been toying with moments ago was able to deflect his strongest attack.

Nova stared.

That energy…
Did not resemble any type of magic she had ever seen.

It felt different.
Divine.

Her eyes caught the mask.

“It can’t be…”

The realization hit her mid-breath.

“That must be a Regalia!”

Above them, the rising steam condensed—
cooling into thick rainclouds.

Kenneth stood still.
Katana lowered.
The glow from his mask faded softly beneath the settling ash.

Behind him, Jaden staggered.

He’d lasted longer than any normal person should have.
Too much power.
Too much pressure.
Too much death in the air.

His legs gave out.
He dropped to his knees, then to his side.

Unconscious.

Kenneth grabbed his unconscious brother with one arm.
And in a single breath, they vanished.

The sky had begun to return to normal.
The purple lightning was gone.

They stood in a small vacation house deep in the countryside—
a place their parents used to bring them when they were younger.

Kenneth remembered it.
Jaden probably didn’t.
He’d been too young back then.

Far from the ruined city, this place had been spared.
The cabin was quiet. Empty. Untouched.

Kenneth laid Jaden down on the bed.
His breathing was shallow, but steady.

Kenneth stood there for a second longer.
Looking down at his brother.

“I’ve got one more thing to take care of,” he said.
“I’ll see you later, Jaden.”

And then he was gone again.

Back in what remained of New York City—
Nova stood on the cracked ground, injured and bloodied but with a smirk on her face.

Above her, Kael’Dros hovered in the air, watching in silence.

Then Kenneth reappeared beside her.

Nova glanced over.

“Back already, pretty boy?”

Kenneth didn’t flinch.

“I came back to take out the trash.”

Kael’Dros’s expression shifted—no longer amused.

That a creature he once toyed with now stood like an equal...
It burned.

Rain began to fall, slow and steady—
washing the ash from the streets.
Cleansing the field.

Kael’Dros hovered above the wreckage, his voice cutting through the falling rain.

“Join me. Help me conquer this world, and I will give you a seat beside me—as my lieutenant.”

Nova wiped blood from the corner of her mouth and stared up at him, defiant.

“Someday, I’ll be the queen of all dragons,” she said.
“And you’ll be the one bowing to me.”

Kael’Dros’s wings flexed, scattering ash.

“Then you’ll die with this planet.”

His wings spread wide—
and in the blink of an eye, he dove.

A living meteor.
Knee aimed straight for Nova’s skull.

The speed ripped the air apart as he fell.

In that instant, Kenneth moved.

The silver crescent etched into his mask shimmered.
His eyes lit—still, cold, and deep as moonlight.

The Shadow of the Moon had awoken.

The moment Kael’Dros’ strike should have shattered Nova’s face—
both of them vanished.

Kael’Dros’s knee struck the earth instead.
The impact buckled the ground, sinking an entire section of the land into the sea.

Nova blinked in confusion.

“Was that...?”

Kenneth answered while keeping his gaze fixed on the general.

“Lunar Blink. It lets me move to any shadow cast within range.”

He adjusted his grip on the katana, stepping forward.

“Let’s go, Nova.”

Before the words finished leaving his mouth, he was gone.

Kenneth reappeared behind Kael’Dros—
silent, fast—emerging from the monster’s shadow.

In a single motion, his katana carved upward in a clean, rising arc toward Kael’Dros’s exposed ribs.

Kael’Dros twisted—
fast, brutal—
but not fast enough.

The blade struck.

At first, nothing.

Then the light caught up.

A silver trace burned across the cut—
and Kael’Dros’s obsidian armor cracked.

Just a hairline.

But it was a wound.

The General froze.

“...Impossible.”