Ronz apocalypse

The corridor was dark, but it was no longer hostile as it once was. After Serena vanished and my chains were broken, the shadows became my tools again—a weapon I knew well.

I stood there, watching the dim passageways, listening to every sound, every breath, every movement. I wasn't just searching for an exit... but for an opportunity.

The prisoners—there had to be some still alive in the depths. And Caster, no matter his confidence, couldn't have wiped them all out.

The shadows slowly swallowed my body, turning me into something invisible... no sound, no form, just a deadly intent.

I moved between the cells, slipping through like smoke. Some guards sat lazily, believing everything was under control.

I crept behind two of them chatting, and with perfect silence, the shadows extended from the dungeon walls like a snake, wrapping around their necks and snapping them. Not a scream. No one noticed.

Every cell I passed held a story. Some faces were familiar—people who had suddenly vanished after challenging or betraying Caster. Others looked like mercenaries or mages stripped of their powers, locked away by Caster to silence them.

I saw a young man with one eye staring at me. He said nothing, but his gaze said everything.

I opened the doors one by one.

At first, there was no sound—only soft footsteps, quickened breaths, and eyes scanning the place in disbelief. Some prisoners expected to be killed immediately, while others grabbed the weapon of a fallen guard with trembling hands.

But once the first guard's scream rang out from one of the corridors, the fire ignited.

The guards didn't know where the attacks were coming from. Some were killed before they even saw their enemy, while others found themselves surrounded by prisoners who seemed to know the place better than its creators.

As for me, I let them create chaos... and I ascended.

The upper floor was different.

Here... the cold was harsher, the walls covered in a thin layer of ice, and the air itself seemed to carry an omen. Every step I took echoed like the end was drawing near.

I snuck between the remaining guards, but they were few. Most of the lower forces had been torn apart by the prisoners.

When I reached the throne room, I stood behind the door for a moment.

The torches inside were lit, their light harsh, solid, intentional.

I took a slow breath.

And extended my hand toward one of the torches from behind the door.

It went out.

Then the second.

Then the third.

Until darkness suddenly engulfed the room, and confusion spread inside.

The room was wide, and at its far end sat Caster on a throne of ice, the spear resting beside him. He stood slowly, observing the darkness, then raised his hand and lit a magical light crystal in the ceiling.

But once the room lit up, he discovered that everyone around him... was dead.

He looked at me, then smirked.

"You're faster than I thought. I didn't expect to see you here alive."

I stepped toward him, the shadows swirling behind me like a raging wave.

"Nor did I expect you to be this foolish, Caster."

He grabbed the spear, standing tall, his unblinking eyes glowing with deadly cold.

"Rage doesn't create power. Only order does. True power doesn't come from destruction, but from control."

I took a step closer.

"Maybe you're right. But power and control without intelligence and strategy are nothing."

He laughed.

"Spoken like a dying poet. I created order in this cursed world. Arsen was nothing but chaos."

I raised my hand and launched a shadow at him with the speed of light.

But he didn't move.

The spear froze the shadow mid-air... and shattered it.

"Come closer, and everything you are will freeze."

Caster kept smiling mockingly, but his eyes measured my every move with precision. The room was thick with cold, the signs of frost closing in around us. Yet my body was melting into the shadows, preparing for the next phase.

"Do you think shadows will save you?" he said calmly, his voice nearly melting into the cold. "The closer you get, the more frozen you become. There's no escape. You'll remain what you've always been... just a shadow."

I raised my other hand, trying to summon more shadows around me, but Caster was faster. Suddenly, he lunged at me, the spear aimed at my stomach. In a flash, I turned into mist, trying to disappear into the darkness... but the ice was faster. His spear struck me, and I found myself frozen in place, the lower half of my body turning into cold ice, creeping through me piece by piece.

The cold nearly froze my thoughts, but I clung to what power remained. The shadow doesn't die—the words echoed in my mind, ones I'd heard before in the void. This wasn't my end.

I let the spear touch me, focusing on the shadows flickering in the corners. This was my chance.

With the last of my energy, I withdrew into the shadows and vanished from sight.

Moments passed as Caster searched for me, trying to detect any movement. He attempted to summon ice to catch me, but the more he neared me, the more he himself began to freeze. Snowflakes fell onto his body gradually, as if nature rejected what he was doing.

But I only needed one chance.

The moment had arrived.

I burst from the shadows straight toward Caster, shifting into my physical form at the last second. I was close enough. My mind was operating at lightning speed—I knew where his next strike would be, and when.

I grabbed Caster's arm just as his hand was slightly frozen, and at that moment, I unleashed the shadow power within me. The spear shattered suddenly, breaking like glass into tiny pieces.

Caster screamed—I had never seen him this enraged.

"You don't understand! You've destroyed everything... everything!"

But he was wrong. What I destroyed was just the beginning.

I felt the vibrations around us and realized that what Caster had created wasn't just a prison for himself... but for the entire Ronz Clan. The surrounding mountain range trembled. The ground itself cracked. Beneath the surface, something bigger was building... a massive avalanche, consuming everything in its path. I survived miraculously thanks to my healing ability.

I looked around and saw Caster on the ground, staring at me as he screamed at the chaos he had created. But there was nothing he could do now. The spear was broken, his power fading, and the world around us was collapsing.

Time had passed... too much for me to bear.

"You've always been the bringer of ruin. You were always the reason behind the fall of worlds," Caster said, with a voice full of threat, yet weakness was seeping into his words.

I didn't reply. I just looked at him for a moment.

The mountains shook, and the Ronz Clan was falling under the weight of the snowstorm. The snow swallowed everything... every soldier, every fight, and every piece of debris—even the very walls were buried under the snow.

I moved away, distancing myself from the catastrophe I had caused. Only one thought remained in my mind: heading to the world of Evesto.

This land was finished. This war was over.

Caster no longer followed. He was crawling across the shattered ice, surrounded by nothing but death. But that was the end of his war.

From a distant place within the shadows, Serena watched the scene. Her eye held a faint smile, as if everything had happened just as she had expected.