Echoes of Ruin

Inhale. Exhale.

With a sharp breath, Selene dashed toward Kaelvar to end it once and for all.

But just as she was about to strike, she halted in her tracks.

A golden glow erupted from Kaelvar's body, swirling like a warning. She instinctively took a few steps back.

"Ugh." Kaelvar groaned in pain as he unleashed a devastating wide-range attack that tore through everything within a certain radius. Though it drained his energy heavily, he had no choice. He was desperate. If he delayed even a fraction of a second, he would die.

His opponent wasn't someone who hesitated or gloated. Her goal was simple—end the battle quickly, with no pointless words or arrogant emotions.

Selene, now at a safe distance, waited for Kaelvar's attack to subside. She planned to strike the moment it ended. If he managed to escape, catching him again would be nearly impossible. He was known for his immense strength and speed. While she wasn't far behind in agility, the one being chased always held the advantage.

She didn't know if his allies were nearby, so her plan was to take him out in one swift, final strike.

After that, even if war broke out between the two empires, she would easily be able to win.

With their emperor dead, chaos would spread through their ranks.

Cough. Cough.

Just as the dust began to settle and Selene prepared to finish him off, a dry, ragged cough echoed through the air—soft at first, almost lost in the fading roar of destruction.

Both she and Kaelvar turned sharply, startled. Their instincts screamed. They had believed they were alone.

But standing—no, barely standing—among the smoking debris was a child.

His frame was slight, trembling with every breath. White, lightning-like particles danced and shimmered around his body like ethereal serpents, flickering through the air in delicate arcs, as if trying to shield him from the carnage around him. They pulsed faintly, crackling like whispers of a forgotten power. But despite that surreal glow, his condition was grim.

Having just pulled himself from the twisted wreckage, he tried to stand tall—but his body betrayed him. His knees buckled, and he stumbled forward before catching himself against a charred stone. His right leg was clearly broken, bent at an unnatural angle, and his left arm hung limp at his side, discolored and unmoving.

Felix was in complete shock.

Everything had happened so fast.

Only moments ago, he had been traveling peacefully—on a mission he had thought was urgent, yes, but safe. He was heading toward the prince's location. He was going to save him. That had been the plan. That was all.

And then—obliteration.

Out of nowhere, a deafening blast had split the world open. Their carriage had been annihilated in an instant. The guards assigned to him, some of the most skilled warriors in Velmora—gone. Even the horses that had pulled their transport were nowhere to be found.

Dead wasn't even the right word.

Erased.

Vaporized. Not a single body remained. Not a single trace.

He should have died too. He should have been swallowed whole by that blast. But for reasons he couldn't understand—perhaps instinct, or something older stirring within him—he had survived.

Now, through the overwhelming pain pounding in his limbs, the smoke stinging his lungs, and the impossible energy crackling across his skin, Felix forced himself to calm down. He forced his breathing to steady, his eyes to adjust, his heart to stop racing.

He needed to think.

What happened? What the hell just happened? What's going to happen now?

The air was heavy. Not just with smoke, but with the lingering weight of something unnatural. The battlefield was still smoldering, the heat radiating in waves across the cracked earth.

As he slowly turned his head, trying not to collapse again, he saw them—two others.

The only two.

A man and a woman, locked in silence, their bodies still braced for war.

The woman, tall and poised like a blade of winter—Selene. Her armor shimmered faintly with a soft blue sheen, her icy gaze fixed on the man before her.

The man who had launched the attack.

He was barely conscious now. He stood hunched, swaying on his feet. His armor was torn open at the chest. His left eye—gone. Deep wounds carved into his neck and torso bled freely, staining the dirt with dark crimson. Energy still flickered around him, but faintly, like embers struggling not to die out.

The ground beneath their feet was scorched. Craters and frozen fissures stretched out like spiderwebs. The very air crackled with the residue of unimaginable power.

There was no doubt.

A brutal battle had just been fought here.

And the loser was clear.

Seeing that Felix was still alive, Kaelvarin was shocked. He had truly believed the boy was destroyed along with the others, but it seemed he survived by some miracle.

Upon realizing that, Kaelvarin turned to Selene, trying to convince her,"Oy, let me kill him. You know if they capture him, a catastrophe will fall upon our world, don't you?"

Selene replied calmly, without emotion,"No one can take what belongs to me, or harm him. If those rats even try to approach him, I'll eliminate them, just like I'm about to eliminate you."

"Heh, if I hadn't come here and tried to kill him, he would have already been in their hands," Kaelvarin said mockingly.

Selene responded seriously. For the first time, she could be seen speaking more than a few words—something rare for her."Didn't you wonder how I appeared in front of you without any warning, and left you in such a miserable state? I know their goal. I know they've already taken over the Velkran Empire and are working on taking Kalvarin too. Their claws have even reached one of my most prosperous kingdoms, but we still don't know where their den is. That's why I tried to use this opportunity to find their location, then launch a strong, united attack through an alliance between our three empires—the ones still resisting those demons."