The skies above Krugo burned with black fire.
The city—the heart of Velmora—stood in defiance as twisted creatures from the rift descended. Voidlings flooded the streets in coordinated, monstrous waves. Their howls echoed through the steel and stone, warping sound, glass, and minds alike.
Kiro stood atop the war-battered walls, crimson blood rising like steam off his skin. Beside him, Pablo's aura was already flaring dark, Viora swirling in the form of obsidian threads.
Behind them, the city was chaos.
Militia and former El'Vertigo loyalists fought shoulder to shoulder, repurposed spire tech spitting arc-light and plasma. Tower cannons fired skyward, bringing down swarms, but they just kept coming. Children were being evacuated through underground tram lines, the elderly pushed into old bunkers left from the Empire's first occupation.
Then came the King.
The Void Monarch hovered above Krugo like an omen.
Ten meters tall. Horns like warped crescent moons. His presence bent the air. Shadows beneath him peeled away from reality, revealing otherworldly eyes. His voice echoed—not aloud, but inside every sentient mind.
"Let them scatter. This world is fractured... ripe for claiming."
With a gesture, columns of Voidlings broke away, scattering in all directions—toward the outlands, the mountain cities, the coast fortresses of Mir Veil and Lurex.
Krugo was only the beginning.
[Inner Walls – Command Center]
Kavo El'Vertigo stood at the city's helm, sweat lining his temples as transmission sigils flared. His hands were clasped behind his back, armor freshly donned.
"Send for the Empire," he muttered. "This isn't a rebellion. This is extinction."
Messages were dispatched on encrypted quantum channels. Within moments, a reply arrived—terse and clear.
"Executor Sulfur en route. Imperial Warden Karna will assist. Prepare for arrival."
Kavo's eyes narrowed. "Then we'll buy them time."
[Krugo – Central Plaza]
Kiro fought like a storm.
The Blood God System roared in his mind, threads of Omega Core radiation still lingering in his veins. It whispered cold truths:
"The rift is a wound opened by the Omega's awakening. Your evolution called it. Now you must own what you've unleashed."
"Then I will," Kiro muttered.
He flung a wave of blood-sharpened blades into the void tide, cutting down dozens. Next to him, Pablo activated his Dark Leviathan, converting an entire street's rubble into shadow-water. From it, a blade rose—gleaming with spectral violence.
They moved in sync—veterans of chaos.
[The Sky Above – A New Fire]
A lance of light broke the Voidstorm.
From orbit, two beams streaked downward—crimson and gold. They hit the battlefield with explosive force, vaporizing hundreds of Voidlings instantly.
Sulfur descended in a burning comet of Viora. His Apostle form had changed—sleeker, hotter, alive with planetary core energy.
Beside him landed Karna, clad in a shimmering shell of obsidian-blue armor. Her weapon—a staff shaped like an eclipsed sun—crackled with entropy. Her presence made even the Void Monarch flinch slightly.
They didn't speak.
They simply charged.
The war for Velmora had truly begun.