Chapter 4: The Shattered Accord
Smoke curled like fingers across the ruined landscape. From the ridge where the demon general had emerged, a crimson haze still lingered, bleeding into the sky like a wound refusing to close. Karl stood in the wreckage of the battlefield, blood staining his gloves, the rifle across his back warped at the barrel. Ilisha knelt beside the corporal—his body now limp, eyes forever frozen in fear.
"How many did we lose?" Karl asked without turning.
Ilisha's voice was a whisper. "Too many."
A gust of wind swept past, cold and electric, stirring the ash like snowfall. The remaining soldiers—barely a squad—gathered silently, eyes darting toward the Gate still burning in the distance. But the demon general had retreated. Not defeated. Just... watching.
"They're testing us," Karl muttered. "Seeing how far they can push."
"We didn't break," Ilisha replied. "Not yet."
A sudden surge of pressure rolled over the land, like the sky itself inhaled sharply. The Gate dimmed to a flicker and finally snapped shut, leaving only scorched stone and that lingering, oily dread.
Then came silence.
---
Far away, across the ocean, the once-proud city-state of Alnor—the last united remnant of Europe's great alliance—fell in a single day. What began as a small tear above the Mediterranean widened into a Gate large enough to swallow mountains. Drifters poured out by the thousands, followed by demons that defied the laws of shape and mass.
Alnor's defense grid fired until it burned out. The final broadcast was a scream—half digital, half human—before static claimed the airwaves once again.
In New York, panic spread like virus through the underground bunkers. Generals pounded fists on silent consoles. World leaders screamed into sat-phones with no response. Then, unexpectedly, a ripple of light spread through the ceiling of the War Room.
"Another Gate?" someone yelled.
But it wasn't red.
It was gold.
From the rift, a figure descended—not with malice, but with grace. Wings of pure light spread out behind him, and his robe shimmered like woven starlight. A sword floated at his side, untouched by gravity. His face was unreadable—too perfect to be mortal.
"I bring an offer of ceasefire," he said, his voice echoing through metal, flesh, and thought. "The demons rise. The Merge is not yet complete. If humanity falls now, all is lost."
Silence followed.
Then another Gate opened. And another.
Within hours, golden silhouettes appeared over the remains of Tokyo, Johannesburg, Berlin, and São Paulo. Some were met with awe. Others with bullets.
But all carried the same message:
"The gods remember. The war must wait. Until the end is known, we fight as one."
---
Back at the South African coast, Karl stood beneath a sky now speckled with new stars—faint fragments of other realms bleeding through the Merge.
"They're not waiting," he said. "Not the angels. Not the demons. Not the gods. They're choosing sides."
Ilisha looked up. "And us?"
He exhaled slowly. "We choose to live."
From behind them, one of the survivors approached—a younger woman, limping but standing tall. Her eyes were sharp, tired. Her name was Reina.
"Something's happening north of here. The locals say the mountains are glowing. Trees singing. And last night, one of those angel things landed near the UN field camp. Didn't attack. Just... watched."
Karl narrowed his gaze. "It's starting. The alignments."
Ilisha adjusted her blades. "Then we move. We need to reach the old reserve base near Windhoek. There's a comm link buried there—deep one. Might still be active."
Karl nodded once. "We'll gather survivors. Build what we can. And if they want a fight, they'll get one."
He looked once more at the red-soaked horizon.
"This isn't a resistance. Not anymore. This is a reckoning."
---
Somewhere deeper in the demon realm, beyond the flames and bone halls of the borderlands, a voice whispered.
"The Accord has been made. The heavens kneel beside mortals."
From a throne carved of obsidian, a massive figure stirred.
"Then it begins," the voice rumbled. "Let them come. Let the angels try to save their broken toys. We will show them the true nature of return."
In the dark, something ancient opened its eyes.