With the explosion, the church was razed to the ground, and the Ket Curse within the hourglass was released, swiftly striking down all the Elders who had transferred their powers to the hourglass. The Elders writhed on the ground in agony under the curse's effect.
Eldrian tried to pull himself together; his body trembled from the intense pain, but he still managed to push himself up to his knees. It was as if he had lost the special power within him. He raised his head and looked toward the explosion, in Valerith's direction.
Valerith stood completely unharmed, wearing her usual gentle smile.
Eldrian clenched his hand into a fist in anger and was about to use his full power when Shiken grabbed his hand and stopped him. "You can't, Eldrian. Don't even try. Not even you can do it," Shiken said, gasping for breath.
Eldrian looked at him. "What are you saying, you fool?! Let me turn back time!" he shouted, trying to push Shiken's hand away.
"Don't be a fool, Eldrian! You can't use your power. Once you're caught by this Ket Curse, none of your special powers will work!"
Shiken's words made Eldrian's eyes widen in surprise. Then, he forced a smile. "Are you kidding me? I'm an Elder! I don't care what the curse is. I'm turning back time and killing Valerith!"
Eldrian stood up again, took a deep breath, and focused. But just as he was about to unleash his full power, he felt an unbearable pain in his body. The pain was so intense that he fell to his knees again and began to cough up blood.
In shock and rage, he thought to himself: "I can't use my power... How can I...?"
As Eldrian was lost in thought, Shiken grabbed him by the arm and helped him up. "If you try to use your power, that pain will continue to increase exponentially—until it drives you mad, until it kills you. So don't even try to use your power," Shiken said, looking at Eldrian.
Valerith began to walk toward Shiken and Eldrian, laughing. "Ha ha ha! Just as expected from Shiken... So you know what the Ket Curse is, huh?"
As she spoke, she walked past the Elders writhing in pain on the ground, advancing toward Shiken and Eldrian. Shiken narrowed his eyes, glaring at Valerith with fury.
"I never thought you would betray us! You, who had become the hope and leader of all humanity! What did they promise you to betray your own race, Valerith?!" he cried out.
Valerith stopped walking, turned to Shiken, and smiled. "I was promised nothing, Shiken. I just need to get rid of you to end this war. I have never betrayed my own race."
Valerith's smile slowly faded; her face took on a serious and terrifying expression. "If you are eliminated, this war will end. Humanity will suffer no more losses. I will let them live in peace, harmony, and prosperity... and for that, you must disappear."
Valerith looked at a nearby Elder who was trying to get up. Golden, glowing threads flying around her suddenly moved, lifting the Elder into the air. In a single motion, she broke his neck with those threads and tossed his lifeless body aside—to the left—like a piece of trash.
Eldrian ran toward Valerith, shouting in fury: "You bitch! I'll kill you!"
Just as he was about to punch Valerith, one of the Varis, Drakthr, stepped forward. He clenched his fists, gathered his strength, and delivered a hard blow to Eldrian's stomach.
The force of the staggering blow lifted Eldrian off his feet, his body thrown back uncontrollably. With a loud thud, Eldrian crashed into the church wall and collapsed.
Shiken looked around in shock. The seven Varis and their armies were pouring into the church from all sides.
The soldiers flooding in—vampires, elves, dwarves, monsters, demons, and angels—were attacking the Elders who were still trying to get up. The Elders tried to use their powers, but they collapsed in pain. Shiken watched helplessly as his comrades—the Elders—fell one by one before his eyes.
Blood-curdling scenes unfolded: some monsters were tearing the Elders apart and eating them alive; demon soldiers were burning them, while vampires slowly killed them by drinking their blood.
Shiken gritted his teeth and stood up. His body trembled from heavy blows, pain, and the suppressive effect of the Ket Curse, but the fire in his eyes had not been extinguished. He looked at the weakened Eldrian, then at Valerith.
"Enough..." he muttered. Gathering all his physical strength, he lunged forward. He threw an incredibly devastating punch at Drakthr.
Suddenly, a massive wave of wind shook the entire church! Stones were lifted into the air, the ground trembled, and the Varis's army was thrown back.
Even though he couldn't use his special powers because of the curse, Shiken was still an Elder; his physical strength was absurd compared to a normal human's. The force of the wind was so great that even the blood of the dead Elders dispersed into the air like a fine mist.
He had poured all his physical strength, all his spiritual resistance, into this attack.
Through the cloud of dust, Drakthr's silhouette appeared.
He had crossed his arms to shield himself. Intense steam rose from both his arms where Shiken's attack had landed; the vapor coming off his skin smoked as if it were burning the air.
Shiken was out of breath. "How is this possible... Did they... get even stronger?" he thought to himself.
But then he noticed something else. That dark, suffocating feeling emanating from Drakthr... it wasn't just coming from him, but from all of them. All seven Varis—lined up right behind Valerith—were radiating a sinister, gloomy aura. The air grew heavy; it was hard to even breathe.
Shiken slowly looked around him. The lifeless bodies of the Elders on the ground... Eldrian, bound by thorny golden threads, struggling... Valerith, watching him with a cold expression, as if nothing had happened... And in the background, hundreds of soldiers moved in the darkness, as if mirroring Shiken's despair.
Valerith turned her eyes to Shiken. "Your curse is bound to runic fragments placed in the hearts of the Varis," she said in an icy voice. "So, unless they die... you will never regain your powers."
The sky was gray. Rain had begun to fall silently. There were no screams of pain from the Elders; they were all dead now. Silence had fallen over the destruction.
Shiken fell to his knees. "Was this war... meant to end like this..." he whispered.
At that moment—
Boom!
A roar was heard from the depths of the earth. Then, the sky seemed to split open. A massive wave of aura spread out, vibrating through the entire area.
The wind reversed; stones and corpses were lifted into the air. Hundreds of soldiers suddenly fell to their knees as if pinned to the ground. Even the Varis struggled to breathe; some tried to balance by putting one knee on the ground.
The air was under pressure. Shiken looked around in amazement. He could feel the source of that oppressive energy—and he knew very well who it belonged to.
Valerith's cold expression momentarily vanished. Her eyes narrowed. "This aura... so... she's here..." she whispered.
Shiken raised his head. A light from above pierced through the gray clouds. A silhouette appeared within that light.
Her green hair billowed in the wind, and her white eyes outshone even the light. Blue-green glowing soul fragments swirled around her.
Shiken's lips trembled. "Yuria..." he said. There was both hope and fear in his eyes.
As Yuria floated in the middle of the ruined church, her eyes fell upon the corpses on the ground. Rage and grief burned in her narrowed eyes simultaneously. Her aura was now much stronger than before; her very presence radiated a suppressive force.
Yuria slowly opened her hand. The last remaining fragments of the dead Elders' souls rose into the air like motes of light. Drawn toward her palms, these lights merged into her body, one by one.
When she raised her other hand, the air grew even heavier. A green-white light began to concentrate in her palm. As the light grew, stones levitated, trees were uprooted, and the ground shook. The soldiers couldn't stay on their feet, collapsing to their knees. The light in her hand transformed into an incredibly powerful and mighty sphere.
Yuria's pure white eyes turned green for an instant. And at that moment, the whole world fell silent.
"All of them..." Yuria whispered, her voice cold and determined. "I will destroy them in a single breath."