Aeriswen raised her sword high, silver light glinting off its edge. The air pulsed with mana, trembling between life and death. Her voice cut through the chaos like thunder.
> "Attack!"
The command tore through the ranks like a storm. The ground shook beneath thousands of feet as the army surged forward — elves loosing arrows like rain, mages chanting ancient hymns that split the sky, warriors charging with glowing blades that carved streaks of light into the dark.
The demons roared in answer. From the other side of the ravine, countless undead surged — armored skeletons, ghastly knights, and wailing banshees. The sound of their march was like bones grinding against the earth.
When both sides met, the world broke.
Steel met bone, spells met shadow. Every second, a life vanished — every breath, another soul fell. Leaves from the sacred trees above drifted down, dyed crimson by blood and ash. The clash was endless, relentless — a thousand cries weaving into one endless scream that filled the valley.
Haru stood at the edge of the chaos, his aura still, calm amid the storm. The elves fought desperately, but he moved differently — with purpose, with rhythm, with understanding. Every swing of his blade was deliberate, every step a precise dance between death and control.
Undead crumbled before him like dry sand.
Slash. Step. Turn. Another fell.
He didn't even need skills — his movements alone were destruction.
But then, the air thickened.
From the smoke, a shadow loomed — a towering Undead Knight, its armor engraved with cursed runes. The creature's eyes burned with sickly green light as it dragged a greatsword behind it, the ground cracking beneath its weight.
> Undead Knight (Elite)
Level: 77
It locked onto Haru, voice echoing in a hollow rasp.
> "A… human? Among elves?"
It raised its sword and moved with terrifying speed — faster than its bulk should allow. The blade sang through the air, aiming to cleave Haru in half.
But Haru was already gone.
He twisted aside, shield shimmering faintly with divine energy. The impact of the sword against his guard rippled through the ground, splitting stone — yet Haru didn't flinch.
> "You'll have to do better than that," he said quietly.
The knight staggered back a step, eyes narrowing.
> "Impossible… no human could block that."
Haru tilted his head slightly, calm and cold.
> "Then you've never met a human who's transcended."
Before the knight could respond, Haru vanished — reappearing behind it in a blur of silver light. His sword ignited with mana as he struck cleanly across the knight's spine.
CRACK—!
The armor split. The undead stumbled, letting out a roar that shook the air. Haru didn't stop. He pivoted, driving his blade through the knight's chest, then tore it free in a single motion. The creature froze — then collapsed, crumbling to ash.
Around him, the battle still raged — elves screaming war cries, demons unleashing spells that scorched the land. But Haru stood untouched, breathing steady. His robe fluttered in the wind, faintly glowing from the barrier of divine light that shielded him.
Aeriswen, fighting nearby, caught a glimpse of him — the lone human standing amid a circle of fallen undead, his sword dripping with black mist.
And before she could look away, another explosion shook the field — the next wave of demons emerging from the depths, far stronger than before.
The battlefield was chaos. Screams, steel, and shadows bled together into one endless storm. Haru's blade tore through undead like cutting paper — his movements flowing, almost serene. Every strike carved through armor, every dodge was a blur. His body had long surpassed its mortal limits.
> Level Up!
Level: 75
A flash of golden light enveloped him for an instant, but there was no time to celebrate — because the ground itself began to roar.
The soil cracked beneath his boots, trees trembled as though in fear.
Then came the quake — the kind that didn't just shake the earth, but made reality shudder.
From afar, through the rolling smoke and carnage, Haru's eyes caught something that froze him mid-step.
Two overwhelming auras collided in the far distance — hundreds of miles away, yet their power reached even here like a storm tide.
> [Fifth Seat of Paradox — Cane, The Demonic Reaper]
Level: 110
[Grand Elf — Vexus, Guardian of the Ancient Grove]
Level: 112
Even seeing those names made the system panel glitch for a moment, the edges of his vision warping from their sheer power.
The two figures clashed — one wreathed in demonic crimson flames, the other bathed in emerald light that pulsed like life itself. Their swords met in midair — and the sky split open.
A single clash birthed a shockwave that tore through the battlefield like a divine wrath. Trees uprooted. Mountains cracked.
Elves and demons alike were flung like dust in a hurricane.
Even though they were miles away, Haru felt the pressure — his knees almost buckled from the force alone.
He gritted his teeth, planting his sword into the ground to anchor himself.
> "That's… the power of the Fifth Seat?"
Each time their blades met, the world itself reacted — thunder without lightning, earthquakes without fault lines. Just their presence was killing soldiers — hundreds vaporized in the storm of stray energy.
The elves raised barriers, their mages screaming chants to protect the frontlines. But those walls shattered like glass with each tremor.
Haru could only watch — part in awe, part in dread.
The Demonic Reaper, Cane, swung his scythe in a great arc. The crescent of black mana cut through the air, slicing through dozens of miles of terrain — leaving a ravine where once stood an army. The scythe howled, feeding on souls as it passed.
> "This world will drown again in despair!" Cane's voice echoed like a curse.
Vexus, the Grand Elf, responded by summoning roots of light that rose like titans from the ground, entwining Cane's weapon mid-swing. His voice was calm, yet carried divine fury.
> "As long as the Great Trees still breathe, your darkness will never reign."
Their collision birthed another shockwave — one that reached Haru's battlefield.
He raised his arm, bracing himself, but the blast still sent him skidding back, boots grinding through torn earth.
Dust and wind blinded him for a moment.
Then silence — before another thunderous clash erupted in the far horizon.
Haru stood still, staring toward the storm of light and shadow.
For the first time in a long while… he felt small again.
> "So this is the power that stands above even the system…" he muttered, gripping his sword tighter.
Even so — the fire in his eyes didn't dim.
He straightened, wind whipping through his hair, blood streaking his cheek.
> "Then I'll reach that stage too… no matter how long it takes."
And as the titans continued their battle across the land, Haru stepped forward once more — toward the storm that shook the world.