Winter solstice arrived with unnatural darkness.
The sky went black at noon, stars appearing in daytime, reality itself warping. Then the rifts opened—dozens of them, across the world simultaneously.
The entity emerged not as a single manifestation but as multiple pieces, attacking everywhere at once. It had learned from last time, adapted its strategy.
Adrian coordinated from the sanctuary's command center, his consciousness linked to leaders at every battle site through magical communication.
"Shanghai team, entity manifestation at forty percent. Hold defensive positions."
"London forces, push the entity back toward the containment zone."
"Tokyo, I'm sending reinforcements. Hold for three more minutes."
The battle raged for hours. Thousands fought simultaneously, coordinating through Adrian's network. His ancient blood let him sense the entity's movements, predict its attacks, guide forces effectively.
But it was overwhelming. The entity had grown so much stronger, had absorbed so much power during its dormancy. Every force pushed back at one location, it manifested stronger at another.
"We're losing," Elena reported from one front. "It's adapting faster than we can adjust tactics."
"Then we go to contingency plan," Adrian decided. "Life force bombs. Deploy them at every major manifestation site."
The bombs activated—concentrated life force that exploded when the entity tried to feed, damaging it, driving it back temporarily. It bought them time, but not enough.
"Adrian," Kieran's voice came through, strained. "It's manifesting here. At the sanctuary. It wants you specifically."
"I'm coming—"
"No! Stay in the command center. Keep coordinating. I'll handle it."
But Adrian heard the sounds of battle through the comm, heard Kieran fighting for his life, and couldn't stay away.