The Golden City was burning. But the fire was black.
Kael carried the Prince down the stairs of the Spire. The elevators were dead. Elric stumbled behind him, clutching a datapad, desperately trying to find a counter-frequency.
"It's no use!" Elric yelled. "Math doesn't work! The variables are constantly changing! It's rewriting logic!"
They burst out into the Palace Square.
It was a slaughterhouse.
Shadow-beasts—wolves made of teeth and oil—were tearing through the Royal Guard. The gold armor offered no protection; the shadows phased right through it.
But the Broken Branch held.
"Shield wall!" Valerius roared.
The Ash-soldiers, used to fighting nightmares in the dark, formed a tight circle. Their rusted shields interlocked. When the shadows lunged, they met iron and grit.
"Hold!" Horg shouted, smashing a beast's skull with his hammer. "They bleed! If it bleeds, we can kill it!"
A massive Void-root slammed into the square. It pulsed, birthing a Behemoth—a twenty-foot construct of bone and shadow.
It charged the line.
"Horg! No!" Valerius shouted.
Horg didn't listen. He dropped his shield. He sprinted at the monster.
"For the Ash!" Horg screamed.
He slid under the Behemoth's guard. He swung his hammer upward using the creature's own momentum. The impact shattered the creature's knee. As it fell, Horg drove a spike grenade into its chest.
BOOM.
The explosion vaporized Horg and the beast.
The line broke.
King Aurelius stood on the steps, a sword in his hand. He wasn't a king anymore. He was just a father defending his home.
"To me!" Aurelius shouted. "To the Spire!"
Kael landed in the chaos. His Obsidian arm was glowing so bright it was painful to look at. He cut a swath through the shadows, disintegrating them with void-fire.
"We can't win this!" Valerius yelled, blood running down his face. "There are too many! The sky is pouring them out!"
Kael looked up at the Eye. It was getting closer.
"We don't need to win," Kael said. "I just need time."
"Time for what?" Aurelius asked.
Kael looked at his Ring. Then at his Arm.
"Time to make a new deal."