The highest floor of Valhena Tower had a silence no one had dared approach for years. The man who lived there, Commander Yuhen, resided in a solitary stone cell. His eyes were not blind, but they rarely opened to see, for what he gazed upon lay beyond the flesh.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIUjgwYIBV
The Xhu seeping from his doorway began to change with the first vibrations of dawn. A pressure hung in the air; every breath grew heavier. As the commander rose in his bed, he whispered before his eyelids opened:
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKrY9wEH5c
“What powerful Xhu...”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDT3HsGszGy
The guard had changed downstairs. Palir, Guroa, and Shuan ascended the stairs. They paused. No one spoke in front of the door. They merely exchanged glances. Finally, Palir reached out and knocked three times on the heavy iron door.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLMiN56ww8
The door opened from within. Yuhen stood before them, upright. He wore no armor, only a long black robe with a rusty sword at his waist. His eyes were still closed.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEYxZdoA5F
“Commander…” Palir spoke, his voice hoarse. “That thing... has truly arrived.”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOyctdleJf
Yuhen opened his eyes. They were like gray marble, without irises, yet he saw—and remembered.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgISMWqEyIE
“For years, it visited me only in dreams,” he said. “Now it comes even before I sleep. This shore will demand bloodshed.”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAwDXcRqxf
He took up his sword, fastening the belt tightly. “Wake the tower. Light all the torches. Send out the ravens. Draw the chained barricades. Today, the gods remain silent. Today, you are your own gods.”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaR92KLrW8
Guroa quickly bowed his head in salute. “As you command, sir.”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbmCltOdRq
Thus, Valhena spoke the name of blood aloud for the first time in many years.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgDRFSJjDW
When Empty Mist reached the shore, it did not halt. The coast cracked at its approach. Stones shattered as if awakened from a century-long slumber. The first to step off the ship was Pegwalsge. Where his foot touched, no grass grew. The earth retreated without resistance.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5lSowjmyj
His crew disembarked behind him. All were silent, yet their eyes burned with a bloodthirstiness unmatched. This silence was like a moan concealed within a storm. Darkness seeped from each face; their eyes bore no light, only meaning a meaning as ancient as death itself.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYpDzGLgBG
The first greeting they received on land was fear in the eyes of waiting soldiers. Commander Yuhen had not yet arrived. The soldiers awaited orders, but no commands came. For Hollow Mist had already given an answer.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGR4yiRd3Y
Some soldiers dropped their swords; others fell to their knees. The pressure of Xhu infiltrated them with a violence even the wind dared not challenge. The sky darkened like a curtain, clouds merging to deepen the shadows.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjqXo7cTdl
Pegwalsge stepped forward, bending slightly to touch the ground with his fingers. A faint cracking sound spread as if the earth recognized his cursed touch. The ground did not speak like gods, but it bore their wrath.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObLl2HVpGO
“I haven’t touched soil this innocent in a long time,” Pegwalsge remarked. His voice held neither anger nor emotion, merely truth.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLdYUjNa0H
He raised his head. As his eyes met the sky, lightning did not fall, but the silence that awaited it shook the heavens.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3JLlasDjo
“Soon, nothing of its innocence will remain.”
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DffYW7AzK
With those words, darkness intensified. His crew stood behind Pegwalsge as one body. Their eyes penetrated the soldiers’ souls, dissolving faith one by one.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQSYhcsEzG
And then, silence shattered upon the shore.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYSV3YIQrU
Savael was the first to act. As he raised his palms to the sky, fragments of Xhu tore through the air. The sky turned crimson like blood. Spiraling rings of Xhu descended toward the soldiers. Those caught in its path spasmed violently; their flesh peeled away without even allowing screams. Eyes bulged from sockets, souls gnawed by Xhu.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHHTIPXLQJ
Vorun swung his chain, ringing the bell at its end. Some soldiers' hearts pounded as if they would burst from their chests. One ripped open his own stomach where he stood. Another clutched his ears and collapsed. A soldier struck by the chain was cleaved cleanly at the neck.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIWmIUcvef
Eizma extended her tongue between her teeth, murmuring softly. The air around her warped. Soldiers began rubbing their eyes, seeing visions of their mothers’ corpses. One screamed, dropped his weapon, and fell to the ground, begging forgiveness, though no one was there to hear.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgacRqD50EH
Karra remained silent, yet where she walked, the earth blackened, and grass turned to ash. Her shadow caused soldiers to choke themselves. One soldier gouged out his eyes. Karra simply walked.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrjG6HPRlH
Narth, with his eyeless face, walked among the soldiers. Those glimpsing his darkness fell instantly. His Xhu betrayed even the light itself. One soldier collapsed, vomiting blood and bile simultaneously. Narth drew his sword, and with a psychopathic grin, split the man’s head down the middle.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBBqrMzfPt
And Pegwalsge.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxCDKFDL0C
He placed his hand once more upon the ground, and a whisper spread not heard by ears, but felt in the bones. As his Xhu permeated the earth, soldiers' bones began cracking. Some exploded in place, their organs scattering outward, eyes fixed emptily. Others... merely stopped. No breath. No blinking. As if willingly abandoning life.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB29Ekkwte
There had been 90 soldiers; now only 20 remained.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjxrLWzGBI
The shore was no longer silent, yet the earth did not appear satisfied with the bloodshed.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOckOWbuYFI
Only a few soldiers remained after the massacre. Like rain, black Xhu residue fell upon the corpses strewn across the ground. The sky was pitch black as if even the heavens had shut their eyes to this disgrace. The remaining soldiers could neither flee nor fight. They simply trembled.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUVZyfoeiH
And then...
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5NKSfm7C7
The chill in the air changed.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LpDFzkYWS
A hum rose from beyond the shoreline. The earth trembled a second time but this time not from fear, but recognition. For the approaching presence carried no rage. It simply ruled.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKp6fAFhdN
Commander Yuhen appeared at the western gate of Valhena Tower, walking with heavy steps. Behind him followed three naval soldiers: Palir, Guroa, and Shuan. They all walked through the stench of blood. But the one in front... was something else entirely.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtv6ReMkdHW
With Yuhen’s every step, the ground cracked. Stones froze beneath his feet. The air wasn’t just cold it became sharp. Breathing was like swallowing blades.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KWHNaGZ0v
Savael turned his head. “Something is coming,” he said, for the first time with seriousness.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRD2NmVddhE
Pegwalsge narrowed his eyes. His crew looked to him. None moved, but they all felt it.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlaUo3tF6Y
Xhu... another kind of Xhu... a powerful Xhu... a colossal Xhu.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXU2hKckX2
Yuhen halted. His ice-like gaze fixed on Pegwalsge. Pegwalsge had sensed the irregularity in Yuhen’s Xhu this wasn’t just pure Xhu.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5q3dVelBEx
It was the Glacial Orb.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyAMvCeycB
As the naval soldiers stood before Pegwalsge and his crew, it became difficult to breathe. Eizma’s dark energy, Narth’s eyeless unease, and Karra’s bleak silence had already seeped into their bodies.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNikawxLwH
But then... Commander Yuhen’s Xhu descended upon them.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMz9L5N8YB
And everything balanced.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYN6pFTLXb
“This... this is something else,” whispered Palir.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXM5kUBRRu
“The Commander is like one of them... maybe even stronger,” said Eliar, his mouth dry.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8L7gdVrS7
“I can feel both. Two abysses...” muttered Sennre.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbDmCKiwrd
Yuhen raised his hand. The three soldiers behind him stepped forward. Sennre and Eliar joined them. The few soldiers who had survived the earlier massacre straightened upon seeing the Commander. The fear in their eyes hadn’t vanished, but his presence... was like a kind of refuge.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrhm7NUGiW
As the wind shifted direction, Yuhen narrowed his eyes.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXot5vFKKw
Pegwalsge and his crew wore masks that covered their mouths and noses. Symbols were embroidered on the cloth some bore the Red Sand of Jaleron, others the Three-Headed Dragon of Xakha.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4ihYmU1pA
Yuhen paused for a moment. These symbols… they were Glatsyan emblems. The Red Sand represented Shera, the Three-Headed Dragon stood for Batsu.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0tR8mvU6y
“Glatsyans?” he murmured.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpSWgrBdvd
The sailors around Yuhen were stunned. The arrival of any Glatsyan was a harbinger of great danger, and none of them had ever encountered one before. But they had heard the names. In whispers. In curses. Figures some revered but most feared.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImrCgC9zF1
Now everything made sense.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQn8RUHFDH
The savagery, the power, the darkness of the Xhu he had felt of course it came from a Glatsyan.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUTkDUO431
This wasn’t a rebellion.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQxcm887Wf
This… was a war.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgWQCoDdkO
Yuhen spoke. His voice was not loud, but each word echoed as if etched in stone:
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiDSK4lcEP
“What do you want?” he asked.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡut1nMRSqTv
Pegwalsge said nothing. His crew remained still. But on some of their lips, faint tension appeared. Eizma’s nails once again dug into her arm. Savael’s pupils narrowed.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3trjUD1pMN
Yuhen drew his white ice blade, and once more the sky darkened.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBAw7Lt0Aq
The battle had not yet begun.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjN5Zhyute
But now...
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLBh1pYwvs
The sides had recognized one another.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOllBgsQXMq
→ Request update
and then Add to home screen.