Three full months had passed since the beginning of the War of Darkness.
Three months that felt like years to some ..
and now, the final battle had finally come.
Surrounding the Ultras’ capital, Caelid, the Imperial Army was fully assembled and ready to move.
Imperial Soldiers: 40,000
Ultras Warriors: 100,000
Both sides had prepared for the inevitable collision.
And yet, despite the vast difference in numbers, the balance tilted unmistakably in favor of the Empire.
Within the Imperial ranks stood Snow Lionheart and Frey Starlight ..
two forces who refused to obey Aegon Valerion’s direct commands,
choosing instead to act on their own judgment.
Aegon’s plan this time was simple and direct.
He established a strategic siege around Caelid, smartly dividing his forces and placing powerful elites across each front.
In doing so, he used Frey and Snow indirectly ..
even though they had rejected his authority,
their positions on the battlefield perfectly complemented his strategy.
Over the past months, Aegon had led the Empire to countless victories across the continent.
From the very beginning of the war, he had commanded their armies with calculated brilliance.
And alongside the sheer destruction wrought by Frey,
it could be said that Aegon’s control over the flow of war had been the key factor
behind the Empire’s conquest of half the continent in just three months.
If not for the Church’s interference,
he might have reached Caelid even sooner.
Throughout the campaign, Aegon relied on precise strategies and adaptive maneuvers.
But this time, he chose a different path—
a direct assault, without hesitation or delay.
His tactic was simple:
strike fast, strike hard,
and leave the enemy no time to think.
A lightning war.
A single, decisive clash of annihilation.
And that was exactly what happened.
The two armies collided just outside Caelid crimson walls.
The Ultras, who had hoped to stall for time, were now forced to fight head-on.
It didn’t take long before the great names joined the chaos ..
Lord Gavid Lindman was there,
Mergo as well,
and the masked enigma known as V,
each commanding their own forces with terrifying strength.
But despite their power, they were being pushed back.
Sir Alon Valerion and his son Maekar fought side by side ..
one wielding Light, the other Lightning.
Together, they were a natural disaster incarnate,
tearing through the Ultras’ ranks.
Even Gavid Lindman, despite his ghostly form,
struggled against Alon’s blindingly fast attacks.
V, on the other hand, performed better than his master ..
but even he wasn’t fighting at full capacity.
He still retained Frey Starlight’s copied form,
reserved for the moment when he would finally face the real one.
Thus, his true strength remained restrained.
Looking across the Ultras’ army,
several notable figures were missing.
The Hollow Simon Manus had not appeared ..
only his endless puppet legions marched in his stead.
As for the Puppeteer himself,
he was nowhere to be found.
The demonic witch Beatrice had yet to show herself,
and her loyal warrior, the Demon General Beleth, was also absent.
However, the movement of blood across the battlefield,
attacking both friend and foe alike,
proved that the Hollow Evelyn was indeed present.
And Ludwig, too, had been spotted in the chaos.
But beyond that ..
despite this being the so-called final battle ..
the Ultras appeared strangely incomplete,
their strongest champions nowhere to be seen.
For that reason, Frey Starlight and Snow Lionheart had chosen to hold their positions
at the rear of the Imperial Army,
accompanied by many of their comrades.
The battle was fierce beyond measure.
The sound of clashing blades and shattering metal
echoed for miles into the night.
Every passing second claimed more lives.
To the outside eye, it truly seemed like the final war.
"Looks like our side holds the advantage,"
Snow muttered, idly spinning Vermithor between his fingers.
Frey, standing beside him,
clasped his hands together, unimpressed by the sight before him.
"Mergo bet everything on this battle," Frey said coldly.
"He claimed we wouldn’t win—but what I see now says otherwise."
Snow raised a brow, but Frey’s gaze remained fixed on the horizon.
Wars were deceptive.
They could shift in an instant.
And deep down, Frey was certain ..
the real battle hadn’t even begun yet.
At any moment,
a new variable could emerge from the shadows
and change everything.
He scanned the field once more with sharp precision.
All his allies were nearby.
Snow Lionheart—his strongest comrade, his brother-in-arms.
Ghost Umbra, who had returned to his shadowy form.
Sansa, Uriel, Seris, Dawn, and the others—
all were within range.
Among them, Seris looked particularly grim.
Her uncle, Baelor, had yet to appear ..
and that only deepened Frey’s unease.
Then, narrowing his Hawk Eyes,
Frey spotted Aegon Valerion far in the distance ..
stationed safely away, watching the war unfold.
Even across that vast expanse,
Aegon turned his gaze to meet Frey’s,
smiling faintly and waving a hand in mock greeting.
Frey didn’t react.
He’d seen enough of the prince’s tricks to know
nothing about Aegon surprised him anymore.
At that moment, Frey unleashed his full SSS-tier Aura,
spreading it across the entire battlefield ..
and even over the city of Caelid itself ..
to detect any lurking threat.
"Stay alert," Frey said calmly.
"We move the moment anything happens."
Snow nodded.
"I already know."
The true enemies weren’t the humans—
but the demons.
The 13th-ranked Demon, Geppetto, was still at large ..
and Snow feared his puppet body more than anything else.
He had told Frey about it,
but even then, Frey couldn’t fully comprehend
the power Snow had described.
Geppetto possessed multiple bodies,
each one strong enough to rival the SSS tier.
That alone made him one of the most dangerous demons alive.
But the creature Snow had faced before ..
that body .. was different.
It wasn’t just stronger than Geppetto himself ..
it was so overwhelmingly powerful
that Snow was convinced it could erase the 13th-ranked demon
with only a few swings of that blinding sword of light.
Even the Anointed War State wasn’t enough to withstand those blindingly fast, crushing slashes of light.
Frey had dealt with a copy of Zibar ..
and it was unlikely that the real one would appear anytime soon.
Which meant that this body was currently the most dangerous threat on the field.
A body that would require both Frey and Snow working together to bring it down.
And so, they waited.
And waited...
But nothing happened.
Neither Geppetto nor his puppet body showed themselves.
The Empire, however, began to dominate the battle.
After several hours of fighting, victory was clearly tipping in their favor.
"If things continue like this," Ghost muttered as he stepped out from the shadows,
"our side will win within a few hours."
"I know," Frey replied, his gaze locked on the front lines.
But despite what he saw,
none of it made sense.
"Maybe this isn’t the final battle everyone thinks it is," Frey said quietly.
"Too many of the Ultras’ forces are missing."
Ghost shook his head.
"I doubt that. Once their capital and main army fall, it’s over for them."
Even if a few powerful names remained,
they could be hunted down later.
The fall of Kaeld would mark the end of the Ultras ..
and Ghost Umbra was certain of it.
He had been unusually quiet lately,
remaining deep in the shadows,
as if he, too, were waiting for something.
Just like Frey.
Just like Snow.
Both of them had grown terrifyingly strong..
so bright that even their allies could hardly look at them.
And while the light soared higher and higher,
the shadow struggled to expand and keep up.
On the surface, Ghost seemed calm.
But deep inside ..
he was more anxious than Frey Starlight himself.
During those long, heavy hours of war,
his mind wandered back to the moment years ago ..
when he had reached the Tenth Court of Shadows,
a place no one before him had ever reached.
The Courts of Shadow were strange realms ...
filled with trials and ordeals that shattered the human spirit.
And surely, they were not built by men.
Ghost had been the only one to ever step into the tenth.
But unlike what he and others had imagined,
it wasn’t a trial.
It wasn’t even grand.
Deep underground,
in a silent, dreadful place,
the Tenth Court was nothing more than a single dark room.
A room with one chair ..
and on that chair sat a man who made Ghost’s heart freeze in terror
the moment he laid eyes on him.
That man was... wrong.
He was nothing like a human.
He wore a torn black suit,
and atop his gray hair rested a long, crooked black hat.
But what stood out most were his arms—
each one more than two meters long.
That was why Ghost called him the Man with the Long Arms.
A being beyond reason.
Terrifying to behold.
And yet... his personality completely contradicted his appearance.
He was playful.
Unpredictable.
He toyed with Ghost more than once during his stay in that room.
At first, Ghost thought it was all part of some twisted test.
But nothing ever happened.
All the man did was talk.
He talked endlessly ..
about things Ghost couldn’t understand at the time.
And yet, through that conversation,
Ghost learned much.
Every one of his space-bending techniques
had originated from that encounter.
The man’s stories were mostly incoherent—
myths of non-human civilizations,
events from worlds beyond their own.
But lately,
some of those tales had started to sound eerily familiar ..
as if they were describing events unfolding now on Earth.
The Man with the Long Arms had spoken of war.
Of a conflict so great it would reshape history itself.
He spoke of a warrior, a single man who would stand at its center ..
a man forged through endless suffering,
who would rise above all others.
"That man," the long-armed one had said,
"will be the Light.
And you, Ghost, must rise to become his Shadow."
Now, Ghost had no doubt.
That man was Frey Starlight.
And the battle he spoke of ..
the one destined to alter the flow of history ..
was this very war.
There was no question anymore.
The Man with the Long Arms knew the future.
He had taught Ghost things far beyond his current reach ..
powers he was still unfit to wield.
Everything that man said had come true.
And because of that,
Ghost Umbra couldn’t shake the unease in his heart.
This war was not just another battle.
It was the turning point of history.
And Ghost wanted to know ..
what would come next?
And could he stand against it when it arrived?
But before he could find his answer,
the battle neared its end.
The Empire’s victory seemed absolute.
The masked man V, now cornered,
finally unleashed Frey Starlight’s form,
his last, desperate transformation.
And with that, Frey himself had no choice but to step forward.
V’s rampage looked like the final breath of the Ultras’ resistance.
But Ghost Umbra knew better.
No ..
this wasn’t the end.
The real battle had yet to begin.
At least...
not yet.