The battle on the borders of Caelid was reaching its end.
The Imperial Army had advanced with terrifying force, crushing nearly all remaining resistance from the Ultras.
Once Frey Starlight defeated V, everything began to move rapidly ..
so rapidly it felt as if the entire war was collapsing inward.
The Empire went into a frenzy. Their advance was brutal, unstoppable.
The War of Darkness had raged for months,
and throughout those months, countless Imperial citizens had perished ..
both the soldiers who marched to fight and the innocents left behind.
Nothing would ever be the same after this war.
That much was certain.
And because of everything that had happened ..
the loss, the grief, the endless bloodshed—
the hatred between both sides had reached its peak.
That hatred turned the soldiers of the Empire merciless.
They slaughtered the Ultras without hesitation,
even those who fought to their final breath.
What began as a structured battle soon devolved into chaos.
At some point, the commanders lost control entirely.
The soldiers were no longer following orders ..
they were competing to see who could kill the most.
The battlefield had turned into a storm of blood and madness.
Amid the carnage, Gavid Lindman was finally defeated ..
brought down by Sir Alon Valerion and Maekar Valerion, who struck together.
His old comrade Mirgo managed to retreat, barely escaping the encirclement;
the Imperial troops failed to finish him off.
Gavid Lindman fought savagely until the end ..
the perfect image of a warrior who refused to fall,
a soldier who stood tall for the land that birthed him.
He drained his demonic contract to the last drop,
unleashing every ounce of his power and skill.
But in the end, defeat was inevitable.
The Imperials not only defeated him ..
they captured him.
Sir Alon had severed his sword arm in a lightning-fast strike that even Gavid’s phantom form couldn’t evade.
The capture of Gavid Lindman was the second blow to the Ultras,
right after V’s fall.
The morale of the Imperial troops soared to the heavens.
It was a catastrophe for the Ultras.
Within moments, the Imperial soldiers pushed them back even farther,
and the battle unexpectedly spilled inside Caelid itself.
This had not been part of the plan.
The Imperial commanders hadn’t wanted to drag the civilians of the city into the fighting ..
but the fury of war and the burning hatred within the soldiers made restraint impossible.
As the Ultras fled into the city streets,
the Imperial troops followed relentlessly ..
and a massacre began.
Blood flowed through Caelid’s streets.
Every Ultra who resisted was cut down without mercy.
From a distance, Aegon Valerion, the Supreme Commander, watched in silence.
That unsettling smile never left his face.
He could have stopped it at any moment.
The Empire had already won ..
there was no need for more blood.
But the prince said nothing.
He let the army tear through the city’s walls,
spreading ruin and death.
It was a complete slaughter ...
the Ultras were butchered both outside and within their own capital.
In the streets.
In the homes.
Everywhere.
Amid that nightmare, Snow Lionheart walked forward,
his steps heavy,
with most of the Elite Class gathered around him.
That formation existed by Frey’s insistence ..
he had ordered his comrades to remain near him.
Because of that, all of them saw what was happening.
And their faces darkened.
"This isn’t a battle anymore..." said Seris Moonlight,
staring at the crimson swamp that soaked her once-white boots.
"It’s a massacre."
The Massacre of Caelid.
Every passing second claimed dozens more lives.
As Snow and the others advanced slowly through the carnage,
they suddenly noticed a familiar figure emerging from the haze.
It was Frey.
He had returned to their ranks ..
and of course, no one was surprised he was unharmed, given his power.
But their eyes turned to what he was carrying in his arms.
"Frey... what are you doing?" Snow asked, frowning.
"Why did you bring him?"
The reaction was understandable.
The one Frey carried wasn’t just anyone—
it was V, the fallen hero of the Ultras,
defeated and drenched in his own blood.
Frey glanced at him briefly before looking back to Snow.
"I deliberately held back during my final strike," he said calmly.
"I kept him alive."
"And why would you do that?" Snow asked,
his tone sharp, the others equally displeased.
"That creature is one of the strongest among the Ultras," said Selina, the sorceress.
"He can copy others.
If we let him live, he might become something even worse."
Frey exhaled faintly.
"I know exactly what he’s capable of," he replied.
"That’s precisely why I chose to spare him.
His ability might prove useful one day."
He dropped V to the ground before them.
The young warrior lay there in a pitiful state, his body broken and soaked in blood ..
but what stood out most were the violet aura threads slithering through his body like serpents.
"I’ve infused him with my own aura," Frey said.
"I sealed every channel in his body—he won’t be able to move a muscle as long as I’m here.
I want him imprisoned."
He turned to Daemon Valerion.
"I’ll leave that to you, Daemon."
Daemon frowned at the sudden request but quickly understood why Frey had chosen him.
As a royal, Daemon had the authority to ensure the prisoner’s survival—
even someone as dangerous as V.
"I don’t know what you’re planning, Starlight," he said.
"But fine. Leave it to me."
"Thank you," Frey replied simply.
V was dragged away moments later,
leaving only the echoes of battle and the stench of blood in the air.
Frey had decided to spare his life ..
because after witnessing the true potential of that young man’s power,
a power that mirrored his own in terrifying ways,
he knew it might one day change everything.
Humans were far weaker than demons.
And Frey believed that such a gifted talent shouldn’t be wasted.
He would have to find a way to make V loyal to him .. or at the very least, an ally.
That would be difficult.
But now wasn’t the time to think about it.
The priority was the ongoing battle—or rather, the massacre.
Caelid had fallen.
The Empire now controlled nearly ninety percent of it in record time,
following the defeat of V and Gavid Lindman.
And during that conquest, one of the darkest atrocities since the beginning of the war unfolded.
The scene was horrific .. so much so that, for a moment,
the Imperial soldiers looked no different from the Ultras themselves,
especially the lower blood ranks who had lived their entire lives in cruelty and corruption.
"This... is the true nature of humanity."
Frey’s voice was cold as he gripped the Dark Sister with the Valerion grip.
He had preserved most of his strength during the fight against V;
he hadn’t been forced to exhaust anything significant.
That meant he was now at his peak, ready to strike down whatever emerged next.
And Frey was almost certain that something would emerge.
"I hate this atmosphere... it feels like pure darkness."
Snow muttered, stepping beside Frey as they both slowly approached the rear of Caelid.
He shared Frey’s unease, both of them sensing that a decisive variable was about to appear ..
they just didn’t know how or from where.
The Ultras had been slaughtered, and the war ..at least on the surface .. was over.
Amid the bloodshed, the screams, and the horror,
the Imperial soldiers had already begun to celebrate.
The Empire had triumphed over the Ultras.
The corrupt dominion that had plagued them for centuries had finally fallen,
and that was reason enough for celebration.