"The battlefield taught me one thing," Abraham said coldly.
"Never give the enemy a chance to rise again—no matter how small that chance may be."
He lunged immediately toward Wesker’s body, intent on erasing what remained of him from existence.
All of this unfolded under Gehrman’s gaze—who did not move an inch.
"You’re not wrong, Abraham," Gehrman said quietly, then lifted his head toward the sky.
The earlier battle had scattered all clouds, leaving the night sky fully exposed—stars glittered brilliantly around a fractured moon, its shards resonating strangely in the heavens.
Gehrman’s eyes ignited with a deep blue glow, his face overtaken by solemn composure and cold dignity.
"Soon, the nightmare will begin.
Death will awaken.
The King will descend.
And the chains will shatter."
He raised his hand, his eyes glowing ever brighter .. as though reciting a prophecy.
"Balance will collapse.
The closest will perish.
And the end will begin.
The Shattering is near ..
It will be horrific...
And dark."
"Yet necessary."
Gehrman lowered his head, his face utterly devoid of emotion.
"The countdown has begun.
Seventy-two days from now, the Shattering will commence.
To make that happen—"
For a brief moment... Gehrman’s expression darkened.
"This battle must continue."
Under the night sky, Gehrman hovered alone.
Abraham appeared instantly before Wesker’s body, swinging his sword ..
Only for the blade to collide with something unnatural.
Something cold.
Something solid.
Something evil.
Abraham was the first to notice—then Gehrman, and finally Frey.
From within Wesker’s corpse, something emerged and stopped Abraham’s blade mid-strike.
Abraham froze, unable to push forward.
"This... a shadow?" he muttered, frowning, unable to comprehend the origin of that hand seemingly forged from darkness.
At that moment, a strange, foreign voice echoed.
"My foolish, pitiful brother...
You finally led yourself to destruction."
The voice was wicked .. sending chills through everyone present.
In the next instant ..
A colossal force struck Abraham, hurling him away until he crashed into the ground far in the distance.
Gehrman descended slowly from the sky, while Frey stood tense and alert.
Wesker’s bloodied corpse sank gradually into the shadows until it vanished completely ..
And in its place... something else emerged.
Slowly, a new body formed within the void.
A demoness appeared .. strikingly similar to Wesker.
Her long hair was violet, her eyes glowing the same hue.
She stood completely naked, her demonic body fully exposed, wings and shadows coiling around her without concealment.
Her presence was suffocating ..
Far worse than Wesker’s ever was.
Her gaze swept across the battlefield in an instant, immediately identifying her enemies.
"This situation is worse than I expected," she said coldly.
Gehrman responded calmly,
"Did you come to save your brother? How touching."
He clasped his hands together, smiling faintly.
"I never imagined demons valued family bonds," he added.
"Third-Rank Demon... Vayne."
Gehrman’s provocation caused Vayne’s eyes to narrow as shadows slowly expanded beneath her feet.
"Shut your mouth, Nameless’s dog."
With a single gesture ..
The shadows exploded outward at an unbelievable speed, engulfing the entire area until everyone stood atop an enormous shadow.
The King’s Shadow.
"We, the Greater Demon Ranks, are not prey to be hunted so easily," Vayne threatened .. then smiled.
"Killing one of us will bring you nothing but catastrophe."
"You don’t seem surprised by my arrival. Did you perhaps anticipate this?"
In response, Gehrman closed his eyes and chuckled softly.
"I have no answer to give you. You’ve played your cards far too quickly .. this battle has dragged on long enough."
"As you wish," Vayne replied in a chilling tone .. then an overwhelming pressure crashed down upon the area.
For the first time, Gehrman frowned as the crushing force tightened around him.
"The King’s Shadow grants me dominion over shadows," Vayne continued. "I embedded my power within my brother’s shadow long ago, in preparation for the day he might be on the brink of death."
"In any case... I can now manifest from shadows wherever they exist—and I..." Her smile deepened before she finished, "...can bring a bit of company with me through them."
The moment her words ended, two beings emerged from her shadow.
Overwhelmingly powerful demons .. so oppressive that the pressure intensified to a terrifying degree.
The first was strange .. not quite a demon, but something else entirely.
His hair was sky-blue, his body towering well over two meters .. broad-framed and heavily muscled, all concealed beneath a long black robe that split behind him like drifting shadows.
He carried an enormous sword, larger than his towering frame .. a blade that looked less like a weapon and more like a solid mass of iron.
It was a face Gehrman knew all too well.
"Rank Nine... Nito."
That was the traitor of the Pantheon race—Nito of the dragons.
The beast who once held the rank of Dragon Emperor under the command of the Number One among the Seven Great Powers—the Dragon God Midir—had arrived today as Rank Nine of the Upper Demons.
Yet it was not Nito who drew Gehrman’s scowl .. but the other figure who came with him.
A demon—masked, with an unremarkable physique and an ordinary aura—yet his presence was utterly different.
He wore a jester-like mask carved into a wide grin, revealing nothing but his crimson eyes.
He stepped forward at once, passing Vayne and placing himself at the forefront as though he were the leader.
"Rank Eleven... the Host of Nightmares, Amon."
Enemies had arrived from nowhere, and the Shadow Sect’s position had once again turned unfavorable.
Abraham rose to his feet, his thoughts consumed only by his children.
Frey, meanwhile, clenched his teeth, struggling to suppress his power .. fully aware he might be forced into battle at any moment.
As for Gehrman, he alone remained unshaken, standing calmly before these uninvited guests.
At first, Vayne seemed to be the one in command .. only natural, given that she was the highest-ranked demon present.
Yet, unexpectedly, she lowered her head and stepped back, yielding everything to Amon, who took the lead as if this were the most natural outcome imaginable.
"So... Zibar is dead," Amon said from behind his mask, clasping his hands behind his back.
"And Wesker, uncharacteristically, failed to complete his mission. How disgraceful." He showed clear regret .. followed by a mocking growl from Nito, who folded his arms with a sneer.
"Pathetic—losing to mere humans and a relic of a bygone age chasing lost glory."
At Nito’s mockery, Vayne clenched her fist unconsciously, displeased.
"It’s too early to speak of failure," she retorted. "We are here, and we will complete the mission. As long as Wesker carries my shadow, he has not failed."
But Amon raised a single finger before his mask .. and she fell silent at once.
What had just occurred raised many questions about the true hierarchy among the Upper Demons.
For some reason, Amon appeared to hold absolute authority .. even over demons ranked above him.
"Wesker had one task," Amon continued. "Retrieve Nameless’s vessel and eradicate the remnants of the Shadow Sect. He failed at both. There are no excuses."
He paused briefly before adding,
"However, I will give you the chance to correct this, Vayne. Here and now—kill Saint Gehrman and reclaim the vessel."
The Host of Nightmares issued his command .. and it was clear that this was exactly what Vayne had been waiting for.
In an instant, shadow threads shot up into the sky, sealing every path of escape around Gehrman and Frey.
"I was waiting to hear those words."
A horrifying smile split Vayne’s face as she ascended skyward, unleashing a crushing pressure that ravaged the surroundings.
Facing that overwhelming force, Gehrman clasped his hands together, weariness and irritation crossing his features.