The sky burned as Kaelen and Endless hovered high above the battlefield, storms of energy clashing around them. Light blue lightning cracked against blackened clouds, and the very fabric of Aetheris seemed to groan under the weight of two wills poised to collide.

Endless smirked on his zone of corrupted air, his dark aura expanding until the heavens themselves seemed to bow. "Tell me, boy… do you truly think this little rebellion of yours matters? Do you think cutting down a handful of pawns will turn the tide? You are children, grasping at sparks in the dark while I wield the inferno itself." His eyes glimmered with malice, and his voice rolled like prophecy. "You are fighting inevitability, and inevitability does not lose."

Kaelen's grip tightened on the Blade of Eternity, its glow reflecting in his eyes. He could feel the weight of his allies' struggles below, the chaos, the desperation—but also the strength that pulsed between them, invisible yet unbreakable. His answer came sharp and defiant, carried on winds that cut deeper than steel.

"You're right," Kaelen said coldly, raising his sword until it gleamed like a beacon against the abyss. "We can't turn the tide alone." His gaze pierced Endless's, unwavering. "But you're wrong about one thing—" his voice thundered, shaking the skies.

"You've got power. We've got unity."

As if the words were a signal, the battlefield below erupted.

Charlotte staggered forward through the blood-soaked dirt, her armor cracked and smeared crimson, her hands trembling. For years, she had feared the legacy of her father—the Divine Shield, the ultimate technique that had taken his life when he dared wield it against forces far beyond his strength. She had sworn to her mother that she wouldn't follow her father's footsteps, never to let herself be swallowed by its merciless cost.

And now, with her friends behind her, with Eldoria's warriors gasping in despair as the horde threatened to drown them all… she was about to find out if she will be able to hold up to her swear as she raised her broken shield and screamed.

"DIVINE SHIELD!"

And an instance later....

A blinding radiance burst outward.

The battlefield froze as a massive wall of golden light erupted around Charlotte, vast and absolute, stretching like a dome that encompassed the warriors of Eldoria. The frenzied claws of goblins shattered on its surface. Orc axes rang against it like brittle glass. The labyrinth creatures hurled themselves with maddened force, only to recoil with screams as the divine aura burned their flesh.

She did not falter.

Her feet dug deep into the ground, her shield glowing like the sun, her body trembling but unbroken. For every strike that fell, Charlotte stood taller. For every roar that battered the golden barrier, her eyes burned brighter.

Unlike her father, there was no blood pouring from her mouth. No crumbling body collapsing beneath the strain.

Charlotte endured.

And more than that—she grew.

Indomitable. Unshakable. A shield not only of steel and light, but of the will of her people.

Behind her, the warriors of Eldoria stared in stunned silence, their fear replaced with awe. Tears welled in some eyes, while others raised their weapons high, their war cries echoing behind her.

"She… she's holding them all back."

"Alone…"

"No… not alone," whispered Drake, tightening his grip on his sword. His voice rose, breaking into a roar that spread like wildfire across the lines. "She shields us—so we fight behind her! Eldoria, STRIKE!"

The battlefield ignited. Eldoria's forces surged forward in unison, their spirits reignited, their blades sharper, their hearts untamed.

Above them, Endless's smirk faltered for the second time, his gaze flicking downward as he felt the collective surge of will—the same unity Kaelen had spoken of. He clenched his teeth, his aura flaring.

Kaelen leveled his blade, his voice cutting through the storm.

"That's the difference between you and us, Endless." His wings of energy unfurled, dazzling in their brilliance. "You rule through fear. We rise through each other. That's why you'll fall."

The storm split as the two forces prepared to clash—dark infinity against eternal unity—while below, Charlotte's shield blazed like the sun, and the warriors of Eldoria surged forth as one.

The battle for Aetheris was no longer a fight for survival.

It had become a fight of ideals and beliefs.

But right at that moment.....

The heavens shuddered.

The moment Kaelen finished speaking, Endless's grin finally cracked. His calm, arrogant facade fractured into something else—rage. Madness. The black aura around him surged into a tempest, swallowing the horizon until the skies themselves seemed to scream in agony.

"You DARE lecture me?" Endless's voice boomed, shaking even the earth below. "I have devoured kings, broken gods, and crushed empires beneath my hand. I AM THE ABYSS! You—" his words cut into a feral roar as his form blurred, faster than thought, "—ARE NOTHING!"

He struck.

Kaelen's senses screamed an instant before Endless's clawed hand slammed toward him with the force of collapsing stars. He crossed the Blade of Eternity just in time. The impact thundered, splitting the clouds apart, sending waves of raw force rippling down to the battlefield below.

The people of Eldoria froze for a moment as the sky above them cracked with light and shadow, as if two worlds were colliding.

Kaelen gritted his teeth, his arms trembling under the immense pressure. Endless's strength was suffocating, overwhelming, every blow layered with the weight of devoured realms. And yet—Kaelen held.

With a guttural roar, he twisted his blade, forcing Endless back just a fraction. His wings of eternity flared, scattering threads of radiant blue across the sky. "I won't fall to you," Kaelen growled, surging forward with a slash that carved through the storm itself.

Endless slipped past it with inhuman grace, his laughter manic. "You won't fall? You're already drowning!"

He moved faster than Kaelen could blink, his fist slamming into Kaelen's ribs. Agony erupted through his body as he was hurled across the sky like a meteor. Kaelen caught himself, spinning midair, his blade flashing to parry the follow-up strike that threatened to tear him apart.

The clash sent shockwaves across the battlefield. The warriors below were buffeted by the gales of destruction, many shielding their eyes as light and shadow warred in the heavens.

"Kaelen…" Kelvin whispered from the ruins of the throne room, his scythe tightening in his grip as he felt the other power of the Void and Chaos magic becoming more unrelenting.

"Don't you see?" Endless's voice cut through the chaos, venomous and triumphant. His blows rained down like hammers of fate, each one heavier than the last. Kaelen parried, blocked, was driven back again and again. "Every strike you meet, every breath you take, is a mercy I allow you. You think this is a battle? This is me indulging your delusion!"

Kaelen's chest heaved, his arms numb, his entire being straining under the assault. Yet within him, the Blade of Eternity pulsed, whispering strength, whispering defiance. His eyes glowed brighter, his aura flaring with stubborn brilliance.

"You… won't break me," he said through gritted teeth. His counter came swift—a horizontal slash of radiant eternity that forced Endless back, cutting deep into the abyssal storm around him.

For the first time, Endless's smile twitched.

Then it returned, darker, sharper. "Good. Resist me. It makes your eventual collapse so much sweeter."

He spread his arms wide, his aura ballooning until the sky itself seemed ready to cave in. His next charge shattered the very air between them.

Kaelen braced, blade raised high, wings beating furiously against the storm. The sky lit with their collision—Eternity versus Abyss—as thunder and light split Aetheris in two.

Below, the armies duked it out as they wanted the battle up above in awe and dread, it even got to an extent that their battle were forgotten for a heartbeat as they stared upward at the gods of their age.

The clash raged, blow after blow, strike after strike, Endless pushing harder, Kaelen refusing to fall. Their power sundered clouds, tore rifts into the heavens, and sent burning debris raining upon the land.

But despite his defiance, Kaelen was being driven back, forced inch by inch toward the edge of collapse.

And still—he stood.

The last strike of the exchange detonated in an explosion of shadow and radiance, blinding the world. As the light faded, the two figures hovered in the shattered skies, battered but unbroken. Endless's grin widened, triumphant. Kaelen's chest heaved, his blade trembling in his grip—but his eyes burned with unyielding fire.

The war of gods was only just beginning.

And neither would yield.

"It seems like you are naturally a shy kid"

Just when Kaelen began to doubt himself on if he could actually do it, Eternity who has been awfully quiet in him for quite some time suddenly spoke up.

'Huh? What do you mean by that?' Kaelen asked back with a confused look on his face. But the question Eternity gave him as an answer changed his facial expression instantly.

"When are you actually going to start using my powers?"