CHAPTER 369: CHAPTER 358: LET IT BEGIN.

The Mirror Realm pulsed faintly in the distance—an orb of fractured light, suspended in the grey sky like a wound that refused to close. It shimmered, then stilled, then shimmered again, as though breathing.

Atlas was within.

And Aurora could not stand still.

The plains of the Third Layer stretched endlessly before her, a scorched and crimson expanse that stank of iron and ozone. The air was thick with energy, restless, alive. Every heartbeat seemed to echo through the armies gathered across the horizon—angels and demons, united beneath the same banners for the first time in eternity.

Her boots crunched against the glass-like soil as she walked beside the Elder. His cloak of blackened silk trailed behind him, whispering secrets with every step. His face was hidden beneath a hood, but his presence was a gravity that bent the air.

Ahead waited the assembled generals—four Archangels and four Demon Kings—each a storm in flesh. Their forms shone like contradictions: light and shadow, flame and frost, divinity and sin.

Uriel stood first, her eyes like suns. Beside her, Gabriel’s feathers shimmered in subtle gray. Raphael bore the scars of countless healings, each one etched into his skin as scripture. And then Sciel—the youngest of the four—her wings like molten dark glass, beautiful and dangerous.

Opposite them, the Demon Kings waited. Jenny, the Witch Queen, with a crown of burning thorns. Galiath, the hive mind, the red Lion, whose mane seemed alive with the ghosts of his kills. Lydia, the previous demon king, whose smile promised death.

Aurora paused before them, breath catching. For a moment, she allowed herself the luxury of disbelief.

This is real, she thought. This is actually happening.

Once, this had been a journey to heal a friend—a quest for the Amrit, a myth older than heaven’s light. She had thought it would be a short descent, a story with an end. Now she stood at the edge of war, a high mage among monsters and gods.

She exhaled slowly, steadying herself.

The Elder’s voice broke the silence, low and deep as shifting earth. "They await your words, High Mage."

Aurora looked up sharply. "Mine?"

"Atlas is within the Mirror," he said. "Until he returns, you speak in his stead."

Her throat tightened. She wanted to protest, to say she had no right to stand before beings who could unmake her with a glance. She was flesh and mind, not flame and eternity.

But she also knew there was no one else.

She looked down at her hands—the same hands that had held dying soldiers, drawn runes in blood, torn open the veil between worlds. They trembled faintly now. Not from fear, but from the weight of meaning.

She straightened. "Then I will speak."

The armies waited in a half-circle, their banners flickering in the ashen wind. The smell of sulfur and burnt myrrh clung to everything. Even the light seemed heavier here, filtered through smoke.

Aurora stepped forward.

’lets give a heartfelt dignified speech of lies.’

Her voice, when it came, was small at first. "When Atlas came to me," she began, "I thought he was mad."

A few heads turned. Some smirked.

"He spoke of bridging Heaven and Hell," she continued, louder now, "of ending the cycle of obedience and rebellion. He spoke of healing the world—not through peace, but through truth."

She paused, eyes moving across the gathering.

Raphael’s wings rustled softly. Galiath’s tail lashed against the ground, scattering sparks. Even the Lion King’s eyes flickered faintly, acknowledging her words.

"I didn’t believe him," Aurora said. "I thought he was another fool trying to outshine the gods."

Her gaze drifted toward the Mirror Realm in the distance. "But he became something else. A bridge. A guide."

She thought of Atlas kneeling beside the dying mortal they had come to save, whispering promises he could not yet keep. She remembered his eyes—the weight in them, the grief.

He never wanted to conquer, she realized. He wanted to protect what remained.

"And now," Aurora said, "he faces Asmodeus—the last Demon King of the Third Layer. Alone."

The name rippled through the crowd like lightning. Even among demons, Asmodeus was legend.

Aurora lifted her chin. "He went without fear. Without hesitation. So what right have we to doubt? If Atlas can face a god, then we can face this war."

Her voice rose, sharp and bright against the storm. "Because this war isn’t Heaven against Hell. It’s existence against extinction."

The Archangels stirred. Uriel’s hand closed around her spear, the weapon glowing with divine light. The Demon Kings shifted, claws scraping the earth, eyes gleaming with hunger.

Aurora felt their attention gather on her like a tide.

She hesitated only for a breath, then continued.

"Atlas once said faith is not believing in gods—it’s believing despite them. He believes in us. So let’s give him reason to."

The air quivered.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Jenny, the Witch Queen, began to clap slowly. "Well spoken, mortal."

The Lion King’s laughter rumbled low and dangerous, like an avalanche. "Faith in the Guide, then," he said.

Uriel struck the butt of his spear against the ground—once, twice, three times. Each strike sent a ripple through the ranks. The demons answered with the pounding of blades against shields.

Soon the entire field was alive with sound.

Angels hammered the earth with their spears. Demons roared. Armor clashed. Wings flared. The noise grew until it became something primal, ancient—a chorus older than creation.

Aurora stood in the center of it, breathless, heart hammering. The ground beneath her feet thrummed with power, as if even the stones had awakened to the call of war.

She raised her hand—and the noise fell silent.

"Then prepare," she said, her voice ringing clear. "For when the Guide returns, we march."

The Elder stepped closer, his voice quiet enough only she could hear. "You’ve done well."

Aurora looked up at him, the adrenaline still burning in her veins. "I only said what he would have said."

The Elder’s hood tilted. "That is precisely why it mattered."

She looked toward the Mirror Realm again. Its light pulsed—once, twice—like a heartbeat.

"Do you trust him?" the Elder asked.

Aurora hesitated.

"I trust what he fights for," she said finally. "Even if I don’t understand what he’s becoming."

The Elder’s silence was answer enough.

The night deepened. Shadows lengthened across the plains, drawn long and sharp by the crimson glow from the horizon.

The Archangels and Demon Kings broke apart, their armies forming ranks behind them—an ocean of wings and horns, banners and flame.

Aurora wandered to the edge of the encampment, away from the noise. The air was cooler here, tinged with the scent of brimstone and blood.

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to still her mind. But thoughts came like stormwinds.

Atlas...

A faint tremor rippled through the ground—an echo of energy, faint but unmistakable. The Mirror Realm pulsed brighter for a moment, then dimmed.

Something within her tightened.

She remembered the first time she had seen him—Atlas, just a baby before her , a mortal child , a mortal prince, born to rule, but His eyes had been full of that same impossible conviction then.

She had thought it madness. Maybe it still was.

You always wanted more from the world, she thought.

Her hand brushed the small amulet hanging from her neck—a shard of the first key, bound to her by blood and rune. It pulsed faintly, warm against her skin, responding to some distant resonance.

Behind her, she heard footsteps.

It was Uriel. His armor gleamed faintly in the dying light. "You shouldn’t be alone," he said.

"I’m fine," Aurora replied.

"Lies," he said gently. "Even gods know fear. So should you."

She turned to face him. "You think I’m afraid?"

"I think you’re pretending not to be....Even after death, hell claims us alive. But you...."

Aurora looked away. "If I falter, death."

"Perhaps," Uriel said. "But strength without fear is arrogance. Atlas would not want you to become that."

She said nothing.

For a moment, Uriel’s hand rested on her shoulder. The weight of it was strangely comforting—like a fragment of the divine that hadn’t yet forgotten compassion.

Then he stepped back and looked toward the armies. "They’re waiting for him."

"We all are," she said.

Hours passed.

The sky bled into deeper shades of crimson and violet. The air shimmered with heat.

And then, without warning, the Mirror Realm cracked.

Light poured out—white, gold, and shadow all at once. The armies turned as one. Weapons rose. Wings flared.

Aurora shielded her eyes as the brilliance consumed the horizon.

When it faded, Atlas stood before them.

He emerged from the smoke slowly, the light fading around him like a dying storm. His armor was scorched. His eyes were calm. And on his lips, a faint, impossible smile.

Aurora’s breath caught.

He looked changed—not wounded, but heavier, as if the weight of something vast and ancient now rested inside him.

He walked toward them, and wherever his boots touched the ground, the ash turned briefly to glass.

The Archangels knelt. The Demon Kings bowed.

Aurora only whispered, "Atlas..."

He looked at her. For a heartbeat, something passed between them—recognition, relief, and something darker beneath it.

Then he turned to the armies.

"Let the war," he said softly, "begin."