The highest floor of Valhena Tower had a silence no one had dared approach for years. The man who lived there, Commander Yuhen, resided in a solitary stone cell. His eyes were not blind, but they rarely opened to see, for what he gazed upon lay beyond the flesh.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviADUAtwND
The Xhu seeping from his doorway began to change with the first vibrations of dawn. A pressure hung in the air; every breath grew heavier. As the commander rose in his bed, he whispered before his eyelids opened:
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cPJXazCY7
“What powerful Xhu...”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAxzx6qK6m
The guard had changed downstairs. Palir, Guroa, and Shuan ascended the stairs. They paused. No one spoke in front of the door. They merely exchanged glances. Finally, Palir reached out and knocked three times on the heavy iron door.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBEvuN7IRQ
The door opened from within. Yuhen stood before them, upright. He wore no armor, only a long black robe with a rusty sword at his waist. His eyes were still closed.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwuXd8FfQj
“Commander…” Palir spoke, his voice hoarse. “That thing... has truly arrived.”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIsbhtBb7o
Yuhen opened his eyes. They were like gray marble, without irises, yet he saw—and remembered.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjD4vRByBNd
“For years, it visited me only in dreams,” he said. “Now it comes even before I sleep. This shore will demand bloodshed.”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7oeHUTHxW
He took up his sword, fastening the belt tightly. “Wake the tower. Light all the torches. Send out the ravens. Draw the chained barricades. Today, the gods remain silent. Today, you are your own gods.”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw24f02nKOc
Guroa quickly bowed his head in salute. “As you command, sir.”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ajbVFtDUS
Thus, Valhena spoke the name of blood aloud for the first time in many years.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj44FG1ypfN
When Empty Mist reached the shore, it did not halt. The coast cracked at its approach. Stones shattered as if awakened from a century-long slumber. The first to step off the ship was Pegwalsge. Where his foot touched, no grass grew. The earth retreated without resistance.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgagz7EFm70
His crew disembarked behind him. All were silent, yet their eyes burned with a bloodthirstiness unmatched. This silence was like a moan concealed within a storm. Darkness seeped from each face; their eyes bore no light, only meaning a meaning as ancient as death itself.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgnhX8bVww
The first greeting they received on land was fear in the eyes of waiting soldiers. Commander Yuhen had not yet arrived. The soldiers awaited orders, but no commands came. For Hollow Mist had already given an answer.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn1FeC4j9C
Some soldiers dropped their swords; others fell to their knees. The pressure of Xhu infiltrated them with a violence even the wind dared not challenge. The sky darkened like a curtain, clouds merging to deepen the shadows.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOqsFWtBQe
Pegwalsge stepped forward, bending slightly to touch the ground with his fingers. A faint cracking sound spread as if the earth recognized his cursed touch. The ground did not speak like gods, but it bore their wrath.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GSteiF4hL
“I haven’t touched soil this innocent in a long time,” Pegwalsge remarked. His voice held neither anger nor emotion, merely truth.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sbW4fpAol
He raised his head. As his eyes met the sky, lightning did not fall, but the silence that awaited it shook the heavens.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfOHso06iC
“Soon, nothing of its innocence will remain.”
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOHnO6xVGY
With those words, darkness intensified. His crew stood behind Pegwalsge as one body. Their eyes penetrated the soldiers’ souls, dissolving faith one by one.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pXWDSNoN4
And then, silence shattered upon the shore.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAguw6ZZ2y
Savael was the first to act. As he raised his palms to the sky, fragments of Xhu tore through the air. The sky turned crimson like blood. Spiraling rings of Xhu descended toward the soldiers. Those caught in its path spasmed violently; their flesh peeled away without even allowing screams. Eyes bulged from sockets, souls gnawed by Xhu.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbg2yPIXRQw
Vorun swung his chain, ringing the bell at its end. Some soldiers' hearts pounded as if they would burst from their chests. One ripped open his own stomach where he stood. Another clutched his ears and collapsed. A soldier struck by the chain was cleaved cleanly at the neck.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDgTI7tDaa
Eizma extended her tongue between her teeth, murmuring softly. The air around her warped. Soldiers began rubbing their eyes, seeing visions of their mothers’ corpses. One screamed, dropped his weapon, and fell to the ground, begging forgiveness, though no one was there to hear.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYVIhU5HgL
Karra remained silent, yet where she walked, the earth blackened, and grass turned to ash. Her shadow caused soldiers to choke themselves. One soldier gouged out his eyes. Karra simply walked.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNP85zjaWA
Narth, with his eyeless face, walked among the soldiers. Those glimpsing his darkness fell instantly. His Xhu betrayed even the light itself. One soldier collapsed, vomiting blood and bile simultaneously. Narth drew his sword, and with a psychopathic grin, split the man’s head down the middle.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1AS5AlAhH
And Pegwalsge.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIQ7yG3bKV
He placed his hand once more upon the ground, and a whisper spread not heard by ears, but felt in the bones. As his Xhu permeated the earth, soldiers' bones began cracking. Some exploded in place, their organs scattering outward, eyes fixed emptily. Others... merely stopped. No breath. No blinking. As if willingly abandoning life.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3GcJOmXCY
There had been 90 soldiers; now only 20 remained.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8BYw4eoHB
The shore was no longer silent, yet the earth did not appear satisfied with the bloodshed.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsNBdKJTnb
Only a few soldiers remained after the massacre. Like rain, black Xhu residue fell upon the corpses strewn across the ground. The sky was pitch black as if even the heavens had shut their eyes to this disgrace. The remaining soldiers could neither flee nor fight. They simply trembled.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdD1zfMj7gq
And then...
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkFlxxQ222
The chill in the air changed.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVL9WZdZj4D
A hum rose from beyond the shoreline. The earth trembled a second time but this time not from fear, but recognition. For the approaching presence carried no rage. It simply ruled.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoD9GsYmKxq
Commander Yuhen appeared at the western gate of Valhena Tower, walking with heavy steps. Behind him followed three naval soldiers: Palir, Guroa, and Shuan. They all walked through the stench of blood. But the one in front... was something else entirely.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgCQGIdYuA
With Yuhen’s every step, the ground cracked. Stones froze beneath his feet. The air wasn’t just cold it became sharp. Breathing was like swallowing blades.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hYcYpi8hz
Savael turned his head. “Something is coming,” he said, for the first time with seriousness.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VF3FLyt2M
Pegwalsge narrowed his eyes. His crew looked to him. None moved, but they all felt it.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNziG6aurq
Xhu... another kind of Xhu... a powerful Xhu... a colossal Xhu.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIgimcjzoQ
Yuhen halted. His ice-like gaze fixed on Pegwalsge. Pegwalsge had sensed the irregularity in Yuhen’s Xhu this wasn’t just pure Xhu.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTWGXBZ1Ck
It was the Glacial Orb.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHUJjdaaW6
As the naval soldiers stood before Pegwalsge and his crew, it became difficult to breathe. Eizma’s dark energy, Narth’s eyeless unease, and Karra’s bleak silence had already seeped into their bodies.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VkUy6VkBT
But then... Commander Yuhen’s Xhu descended upon them.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1gRpFmqtm
And everything balanced.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3X2YKi3SAG
“This... this is something else,” whispered Palir.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88WseAnEoB
“The Commander is like one of them... maybe even stronger,” said Eliar, his mouth dry.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgWXOarT4r
“I can feel both. Two abysses...” muttered Sennre.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxE6NWc0sC
Yuhen raised his hand. The three soldiers behind him stepped forward. Sennre and Eliar joined them. The few soldiers who had survived the earlier massacre straightened upon seeing the Commander. The fear in their eyes hadn’t vanished, but his presence... was like a kind of refuge.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftwifpacSY
As the wind shifted direction, Yuhen narrowed his eyes.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjConyDSeno
Pegwalsge and his crew wore masks that covered their mouths and noses. Symbols were embroidered on the cloth some bore the Red Sand of Jaleron, others the Three-Headed Dragon of Xakha.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnJVopT9tf
Yuhen paused for a moment. These symbols… they were Glatsyan emblems. The Red Sand represented Shera, the Three-Headed Dragon stood for Batsu.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8JYPm0htr
“Glatsyans?” he murmured.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqHsNdycKd
The sailors around Yuhen were stunned. The arrival of any Glatsyan was a harbinger of great danger, and none of them had ever encountered one before. But they had heard the names. In whispers. In curses. Figures some revered but most feared.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmDjZUWgJZ
Now everything made sense.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNVHupPzwG
The savagery, the power, the darkness of the Xhu he had felt of course it came from a Glatsyan.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48RtV8yUNF
This wasn’t a rebellion.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wrHHHAAgh
This… was a war.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0d8Ua9HbA
Yuhen spoke. His voice was not loud, but each word echoed as if etched in stone:
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbXToumH4g
“What do you want?” he asked.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7MSo7DAgY
Pegwalsge said nothing. His crew remained still. But on some of their lips, faint tension appeared. Eizma’s nails once again dug into her arm. Savael’s pupils narrowed.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYo27HB2dd
Yuhen drew his white ice blade, and once more the sky darkened.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6HWUEB3MJ
The battle had not yet begun.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3w1yNtPBG
But now...
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtBqWsJRhE
The sides had recognized one another.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYxypYgCR6
