The world seemed to tilt under Kaiza's feet as he saw Mina, her eyes empty and dead, standing on the edge of the chasm. The power of the unbroken cycle environed her, a wild mix of shadows and light that beat with an odd, unnatural rhythm. She was no longer the girl he had known, the one whose laughter had rung out in the corridors of his memories. The girl he had vowed to defend was now a part of something much greater and much darker.His heart pounded in his chest, the rhythm of it echoing in his ears, louder than the cacophony of war, louder than the flame's crackle and the earth's ear-splitting shudder as it tore apart under him. He experienced a foul weight, a suffocating hollowness that filled his lungs with difficulty. The cycle was more than a natural force. It was something, a something that had existed way before Kaiza had been on this earth, a something that had lived through the boom and bust of civilizations. And now, it had taken her."Mina!" Kaiza bellowed, his throat

The earth shook as the voice resonated within Kaiza's mind, a low, raspy whisper that was neither here nor there, yet hauntingly familiar at the same time. He hung motionless, sword suspended halfway through the motion, the crunch of reality itself reverberating within the innermost recesses of his psyche. There was no going back. He had passed the boundary. The burden of the curse he had borne for centuries weighed heavier than ever, but this. This was different. Far darker.The figures no, they were no longer figures anymore appeared to balloon, their presence ever more suffocating as the earth under Kaiza's feet creaked and shattered. He could feel the very ground under him writhing in pain, as if the world itself was trying to stay together."You are at the end, Kaiza," the first figure the shadow one spoke, its voice that of a thousand whispers. It was as if it were speaking to him through every strand of his body, avoiding his ears and hitting directly at his soul. "This is wher

Kaiza was swallowed by darkness. His chest constricted with each breath, the crushing pressure of shadow bearing down on him from every direction. The whisper of his name Mina's voice danced in the recesses of his mind, a faint, mournful refrain. Her face danced in his memory like the dying sparks of a fire reduced to ashes, not quite willing to be extinguished. But with this ravenous void set before her, she was nothing more than a whisper of light, too dainty to confront the encroaching shadows.The darkness that surrounded him throbbed, like it was alive, and Kaiza felt its icy, evil presence slithering under his skin. It wasn't the land alone that was tainted it was the very fabric of reality itself, unwinding with every second. Time was no longer linear; the lines between past, present, and future started to blur, warping everything in Kaiza's perception.He pushed himself up, his body weighed down by the oppressive weight of the darkness. His legs trembled, his breathing shallow

The battlefield was quiet except for the heavy breathing of Kaiza as he struggled to hold back the ceaseless waves of wraiths. The monsters that had come out of the Abyss were unrelenting dark, otherworldly beings that ripped at his body and soul, as if the very essence of his being was being pulled taut. His sword sang through the air, the only thing between him and the ceaseless terrors that tried to take him.But in spite of his desperate struggle, the shadows grew more numerous by the second. They leapt up from the ground, as if the very earth had turned against him. His body, however immortal, began to crack under the burden of centuries of fighting. Every blow drained more from him than the last."Mina…" he panted, his eyes scanning the battlefield for the young girl he had vowed to protect. There, in the distance, he spotted her bloodied, her body slumped against a shattered wall, ringed by the dark wraiths. His heart constricted as he pressed on, stumbling through the debris,

Reality itself seemed to shatter around Kaiza, as if time had been bent into an undesirable curve. Pressure filled the air, the load of destiny bearing down upon him like a massive anvil. His throat constricted, the creature's claw clamping harder as his sight faltered and the world tipped away. Darkness closed in.His body would not respond. His sword was left lying on the ground, forgotten and useless, its edge dulled by the fight against the mermaid. The air reeked of death the bodies of the battlefield where his comrades had died and the mermaid had been killed. But now Kaiza understood; the war was not yet done. It was only just starting.You can't escape your fate," the ancient beast spat, its empty eyes shining with an awful hunger. Its bony fingers closed harder, shutting Kaiza's breath off altogether.Kaiza struggled, his hands shaking as they tried to find any grip. He wasn't ready to die not this way, not in the grasp of this monstrosity. His mind flashed to Mina. She had a