The night air was heavy with the smell of blood and burning flesh. Smoke still rose from the ruins of the battlefield, bodies were strewn across the field like so much broken glass. Kaiza stood at the center with dark ichor soaking his blade of exotic metal, breath hard. Mina lurked behind him, golden flames barely sparking to life, the crinkled hands of fatigue reflecting through their shivering hands. The stranger who had saved them from the battle against the Order of the Hollow seemed to linger at the edges, hooding their face and shimmering a pair of silver eyes in shadow."You have meddled with things far beyond the understanding of creatures such as yourself," said the stranger, their voice an ice-cold hiss that worked its way into the marrow.Kaiza bit back a curse, gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly that his knuckles went white. "Who are you?"The stranger turned their face. "A keeper of balance. Witness to cycles of death and rebirth.” Their voice deepened. “And an en

The air was heavy with the smell of blood and smoke. All the sacred ruins of the battlefield had been desecrated; a number of bodies were scattered like broken dolls, while their souls were torn out of existence. The shattered stone pillars were howling a hollow wind that carried the whispers of the dead.They had fallen before him, and he stood in the wreckage, his blade still glimmering with the remnants of those he had slain. Sir Mina was right behind him, golden flames still trailing her in rebellion. They had only just endured the assault of the Order of the Hollow, yet the fight was far from over.And there was the darkened figure from earlier too, still far away in the distance, draped under a cloak. But Kaiza noticed something much worse.Through the ruins, there was a slow, deliberate clap.Then from the shadows stepped a man in red armor, gold symbols carved into its surface, crackling with dark energy. His features were hidden behind a distorted mask, but his power was oppr

The smell of death hung heavy in the air.Kaiza and Mina waited at the edge of a ruined village, their bodies taut, their breath shallow. The sky overhead was painted blood red, the blood moon cupped over the land like a harbinger of doom. Somewhere, around a distant corner, fires had already started crackling, their dying embers throwing eerie shadows over the remains of what had once been a prosperous settlement.Bodies spewed out on the ground, ripped apart by an invisible force. Some were nothing but smoldering shells, flesh burned and blackened beyond recognition, while others had gashes in their skins, as if something with unholy strength had taken them apart. Mina brought a hand to her mouth and choked back the bile in her throat.“This wasn’t the Order of the Hollow,” she whispered. "This was something else."Kaiza knelt next to a corpse, his fingertips gliding against the gouges stamped into the flesh. The cuts were clean, nearly surgical. He frowned. "No ordinary beast did t

The sky tore open like a chronic ulcer, ichor oozing in rotund coils. Oryx’s laughter filled the battlefield, low and unnatural, rattling in Kaiza’s bones. As if, just like the words you would utter, reality itself was crumbling under the weight he had to carry.Kaiza balled his fists, pain lancing through his body from his injuries. Barely conscious, Mina feebly clenched his arm. Her golden fire sputtered in between dimness, malignant else drained. They had just barely made it out of their last encounter alive. And now Oryx was coming back stronger.A giant clawed hand was formed from the void above, its fingers hanging impossibly long, leaking shadow. Oryx’s voice came from somewhere and nowhere all at once.“Did you really think I could be defeated so easily?”Kaiza tightened his grip on his sword. “I will cut down as many as whatever it takes.Oryx chuckled. “So let’s put that conviction to the test.”More appendages slithered from the rift with a sickening squelch, gripping the r

The night was heavy with tension. The stench of charred flesh and blood fills the air, a reminder of a war fought, of battles waged by Kaiza and Mina. The silence that had settled after the Order of the Hollow had confronted them the last time hadn’t been a relief either it had only foretold the arrival of something more horrible.Blade dripping red, Kaiza roared at the swath of death on the battlefield. His wounds throbbed, but the pain was secondary to the weight pressing down on his mind. Mina sat beside him, propped against a fallen pillar, her golden flames flickering weakly as fatigue began to overtake her.“We can’t live here,” Kaiza muttered. "More will come."Mina nodded, though her gaze was unfocused. Something was wrong.The silence was broken by a rustling sound.Kaiza’s instincts flared. He turned toward the void outside the ruins. The earth bucked, low rumbles, imperceptible at first, but slowly escalating. The darkness was snaking and morphing once more into something f