Chapter 15: Darkness Prepares Its Final Blow
Location: The Ruins of London Tower, after the battle
The sky above London was bloodred. Smoke still curled through the shattered remains of the Tower. Leon stood among the rubble, breathing heavily. The aftermath of Noctis' defeat still echoed in the cracks of the ruined ground.
Seraphine approached him, her steps slow, her expression unreadable.
"You've finally awakened your true power," she said, voice calm but eyes clouded with worry.
Leon's gaze remained fixed on the darkened horizon. His voice was low.
"But even that… might not be enough. Umbra is still alive."
Elliot came up beside him, wiping blood from his cheek. "I don't get it," he said. "You've merged light and darkness and defeated one of the strongest Shadow Guardians. So why… why does Umbra still remain?"
Seraphine was silent for a moment, then she looked up into the sky where crimson clouds stirred.
"Because Umbra isn't just darkness," she said softly. "He is one of its oldest forms. He is... something deeper. And what's coming—will be worse than anything we've faced."
A sudden tremor swept through the ground.
The air thickened. An invisible pressure weighed down on them.
Then came the sound.
A low, echoing pulse that shook their bones.
Leon's fingers trembled.
Far above them, in the churning sky, black lightning flashed—and a tear opened in the clouds.
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Scene 2: The Silence Before the Final War
Leon stared at the rift in the heavens.
From its dark depths, a pulse of pure malice radiated.
This wasn't fear—no, what he felt was deeper.
It was inevitability.
The feeling of something ancient, long-prophesied, stepping closer.
Seraphine turned to the Astra soldiers who had gathered in formation amid the rubble.
"Tell them all," she ordered, her voice strong. "There will be no retreat. If Umbra wants to swallow this world in shadow… he'll have to destroy every last one of us first!"
The warriors, though weary and wounded, roared in unison.
> "Astra never yields!"
Leon turned to Seraphine and Elliot, his voice low but steady.
"Are we ready for this?"
Elliot lifted his sword, the blade flickering with faint light. "We are now."
Seraphine looked skyward, a whisper escaping her lips like a vow.
"Come, Umbra. We've been waiting."
Then—the sky tore open.
Out of the rift stepped a figure cloaked in shadow deeper than night, wings of swirling darkness stretched wide, and a void-like aura crackled around his form.
Umbra had returned.
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End of Volume 2
The shadows deepen.
The final war is near.
And Leon… has only just begun to understand the true meaning of balance.
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