The sky above the Ember Host twisted like torn cloth.
A spiral of black lightning stretched across the horizon. From its center rose the Voidspire—an obsidian tower so tall it stabbed the stars. Once, it had been the Blade Emperor's sanctuary.
Now, it was the throne of ruin.
Kaito stared at it in silence.
"This is it," he said. "Where the world fractured. Where I… broke."
Kaelyra nodded grimly. "Where he waits."
"Your brother," Isha added. "The true traitor."
Kaito's eyes flared.
"Raien."
---
The march began.
Each step toward the Voidspire bent reality. Gravity pulsed in waves. Time slipped—days compressed into minutes, or seconds stretched into hours.
The Ember Host pressed on, anchored by Kaito's will.
But resistance grew.
The terrain fought back—flames that froze, rivers of sand whispering doubts, floating shards of forgotten realms.
"You will fail again."
"You abandoned us."
"You are no Emperor."
Kaito ignored the voices.
But his hand trembled.
---
At the gates of the Voidspire, Raien's army awaited.
Clad in Voidsteel, eyes glowing with the Sovereign Mark, they formed a wall of silence.
Raien stepped forward—Kaito's mirror in form, but not in soul.
He wore a black version of the Blade Emperor's armor.
"Brother," he said, voice calm. "You've reclaimed the fragments. Impressive."
"You shattered the world," Kaito answered. "I'm putting it back together."
Raien smiled. "No. You're delaying the inevitable."
Then, with a flick of his hand, the battle began.
---
Chaos erupted.
Kaelyra led a squad into the left flank, clashing with former comrades turned Voidspawn.
Isha disappeared into the right shadows, blades finding throats in silence.
Kaito met Raien in the center.
Blade against blade.
Blood against blood.
They fought like twin storms.
"Why did you betray us?" Kaito shouted.
"I didn't," Raien growled. "I *saved* us. You were weak. You wanted peace in a world made for conquest."
"And you wanted power at any cost."
Raien smirked.
"Power… is truth."
---
As the sky cracked open, Kaito knocked Raien back.
"I've seen three realms rise from ruin," Kaito shouted. "Yours will fall."
With one final charge, Kaito struck—
But Raien vanished into the Voidspire.
"Come and take it," his voice echoed.
Kaito turned to his army.
"This ends inside."