The City of Titans loomed before them, its towers carved from celestial stone and veined with glowing runes. Every step Kaito and Kaelyra took echoed against the emptiness of the vast floating bridge, a path suspended between stars and forgotten ages.
Though the titan had allowed them passage, the tension in the air was palpable. Shadows flickered at the edges of their vision—whispers from the Elderguard awakening deep beneath the city's heart.
"Stay alert," Kaito warned. "They are cunning, more than mere warriors. They twist reality."
Kaelyra nodded, feeling a chill despite the cosmic warmth of the realm. Her fingers brushed her pendant, a gift from the Blade Emperor's lineage—a fragment of starfire said to protect against eldritch magics.
As they approached the gates, ancient stone shifted, revealing a labyrinth of corridors filled with glowing glyphs and moving murals. The murals told stories of battles long past: gods wielding impossible power, armies crushed beneath celestial blades, and the fall of the Elderguard into eternal slumber.
Suddenly, the walls trembled. The runes flashed violently, illuminating a deep fissure tearing through the floor. From it emerged forms—ethereal, grotesque, their eyes hollow voids of black fire.
The Elderguard had risen.
Kaito tightened his grip on the Primordial Blade. "This is only the beginning."
Kaelyra summoned her magic, weaving a barrier of shimmering light around them.
The first shadow lunged, its form twisting and dissolving before impact, but more came—surging like a tide of nightmare.
Together, they fought, blades and spells moving as one. But with every fallen wraith, two more took its place.
"This is no ordinary battle," Kaelyra gasped. "They feed off our fear... our doubt."
Kaito's voice was steady, though his eyes burned with fierce determination. "Then we give them nothing."
Drawing deep on the legacy of the Blade Emperor, he unleashed a surge of power that sent a shockwave through the labyrinth, scattering the shadows like ash in the wind.
Breathing hard, they pressed onward, deeper into the city's heart, where destiny awaited in the form of an ancient secret long buried and the next challenge in their quest to save not just their world, but all realms.
The war was far from over.