The calm shattered like glass.
Far beyond the Hollow Nexus, a thunderous roar echoed—a sound not of dragons or warriors, but of an empire awakened. The Iron Sovereign, a ruler who had long gathered power in shadows, had declared his war.
Minwoo, Kinro, and the guild stood together as the ground trembled beneath their feet.
"The Sovereign's armies march," Selene said, voice tight. "He's bringing the full weight of his iron legions."
Kael tightened his grip on his spear. "We need to move—fast."
Minwoo raised the Nexusblade, its edges gleaming with the new power of the Eclipse Edge and Chrono Veil.
"This fight will test everything," Minwoo said, eyes sharp. "But we will stand. And we will burn brighter than any empire."
Kinro roared, wings spreading wide, flames licking at the sky as a fiery signal.
The battle for the world had truly begun.
The horizon burned crimson as the Iron Sovereign's armies advanced, an endless sea of steel and smoke rolling toward the Hollow Nexus. War drums thundered like a heartbeat of destruction, echoing across the shattered lands.
Minwoo stood at the forefront, the Nexusblade humming with power, his shadow domain swirling softly around him. Beside him, Kinro flexed his wings, sparks dancing from his claws.
"Hold the line," Minwoo commanded, voice calm but resolute. "We fight for every moment, every memory that the Sovereign wants to erase."
Selene began weaving her glyphs into the air, walls of glowing mythlight rising like sentinels. Kael moved among the fighters, rallying the guild, spear flashing in the dying light.
From the east, the first wave surged forward — ironclad soldiers adorned with dark runes that sapped the land's warmth, engines of war that churned with brutal efficiency.
Kinro unleashed a blazing roar, fire and shadow pouring from his maw, searing through the enemy ranks. His flames turned steel to molten slag, carving a path for the defenders.
Minwoo stepped forward, the Nexusblade striking arcs of pure energy, slicing through iron and enchantment alike. Time bent around his strikes, the Chrono Veil slowing the enemy's reaction, allowing each blow to find its mark.
The battle erupted in a maelstrom of steel, flame, and mythlight. The Iron Sovereign's wrath was a storm, but Minwoo and his allies were the flame that refused to be extinguished.
As the first tide of soldiers fell, a new shadow darkened the sky.
A colossal war machine, crowned with burning runes, rolled forward — the Sovereign's personal weapon of destruction.
Kael shouted, "That's the Iron Juggernaut! We take it down, we break their advance!"
Minwoo nodded, voice steady. "Kinro, with me."
The dragon answered with a powerful beat of his wings, ascending high as Minwoo prepared to face the next trial in the storm.