WAR HAD BROKEN OUT.

It was a tide of life that refused to die, a last desperate war cry of the Altverse against the devouring silence of the Void. Magic and blood were flying everywhere. The battlefield in front of the corrupted castle was a tapestry of chaos and sacrifice. Hundreds of bodies of different races  elves, humans, dwarves, beastmen  stretched for miles, a testament to the price of freedom.

Their deaths were not in vain. Thanks to their suicidal charge, a breach was made in the castle's outer defenses.

— NOW! GO! — shouted a dying dwarf general.

It was their only chance. Amidst the chaos, asimil's team and his friends slipped through the breach and managed to infiltrate the fortress.

But as they entered, a roar shook the world. On a distant mountain, a gigantic creature stood upright, the Void Pet, which had made its presence known. It opened its jaws and launched a giant ball of black energy, not towards the battlefield, but towards a supply and healing center in the rear, annihilating it completely and spreading terror throughout the alliance. The message was clear. there was no safe place.

Once inside the castle, they faced several creatures of the Void in corridors that seemed to change and twist. They realized that the castle was not a building, but an infinite void, a maze of disparate environments. But before they could react, the ground shook.

Blood-red tentacles sprouted from the walls and floor, and in the center of the room, Abaddon, the Final Herald, materialized.

— Welcome, heroes —he said, his voice a chorus of tortured souls. — I congratulate you for making it this far. But your luck, and your world, ends now. —

Its body convulsed, and the red tentacles expanded at an impossible speed, destroying everything. The heroes were engulfed by an explosion of pure chaotic energy. When the light faded, they awoke in different places.

Tenshi and Kenji appeared in a dark citadel in endless rain. The gargoyles of the buildings wept tears of stone. And waiting for them in the main square was General Vorlag.

— The strategist... — muttered Kenji.

— We will defeat him together — said Tenshi, his hands glowing with energy.

The battle was brutal. The pair, fighting with perfect synchrony, managed to put pressure on the General. But Vorlag, seeing himself outmatched, smiled.

— I never said I would fight fair. — With a signal, a pillar of black fire erupted beside him, and from it emerged Ignis, the Conflagration. The battle had become a two-on-two. The pair were forced to split up, Kenji intercepting the fire elemental, and Tenshi continuing his duel with the traitor. 

The first battle centered on Tenshi and Vorlag. Their attacks clashed, light magic versus shadow tactics. — WHY?! — She shouted in the midst of an exchange of blows. — You were an honorable man, Lord Vorlag! A pillar of the Alliance! I respected you! Why did you betray your own? — 

Vorlag said nothing. His face was an impassive mask. He simply fought on, his movements precise and lethal, letting his treachery speak for itself. The chapter of their duel was just beginning.

While Tenshi was engaged in a tactical duel with Vorlag, Kenji's battle against Ignis was a pure and brutal war of attrition. Kenji, with his unique ability to absorb and return damage, was the perfect tank for an enemy that was pure offense. Every blast of corrupted fire Ignis launched was met squarely by Kenji. His armor melted, his skin sizzled, but he held on. And then, he would strike back, releasing the stored energy in devastating shockwaves.

But Ignis was no slouch either. He was a General of the Void, a walking calamity. Each attack he launched was more powerful, more precise than the last. The ground around him became a sea of magma, and meteors of dark fire fell from the rainy sky, forcing Kenji to move constantly. It was an even battle, a duel of endurance where the first one to lose his determination would die.

The fire general had no patience. He was frustrated to see that his destructive power was useless against this stubborn human. — Stop absorbing my attacks and die! — roared Ignis.

He concentrated a massive amount of energy, and the blow he threw was of another level. Kenji received it, but the force was so overwhelming that it threw him backwards, crashing him into the wreckage of a building. He fell to his knees, gasping, his whole body smoking. It looked like he was going to lose the battle, that he was about to collapse.

— It's over — hissed Ignis, preparing the coup de grace.

But Kenji, from the ground, began to laugh. A low, tired laugh that turned into a defiant guffaw.

— Not yet... — he said, standing up again. His body began to glow bright red, the energy he had absorbed was not destroying him, it was overpowering him. — My turn! —

With an intense speed that Ignis did not expect, Kenji disappeared and reappeared on top of the fire General, his fists coming down like hammers. He struck him multiple times in the head, each impact resounding like that of a forge bell.

Ignis, furious at the humiliation, unleashed all his energy in an area attack, a supernova of black fire that exploded in all directions. — DIE!  —
But Kenji did not try to escape. Instead, he opened his arms and absorbed that attack completely. His body seemed to tear apart from the amount of power, red skin escaped from his skin as if it was going to explode. But he did not give in.

Both were at their weakest point. Ignis had spent almost all his energy, and Kenji was about to be consumed by the power he contained. — I'm taking you with me! — roared Kenji.

It exploded. A shock wave of pure, red energy swept across the square.

When the dust settled, Ignis' body lay on the ground, its magma core cracked and slowly fading. It dissolved into particles of the Void.

And in the center of the crater, a smoldering Kenji stood tall. He raised his head, looking up at the sky, taking in the cold rain on his face, a figure of lonely, exhausted triumph.

Hiding in the rubble, Yumi, the cat-eared researcher, had seen it all. She ran to him. — Kenji! You're...! —

— Alive — he finished, his voice a hoarse whisper. He staggered and she held him.—  We... have to go to Tenshi. L-take me... —

Yumi, small as she was, carried him on her shoulder. She was ready to carry him wherever she went, following the orders of the man who had just achieved the impossible.