This Can't Be Real

The Capital Castle was at the dead center of all chaos.

The royal families fled through the grand corridors, screaming in terror as the stone walls trembled.

Outside, the city guards had completely abandoned their posts. The screams of panicked servants echoed from the upper halls.

"They are fighting on the top floor!" a fleeing cook screamed, sprinting past them.

"Everything is going to collapse! Run!"

"We need to hurry," Luck urged, tightening his grip on his sword.

Millie slipped through the shadows, guiding Luck and Kara through a narrow kitchen entry and up the service stairs. Because of the chaos, there were no guards left to block them.

They rushed past wrecked rooms filled with the mangled remains of iron golems, their enchanted armor crushed and torn apart by someone's bare hands.

Some floors were entirely gone, the walls blasted into open air.

Luckily, the castle had been built from Highfall stone, ancient rocks packed with magic that had held for centuries. Even though entire lower floors were missing, the upper keep remained floating and intact.

Climbing the ruined fortress was not an easy task. With the grand staircases shattered across the larger halls, there was no logical path upward.

"Hold on!" Kara grunted.

Without breaking a sweat, the heavy knight grabbed Luck and Millie into her arms and leaped across the massive gaps, landing heavily on the remaining stone ledges.

As they climbed, Millie glanced through a torn wall at the capital below. The city was a sea of fire. A single man had turned the absolute symbol of the Heroes' Home, the Capital, upside down.

Just one person!

They finally reached the top floor, where a frantic pack of shadow servants was running in a frenzy.

High above, the Living Light Hero, Jean, was screaming down the stairwell. His massive hoard of mana potions had finally run dry, yet he kept demanding more magic from his servants.

Kara and Luck pushed past the remaining shadow soldiers with ease, clearing the remaining servants.

They burst onto the giant terrace.

A vast, open plain of grass engineered on the very roof of the citadel. Before them, the White Demon, Nero, was engaged in a brutal clash with a giant, undead shadow snake.

The battle was no longer in Jean’s favor. Nero had sustained severe burns and cuts across his bare chest, but once he figured out how to attack the caster on the top floor directly, the fight became much easier.

Jean was tired and impulsive, his eyes wide with desperation. His shadow army was shrinking by the second.

*BOOM*

Nero’s fist connected with the snake’s jaw, shattering the giant beast into dust. Jean instantly summoned a flying beast to take its place, but he was at his absolute limit.

"Where are the damn potions, you useless mutts?!" Jean roared at the empty stairs, his voice cracking.

"Where is it?!"

He did not know that Luck and Kara had already permanently destroyed most of his shadow servants on the floors below.

"You stay down, behind this cover," Luck advised Millie as they got out in the open.

Jean was about to lose, when his frantic gaze glanced across the terrace and locked onto Kara, Luck, and Millie standing on the far side of the rooftop grassland.

He did not know who they were, but his twisted instincts told him that taking hostages was his best choice.

"Die!" Jean shrieked, raising his hands to summon a massive shadow dragon, using his reserve mana he saved for running away, and directed it straight toward Kara.

Nero’s red eyes snapped toward the threat. He went to intercept the beast.

*WOOSH*

Suddenly, a hidden shadow warrior appeared directly behind Nero, delivering a deep slash across his back. Nero fell heavily onto the ground.

"Nero!" Luck shouted, running forward alongside Kara, but the colossal shadow dragon materialized between them, cutting off their path.

Nero stood up, exhausted from the continuous fighting. He turned around to face the beast, grabbing the shadow dragon by its tail with raw strength.

*SLASH*

With a sudden movement, the shadow master finally made his true move. Nero had assumed Jean could only fight from distance or hiding behind his shadow monsters.

He had no idea the Living Light could also hide inside his own shadow.

Behind him was the Living Light, who already made his move... A shadow attack across Nero's waistline.

Nero felt a warm cut across his stomach.

Time seemed to slow down. Nero’s gaze drifted toward Kara and Luck.

Through the fog of his fading consciousness, the memories of Toshio Tanaka surged to the surface. He recognized them.

Gathering every remaining ounce of energy left in his fist, Nero generated a massive push of raw power.

The burst obliterated the dragon entirely and sent Luck and Kara flying backward toward the stairs leading down.

A bright spray of blood painted the green grass.

And just like that, the White Demon was cut cleanly in half!

Nero was dead...

NERO IS DEAD!