The battlefield was already dead.
Whatever life had once existed in this place had been strangled out long before Juno and Zera ever set foot upon it. Trees stood twisted and hollow, their bark blackened as if burned from the inside. The earth itself was cracked and scarred, veins of shadow crawling through the ground like rot beneath skin. Above them, the sky churned—dark clouds spiraling unnaturally, pulled into a slow, predatory vortex by the power gathering below.
At the center of it all stood Veyra Nightshade.
Her form pulsed violently, half-shadow, half-flesh, as black lightning crawled across her body like living veins. Every surge of power distorted her silhouette, stretching it, warping it, as though reality itself struggled to decide what she truly was. Her eyes burned an unnatural violet, overflowing with hatred and contempt.
"You insolent fools!" Veyra snarled, her voice echoing unnaturally across the ruins. "You really think light will save you?"
Juno did not flinch.
He stood tall despite the pressure crushing down on him, his sword held steady in both hands. The blade glowed with a steady, unwavering radiance—not explosive, not wild, but resolute. His expression was calm, controlled, the kind of calm born not from ignorance but from certainty.
"It's not light that will save us," he said evenly. "It's strength."
Zera snorted softly beside him.
She rolled her shoulder, twirling her dagger with practiced ease despite the tension hanging thick in the air. Silver fire flickered along the blade, dancing eagerly as if sensing the battle yet to come. A sharp grin curved her lips.
"And teamwork," she added. "Something you clearly know nothing about."
Veyra's eyes narrowed.
The shadows around her responded instantly, condensing and sharpening into jagged spikes that floated in the air like a crown of blades. The temperature dropped, the air growing heavy and oppressive.
"Fine," Veyra said coldly. "Then die together."
The spikes shot forward.
Juno moved first.
His sword flashed in a blur of motion, arcs of radiant light tearing through the darkness as he cut down the incoming spikes one after another. Each strike was precise, efficient—no wasted movement, no hesitation.
Zera was already moving.
She flipped high over a barrage of spikes, twisting mid-air as she hurled a volley of enchanted daggers. Each blade exploded on impact in bursts of silver flame, colliding violently with the shadows and ripping them apart.
Smoke and darkness churned together, filling the battlefield with chaos.
Yet within the mist, Juno and Zera moved as one.
Juno leapt upward, sword raised high, while Zera charged low, sprinting along broken stone to flank Veyra from the side. Their timing was perfect—too perfect.
Veyra grinned.
Tendrils of shadow lashed out, snapping toward both of them at once.
"Predictable."
Zera slid beneath one tendril at the last possible moment, her body twisting impossibly low. In the same motion, she hurled a dagger—not at Veyra, but at Juno.
The blade struck Juno's sword mid-air.
Energy detonated.
Light and silver flame fused together in a violent surge, engulfing the blade and amplifying its glow beyond anything before. Juno felt the power slam into his arms, nearly tearing the sword from his grip—but he held fast.
Veyra's eyes widened.
Juno brought the sword down.
The glowing arc carved through the air like judgment itself, crashing into Veyra's hastily formed barrier. The shield shattered, fragments of darkness exploding outward as Veyra was hurled backward, skidding across the ruined ground.
Zera landed lightly, smirking.
"Still think we're predictable?"
Veyra rose slowly, blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. Her expression twisted—not with fear, but with growing hatred.
"You'll regret that," she hissed.
The ground beneath them trembled.
A dark sigil spread outward from Veyra's feet, pulsing violently as shadow magic flooded into it. The air screamed as pressure built, the sky above responding as black lightning spiraled upward, twisting the clouds into a massive vortex.
Juno's jaw tightened.
"She's preparing something massive," he said. "Get ready."
Zera rolled her neck, eyes sharp despite the sweat and blood on her skin.
"Let her try."
Veyra raised her hands, chanting in a language that scraped against the mind. The spiral in the sky began to descend, tendrils of void punching down from the clouds and slamming into the battlefield.
"Be consumed by the Abyss itself," Veyra whispered.
Void tendrils crashed down around them.
Juno sliced through one, but another wrapped around his arm, searing pain burning through muscle and bone. He tore himself free, gritting his teeth.
Zera was caught around the waist, but she snarled and blasted the tendril apart with silver fire, landing hard but upright.
"She's stronger than we thought," Juno admitted.
Zera laughed breathlessly. "Good. I was getting bored."
Juno's sword began to glow brighter, responding to his resolve.
"Let's push her back."
Zera stepped beside him, dagger held backward, stance tightening.
Veyra watched them with a dark grin.
"You won't leave this place alive."
They exchanged a glance—brief, unspoken, absolute.
"We'll see about that."
They charged.
Light and silver fire surged together as they cut through the descending tendrils. Juno's blade cleaved shadows cleanly in half while Zera vaulted, flipped, and struck with ruthless precision, her daggers detonating with each hit.
Veyra roared, her form destabilizing as she poured more power into the storm above.
"I will consume you both!" she screamed. "Your light is meaningless!"
Zera landed beside Juno, blood running from her lip, breathing hard—but grinning.
"Still talking?" she taunted. "I thought you'd be stronger."
Veyra snapped.
She gathered everything she had left—every shred of darkness, every ounce of void—and formed it into a single, massive spear of pure abyssal energy. The weapon screamed as she hurled it forward, the ground collapsing beneath its passage.
Juno stepped forward.
He swung.
Light and void collided in a catastrophic explosion that ripped the battlefield apart. The shockwave flattened ruins and tore open the earth—but when the light faded, part of the spear remained.
Zera saw it too late.
She twisted, trying to dodge—
The void fragment tore through her left arm.
Blood sprayed.
Zera staggered back, teeth clenched so hard they nearly cracked. She refused to scream.
Juno saw red.
Pure, blinding rage flooded through him as his grip tightened until his knuckles went white.
Veyra grinned cruelly. "What will you do now, hero? Watch her bleed to death?"
"No," Juno said quietly.
His sword erupted.
Light burst outward, piercing the darkness like a sun being born. He charged, faster than thought, cutting through tendrils and spears as if they didn't exist.
Zera watched, slumping to her knees, vision blurring.
"About time you got serious…" she thought weakly.
Juno leapt.
All the light in the battlefield gathered into his blade.
"NO!" Veyra screamed. "STAY BACK!"
"You lose," Juno said.
He brought the sword down.
Light erased the darkness.
Veyra was cut clean in half, her scream snuffed out as her body dissolved into nothingness.
Silence followed.
Juno stood amid the ruins, breathing hard.
Zera collapsed to her knees, clutching her shoulder, smiling faintly.
"Took you long enough…"
Juno was at her side instantly, tearing his cloak to stop the bleeding.
"Don't talk," he said softly. "I'm getting you out of here."
"Guess… you'll have to carry me…"
"Always."
He lifted her gently.
Light surrounded them as they walked away.
Veyra was gone.
Juno looked toward the distant horizon.
"Hold on, Reider. We're coming."
Above them, light broke through the clouds.
One enemy down.
The real fight begins.