ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

But the moment Kaelen's hand touched the Magic Pandora, time stuttered.

It wasn't just a feeling—the entire world seemed to halt for a split second, as though existence itself took a sharp breath. The moment his palm connected with the otherworldly cube, a shockwave of soft, deep resonance pulsed out in every direction—inaudible to normal ears, but undeniable to those attuned to the pulse of reality.

And then—

"MISSION COMPLETE."

The system's voice didn't echo in his head—it pierced through his soul.

[You have Accomplished the Mission: Secure the Magic Pandora before Cataclysm.]

[Mission Grade: EX]

[Reward Unlocked...]

– Level up x3!

– All attributes and traits has been doubled!

– Divine Essence Crystal × 1

– Skill: Absolute Aegis (Passive)

– Attribute Awakening: +50 to Will, +40 to Resistance

– Path Unlock: Ascension of Ruin - Initiated

– Warning: This Path is Irreversible. Do you wish to proceed?

'Divine Essence? Attribute Awakening? What are all these?' Kaelen thought with a confused look on his face.

But the moment his eyes laid on the path unlock option, he didn't hesitate at all.

"Proceed."

The world around him screamed.

The Magic Pandora exploded with searing light as its surface unwrapped like layers of glass peeling open to reveal a black-gold core, surrounded by swirling threads of white flame and ancient glyphs no human had ever seen. These sigils left his mouth tasting like ash and thunder.

Kelvin staggered back as Kaelen suddenly levitated.

"Kaelen?!" he shouted, shielding his eyes. "What the hell—?!"

Kaelen's body trembled violently as a second soul seemed to descend into his own. His blue eyes turned black, then inverted into star-rimmed pupils—as if galaxies had bloomed inside him.

His Eternal Guardian Armor twisted and cracked, but instead of breaking, it reshaped—the fractured sapphire light bled into black-violet runes, each burning along his veins and armor alike. His hair lifted, pulsing between a shimmering silver and inky black as if the universe couldn't decide what element to grant him.

[Ascension of Ruin: Step One – Soul Integration Initiated]

[All stats increasing… recalibrating… recalibrating…]

Kelvin's heart was hammering. He was about to step back when he noticed—

The Orb of Chaos in his chest had begun to tremble.

"What now?! Argh!!" he yelled, backing away, but it was too late.

The orb tore from his chest and flew into the sky—only to slam itself against the radiant force of the Magic Pandora. A second resonance erupted, deeper, darker—primordial. Kelvin's eyes widened in horror as he reached out instinctively and—

Touched the orb.

In that instant, he, too, ascended.

But it was not the same. Where Kaelen's transformation was luminous with twisted ruin, Kelvin's was an eclipse. His body lit up with cursed gold, shadows breaking and reforming around him like liquid flame. The Orb of Chaos didn't just merge with him—it crawled into him, embedding itself like a secondary heart.

[Chaos Synchronization: Initiated]

[Class Evolution: Abyssal Warden - Locked]

[Authority Fragment Detected… Parsing Connection with Pandora Core…]

'Huh? Whose voice is that?'

Kelvin fell to one knee as he struggled to think, as he began clawing at his chest, then out of a blue, he let out a howl—not of pain, but of awakening. His voice tore through the air as his back split open to reveal wing-like constructs, dark as void and edged in burning white.

Kaelen's body had now fully stabilized.

He slowly opened his eyes, hovering above the ground, light and dark interwoven in his veins. Kelvin stood beside him, breathing heavy, a feral grin painting his blood-smeared face.

And far above—Endless felt it.

Still trading brutal blows with the burly Celestial, he suddenly froze mid-motion.

His eyes widened.

"No…" he whispered, seeing the shifting distortion where Kaelen and Kelvin now stood, glowing like converging stars in the debris-strewn heart of the kingdom. "That's not possible."

He disengaged with a violent pulse of force that blew the Celestial back through the clouds.

Endless's eyes dimmed—then went pitch-black.

"I see," he muttered coldly, his voice void of all amusement. "So the Pandora has responded to two inheritors... both compatible."

His muscles tensed. His aura expanded—not just magic now, but true anti-reality: a plane of annihilation, folding over him like armor.

"…Then I have no choice," Endless declared, extending his hand.

The sky behind him cracked—like brittle glass being torn open.

Black spears shaped like dying stars jutted out behind his back like wings of damnation. His body split along glowing seams, revealing what he truly was beneath the human shell—a being of emptiness clad in a cloak of collapsing time.

"No more delays," he said, voice shaking the skies. "No more games."

"From this moment forward—I remove all stops."

And so, the entire kingdom of Valoria began to tremble again.

This time, it wasn't from the shockwaves of the battle above—it was the land itself, groaning.

Streets split apart. Mountains in the distance began to weep golden-blue light. From every crack, fissure, and broken foundation, an unholy radiance began to seep up like glowing veins bleeding into the world. The very essence of Valoria—the energy that gave birth to magic in this land—was being forcibly siphoned.

Reeves' eyes widened as the ground beneath him began to thrum with unnatural energy since he just discovered what was going on.

"…No…" he muttered. "No, no, no—he's drawing from the Mana Vein."

"He's draining the kingdom itself—!"

Endless stood at the heart of the rumbling chaos, arms slowly outstretched, fingers curling upward as if conducting a symphony of destruction. The strange essence poured into his body in spiraling torrents of liquid mana, turning the air black and gold with divine rot. His outline began to distort—his form larger now, less human, more cosmic.

His cloak fluttered without wind. His hair melted into a flowing sheet of shadows. His once-still feet hovered above the quaking earth.

And above, one of the Celestials—the same voice of judgment who had called for Endless' erasure—suddenly snapped forward in panic.

"STOP HIM!" the Celestial thundered. His voice was like the tolling of ten thousand bells, shaking the air itself. "HE'S ABSORBING THE MANA VEIN—IF HE COMPLETES THE RITE, THIS REGION WILL FALL INTO VOID!"

But it was already too late.

With a final pulse, the land beneath Endless cracked wide open, and a column of pure white mana erupted, then turned instantly black as he devoured it.

The Celestial bolted forward, his body shining with wrath—but he didn't make it.

He didn't even get close.

Endless moved. Once.

And reality shivered.

Boom!!!

The Celestial—this godlike being that made all mortals tremble in reverence—was split apart mid-flight. Not with a weapon. Not with a blast. But by raw, unfiltered will.

Reeves, Lila, Marel, and all others watched in silent terror as one Celestial… then another… and then the last, were each undone. Not obliterated, not exploded—erased. Stripped of their essence, unmade by dominance itself.

The sky went quiet.

The divine light vanished.

Endless remained.

And now… he turned.

His dead, pitless eyes locked onto the two transforming figures across the rubble—Kaelen and Kelvin.

They were still in the final moments of their awakening. Magic and chaos were raging around them—ascension in its purest form. But they were vulnerable—mid-transition. Exposed.

Endless slowly raised his hand, gathering an orb of absolute black.

When Reeves saw this orb in Endless's hand, he hurriedly screamed since he knew what it entails.

"NO! PROTECT THEM! DON'T LET HIM—!!"

He, Lila, Marel, even General Cao and the battered few survivors lunged forward with everything they had. Wards. Shields. Telekinetic leaps. They moved faster than their bodies should have allowed—but they were too slow.

Endless was already there.

His hand drew back, prepared to release annihilation directly into their hearts.

"No!!"

"Don't!!!"

"Leave them alone!!!" Reeves, Lila, and Marel cried out in panic. Especially Lila who is now having it extremely hard to even breathe at this moment while her eyes were now bloodshot since the day her father died.

But then—something unbelievable happened.

The Magic Pandora between Kaelen and Kelvin flared to life.

Not like before. Not with light. Not with sound. But with a stillness so violent it stilled reality.

The cube unfolded.

Its surfaces expanded, shattered, and realigned with a speed only divinity could comprehend. Tendrils of ancient script lashed outward like divine chains, wrapping both Kaelen and Kelvin as their eyes flew open in shock.

And then—

It swallowed them whole.

Both Kaelen and Kelvin were pulled into the cube as if the laws of physics gave up. There was no light, no sound—only absence, like a god closing its eye.

The cube folded inward with a pulse—and vanished.

Gone. Without trace.

"What....?"

Endless stared at the space they'd been in. For a moment, his entire body froze.

Then his hand slowly lowered.

"…So," he murmured, voice unreadable. "You chose exile."

His eyes narrowed. The wind around him stopped. Even time seemed to slow.

"No matter. I will find you." His voice was calm, but inside it was rage incarnate. "The Pandora cannot protect you forever."

Behind him, the remnants of Valoria burned.

And the sky remained black.