The clang of metal on metal echoed through the air, a chilling melody of war. I couldn’t see them yet, but I could feel it—Mydei was fighting. His presence burned like a star in my mind, impossible to ignore, as if the very fabric of the battlefield bent around him. My chest heaved as I sprinted across the uneven ground, the scent of ash and scorched earth filling my lungs.

“Mydei!” I shouted, though my voice was swallowed by the chaos around me. My hands tightened around my spear. The hum of its power felt faint compared to the thunderous roars ahead. The Titan of Conflict. I had only heard stories of the beast—an ancient monstrosity of unstoppable destruction. It wasn’t supposed to exist anymore. And yet, here it was, its furious bellows shaking the ground beneath my feet.

As I crested the ridge, the battlefield came into view. Mydei was a blur of motion, his glaive carving radiant arcs through the air. Each swing was precise, purposeful, and unyielding, but the Titan was unrelenting. Its massive limbs crashed down like meteors, sending shockwaves that nearly knocked me off balance.

"Mydei!" I called again, louder this time, and for a brief moment, his head turned toward me. His expression unreadable beneath the smears of blood and soot.

"Phainon, get back!" His voice boomed, more commanding than I’d ever heard it.

But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Not when I saw how his knees buckled slightly under the force of the Titan’s latest strike. Not when I saw the faint cracks spreading along his glaive, the weapon he’d carried for centuries. He wasn’t invincible—not here, not against this.

I slammed the base of my spear into the ground, drawing on my energy as it pulsed in time with my heartbeat. The power surged through me, a torrent of light and fury that begged to be unleashed.“I’m not leaving you!” I shouted, stepping closer despite the wind and debris battering my body.