Xania and Derrex raced across the battlefield, their boots pounding against the earth as they pushed forward, the chaos of war erupting around them. The Techie forces were reeling, but the battle wasn’t over yet. The Drakes, with their formidable strength and relentless aggression, were already surging ahead, cutting down enemy ranks with brutal precision.

But Xania’s heart wasn’t in the battlefield—her eyes, dark with purpose, locked onto something far more important: the Techie airship that hovered ominously in the distance, casting its long shadow over the land. They would suffer for their sins. They would be punished for desecrating this sacred ground.

Beside her, Derrex moved with equal ferocity, his silver eyes flashing as he called upon the Lesser Fey, his voice a low growl of command. His magic stirred the earth beneath him, pulling the Fey from the deep shadows of the forest. They came quickly—creatures of vines and stone, of shadow and flame, joining the fray with primal instinct. Derrex's pistols blazed with fire as he fought alongside them, his shots punctuating the battle with deadly force. His form was a blur, darting between the Fey, his movements animalistic as he took down enemies with brutal efficiency.

Xania felt something deeper stirring within her. The magic that surged through her body was no longer a controlled force—it was wild, untamed. The power of the Life Seed and the darkness that connected her to the ancient Void, pulsed in her veins. She extended her arms, and the energy that gathered in her hands was no longer a mere tool—it was destruction itself.

She focused on a group of Techie soldiers ahead, their armor gleaming under the harsh sun. With a flick of her wrist, she let go of the magic within her. Dark waves of energy rippled outward, crashing against the soldiers like a tidal wave. They screamed as their bodies disintegrated, their metal and flesh turned to dust in an instant. The magic spread across the battlefield, consuming everything it touched.

The roar of destruction was deafening, and the Techie forces faltered, their retreating line growing more desperate. Xania could feel the ebb of their resistance. The soldiers turned to flee, but Xania was not done. She didn’t pause to look at Derrex or the Drakes. She kept her gaze locked on the retreating figures, her hands trembling with power. This battle was not about victory—it was about sending a message. It was about ensuring they knew not to return.

Then, a shadow moved across the sky.

Xania’s eyes shot upward, her breath catching in her throat. The Techie airship—a massive, hovering behemoth of cold metal and iron—was descending. She could feel the weight of its presence like an iron bar pressing against her chest. It was headed straight for the Lesser Tree.

The image of the great Tree flickered in her mind—its twisted, gnarled roots, the ancient bark that hummed with the magic of life, and above all, the fragile spirit of Ryu, the guardian spirit who had given her life to protect the land. She had felt the Tree’s pain when the Techies had fired upon it before, but this was something far worse. 

No.

The thought struck her like lightning. Rage, raw and primal, flooded her chest. The void within her stirred in response to her fury, feeding off the heat of her anger, ready to destroy. The very air around her crackled with dark magic. Without another thought, she spread her arms wide, her fingers outstretched as she called upon the void. The air shimmered and twisted, and dark wings unfurled from her back, a massive, shadowy shape that rippled with raw power. Her talons elongated, gleaming black and sharp, their points catching the light as they curled into deadly claws. She could feel the weight of her transformation, the magic flowing through her like a torrent, and she didn’t hesitate.

She soared upward, leaving the battle behind. The wind roared around her, her wings cutting through the air as she ascended, heading straight for the airship. Beneath her, the battlefield was a blur of smoke, fire, and the sounds of battle. But her focus was singular—the airship that threatened everything she held dear.

As she neared the ship, her eyes locked onto its surface, seeing the soldiers moving within, preparing for their attack. They had no idea what was coming. They had no idea who they were about to face.

With a scream of fury, she tore into the airship, her talons cutting through the hull with ease. Sparks flew as metal screamed under the force of her attack. She landed on the deck, the impact shaking the entire ship. Soldiers turned in shock, their eyes wide with disbelief at the sight of the figure before them—Xania, no longer the girl they once knew, but a creature of dark power, the embodiment of vengeance.

She was upon them in an instant, her wings snapping to her back as she drew her talons across the nearest soldier, ripping through his armor like paper. He collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from the wound. The others hesitated, their weapons drawn, but Xania was already upon them. She moved with the speed and grace of a predator, her magic a whirlwind of destruction that left nothing but bodies in its wake.

The soldiers couldn’t keep up. They were too slow, too weak, too human. Xania was a force of nature, and nothing could stand in her way.

She pushed forward, her eyes scanning the ship for the one she sought. She could feel him—the one who had played a role in the destruction of her life. Enero. The one who had help create her.

It didn’t take long for her to find him.

He was standing in the central control room, his figure framed by the dim light of the ship’s engines. His eyes met hers, and for a moment, there was recognition—he knew her. He knew who she had become. His face twisted into a cruel smile, though his eyes flickered with the barest hint of hesitation.

"Xania," he said, his voice mocking but also tinged with something else. "So, this is what you’ve become. A monster, just like the rest of us."

Xania’s fury surged, a wave that threatened to drown her. She had no words. She didn’t need any. All she needed was action. Her magic flared, and she lunged forward, her talons slashing through the air. Enero was quick—faster than most—but Xania was faster. She closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, her clawed hand grasping his throat, lifting him from the ground with ease.

"Was it worth it, Enero?" she hissed, her voice a low growl, full of venom. "Do you regret anything that you did?"

Enero choked, his eyes wide with surprise. He had been a part of the system that had abandoned her, that had experimented on her, and ultimately tried to control her. He was one of the few who had known her before her transformation, before she had become a weapon of destruction. And now, he was about to pay the price.

Beneath them, the air ship pulsed and vibrated.

A deep, mechanical voice boomed from the ship, emotionless and resolute:  
"Commencing Null Barrage."  

Enero gave her a small smile. They both knew that she was too late.

The first strike hit like a thunderclap, a beam of red streaking down to the earth. It struck the Lesser Tree with surgical precision, its light refracting through the branches and leaves like shards of shattered glass. A resonant groan filled the air, as though the tree itself cried out in pain, its ancient magic buckling under the onslaught.  

Xania felt the force of it pulse alone the Ley Lines and into the very heart of her.

With a growl of rage, Xania squeezed, the pressure on his throat building with each passing second. He gasped, his hands weakly scratching at her wrist, but there was no escape. The magic that pulsed through her only grew stronger, and with a final snap, she crushed his windpipe, his life extinguishing in an instant.

His body crumpled in her grasp, lifeless, his blood pooling beneath him. Xania stood above him, panting, her heart still racing with the adrenaline of the fight. The ship around her was silent now, the soldiers either dead or in retreat. The battle was over, but the war was far from won.

She didn’t feel satisfaction. She didn’t feel relief. All she felt was the hollow ache of loss, the gnawing pain that would never leave her. The cost of vengeance was a price she would pay for the rest of her life. But she had done it. She had avenged what had been taken from her. And in the process, she had become something more—a force of nature, a destroyer of worlds.

But she had failed to protect the one thing that mattered.

She could taste the ash of the tree and feel the ebbing of the mana through the Ley Lines. The Lesser Tree had fallen.

Xania took one last look at Enero's crumbled corpse, her wings folding tightly against her back. She turned her back on her past and slowly made her way through the air ship, allowing the waves of the void to pulse off her each time she found a crew member. Each time the wave touched them, it reduced them to ash as their Null beam had reduced the Tree. The paid for what they had done.

When she reached the engine room, she destroyed everything. She could feel the air ship lurch and list as it begun to fall from the sky. Running through the now empty halls, she jumped off the air ship and caught herself on her wings, gliding to the ground.

The air ship exploded as it crashed into the earth, deafening her for a moment. Xania stood motionless in the heart of the grove, the air thick with an oppressive silence. All around her, the battlefield had fallen quiet as the tide of war shifted, the cries of dying men and Fey now distant echoes. But it was not the sound of battle that gripped her, no—it was the pull.

A sensation that grew deeper, darker, colder. The nothingness within her stirred as if it were a living thing, twisting and undulating with an insatiable hunger. It was a call, a beckoning, like a voice in the dark reaching for her, for the child of nothing. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt it—a rising wave of darkness that pulsed with unimaginable power. It loomed above the grove, casting a shadow that threatened to swallow everything in its wake.

The world around her seemed to bend, the colors of the forest dimming as if the very air were thinning. In that moment, she knew what this was. The nothingness was not a mere absence—it was a force, a presence, a darkness that sought to reclaim all things. And that wave? That darkness? It was a person.

The Life Spark.

She felt him stir from within Enaid, his awakening not as a man or a god, but as something far darker, far more ancient. He had become the Aspect of Wrath—the harbinger of Erebos, the god of nothing. 

Dipak was rising, and he was coming for Aer.

As the wave of darkness crested above them, Xania felt her connection to the void deepen. She could hear its call now, clearer than ever before, a roar of primal hunger that reverberated in her very bones. The earth beneath her feet trembled, and the sky above seemed to fracture as if reality itself was unraveling. The void was coming to claim all, and in its wake, nothing would remain.

Xania’s wings unfurled as the darkness swirled around her, her body alight with the power of the void. But this time, it felt different—different from the rage, different from the destruction she had unleashed before. There was a whisper within her, soft at first, but growing louder. A voice that sought to guide her, to urge her into what she must do.

“You must choose” the voice whispered, familiar and strange all at once. The dragon of the Void raked its claws against her mind. "Allow Wrath to bring the age of Darkness so that in some future time we can start again," it hissed and wrapped itself around her. "Or cut him down and allow this Era to continue so that your yet unborn child can come into being."

Xania laid her hands on her stomach, feeling the fragment of life pulsing inside her. She didn’t need to question it. She knew what she had to do.

She turned her gaze to the horizon, where the vast, swirling darkness began to take shape, a silhouette emerging from within the wave of nothingness. There, standing at the edge of the void, was Dipak.

His form was barely held together as if spun from smoke. His skin was pale as death, his eyes hollow and oozing dark ichor, empty and filled with the infinite depth of Erebos. He wore no expression, no mask—just an emptiness that chilled Xania to her core. His presence was a void in itself, a black hole that threatened to consume everything around him.

Xania’s heart pounded in her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she called upon all of her power, grasping at without understanding and hoping that her will alone would be enough. Her wings stretched wide, crackling with dark energy, and her talons gleamed like razor-sharp blades. Her magic burned within her veins, but there was something else—something darker, something she had never felt before.

She was afraid.

Dipak, or whatever he had become, was no longer just a man—he was the harbinger of the end, the end of all things. He was the embodiment of Erebos, and if he were allowed to awaken fully, all of Aer would be bound back into the nothingness. Xania understood now—she could feel the weight of it, the inevitability. This was not just a battle for her, for Dipak, or for their lives. It was a battle for the very soul of Aer itself.

And she would not let it end this way.

She spread her wings wide and took to the sky, her flight a blur of speed and fury as she hurtled toward the center of the void. Dipak’s eyes locked onto hers, and for a moment, there was a flicker of recognition.

"Verdant," Dipak moaned.

But whatever it was that he has seen in her was fleeting, swallowed up by the vastness of the darkness that surrounded him, his eyes draining back to the nothingness.

The ground cracked beneath their feet as they collided, the force of their meeting shaking the very air. Xania’s talons met Dipak’s chest, but it was like striking stone—his skin was as cold and unyielding as the void itself. He didn’t flinch, didn’t react. He simply stood there, his presence like a crushing weight upon her. The air was thick with nothingness, the magic that had once flowed so freely through her now warped and twisted, as if the void itself were leeching her strength.

“Verdant” Dipak’s voice was an echo, hollow and distant. It reverberated with the power of Erebos, a sound that made her blood run cold. “You have no place in this world anymore. You were born of the void. And now, it calls to you.”

Xania gritted her teeth, fighting against the pull of his words, the call of the nothingness that threatened to swallow her whole. She could feel the void’s desire to consume her, to return her to the nothing she had once been. But she was stronger than that. She was not a child of nothing. She was Xania, the child of autumn, the one who had learned to embrace both life and death, beauty and decay.

“I will not let you do this,” she snarled.

Dipak’s eyes flashed, and the air around them rippled with his power. He raised a hand, and the ground beneath them cracked and splintered, a torrent of dark energy erupting from the earth. The shockwave sent Xania crashing back, her body slamming into a shattered tree. Pain exploded through her, but she ignored it. She was used to pain. She would endure it, because this was a battle that had no room for weakness.

She pulled herself to her feet, her body shaking with the effort, her wings flapping once more to stabilize her. Dipak stood there, watching her with cold, empty eyes, a thin smile playing on his lips. 

"You never understood, did you?" Dipak said, his voice dripping with sorrow and contempt. "You and I were never meant to be different. I am the end of all things, Xania. I am the darkness that binds all creation into the void. You were never supposed to protect life. You were meant to help it all return to nothingness."

Xania’s chest tightened. The words hit too close to home. They were the same words she had heard in her dreams, in the whispers that had gnawed at her mind since the moment she first woken in the palace. But she was not the same person anymore. She had learned that life, even in its pain and decay, was worth protecting. She had learned the value of each fleeting moment, the beauty in every breath, every heartbeat. 

She put her hands on her stomach and felt again the flicker of the growing life within her. She would not let all that she discovered be destroyed.

Life Drive engaged.

Xania reached out her hands, her fingers trembling as they brushed the air, feeling the ancient, rhythmic pulse of the Ley Lines beneath her skin. It was as though she were touching the very veins of the world, each beat a reminder of the life that surged through the earth, the roots that connected every living thing in an endless, intricate web. The void that had once clung to her began to slough off like a dark, suffocating cloak, slipping away as the warmth of life and light flooded her being.

Gaia Shard engaged.

She drew deeply from the Life Tree, the boundless energy of growth, renewal, and creation filling her, burning away the remnants of darkness. The air around her shimmered with a soft golden glow as her connection to the Life Tree deepened, the very light of the world flowing through her, suffusing her body with the power of all things living. Her wings flared, now radiant with the pure, unyielding force of life, and for the first time in her existence, she felt whole—alive, connected, and ready to fight with the full might of nature’s will.

Initiating command sequence 98365.

With a cry, Xania shot forward, her wings snapping through the air, cutting through the void as she closed the distance between them. Her body blurred with speed, and the very winds seemed to part for her, thrumming with the Life Tree’s pulse, the veins of the world beneath her feet thrumming with her connection. Dipak raised his hand, and a wave of suffocating darkness surged toward her, but Xania was faster. The Life Tree’s power surged through her, and she twisted in midair, moving like a streak of light, narrowly avoiding the malevolent wave. She didn’t falter. With all the force of the magic that now coursed through her, she slammed into him.

Her talons sank deep into his chest, the power of life and light exploding around them in a radiant burst, a stark contrast to the void that wrapped around him like chains. The very air rippled with the surge of creation as Xania’s connection to the Life Tree surged through her, pushing the darkness back.

But Dipak’s eyes flared with that same emptiness, that profound void, a well of nothingness that had consumed him. With a roar that was a blend of rage and anguish, he threw her off. She hit the ground hard, the impact rattling her bones, but it was nothing compared to the strength building within her. She rose with a fierce determination, a fire in her eyes.

“I will not let you destroy it!” she shouted, her voice a thunderclap that echoed across the darkened skies. 

Xania’s wings unfurled once more, the brilliant glow of the Life Tree surrounding her as she took to the skies again, faster and more determined than ever. With a final cry of defiance, she lunged at him. Her talons found his throat, the magic of life clinging to her every movement, radiating from her in waves as she pressed into the void that sought to devour everything. With all her strength, she tore into the fabric of his being, rending the darkness from within him, trying to pull the last vestiges of nothingness free.

Dipak’s eyes widened, his mouth opening in a silent scream, but no sound emerged, only the echo of a lost soul. His form flickered and wavered like the last dying embers of a star, struggling to hold onto its shape. And in that final, agonizing moment, Xania drove her magic deeper, her power a force of life and light so pure it seemed to burn away all that was wrong with him.

With a final, devastating surge of power, she pierced his heart. 

The void recoiled from her touch, struggling in its death throes, but Xania would not let it consume her. Her magic surged one last time, a blinding, overwhelming force. The nothingness that had taken him crumbled away, and Dipak’s body fell, an empty husk.

For a long, drawn-out moment, nothing moved. 

Xania stood alone in the silence, her wings spread wide, shimmering with the lingering light of the Life Tree’s magic. Her chest heaved with exertion, her heart pounding from the battle she had fought and the victory she had claimed. 

She looked to the heavens, the weight of the world pressing down on her shoulders, and yet, a strange peace settled within her. The battle had been won, but the war was not over. There was always more to fight for. 

She had learned that the hard way. But for now, she could rest in the knowledge that she had stopped the end of Aer, that she had done what was necessary.

Xania closed her eyes, feeling the pulse of the Ley Lines beneath her feet, the gentle rhythm of life still flowing through the land, still there, waiting to be protected, waiting to be nurtured. She had saved it.