The winds of Aethelmar whispered of finality as the group gathered atop a high bluff overlooking the vast plains leading to Kharzad. The red-streaked horizon glared like a bleeding wound in the sky, casting long shadows over the shifting sands and jagged ruins that dotted the ancient land.
Their victory over the Renegade outpost had not gone unnoticed. The cult's screams still echoed in the rocks, and now, it was time to strike at the heart.
Shin knelt before an ancient relic embedded into the cliffside—a black obelisk wrapped in glowing runes. At first glance, it appeared inert, but his senses stirred with unease. His left hand, marked by the unified crest, pulsed with heat.
Tessara stood behind him, her foxfire flickering softly, illuminating the shadows that refused to retreat even under the noon sun.
"That obelisk... it's not just corrupted," she whispered. "It weeps."
Maika narrowed her eyes. "What kind of relic bleeds?"
"Not blood," Shin said, rising slowly. "Memory."
He placed his palm upon the smooth stone surface. His vision blurred as a pulse of void energy surged through his hand, feeding images into his mind, twisted visions of a corrupted Soma relic desecrated by the Falzath. A flash of a black mirror. And at its center, a sigil, Voryn's mark.
He staggered.
Laverna caught his arm. "What did you see?"
Shin's jaw clenched. "This relic belonged to the Soma Clan. It was meant to guard the balance between the moon and the sun. Voryn corrupted it. The Falzath turned it into a conduit."
Zera stepped closer, eyes sharp. "You said Voryn... That's the name of the man we've encountered in..."
Shin nodded. "Yeah... He's deeper into this than we feared."
Tessara's hands trembled. "If he twisted a Soma relic, he could twist anything tied to the divine..."
"Which means he's not just corrupting the land," Maika added. "He's rewriting history."
Before anyone could respond, Maika stepped back, eyes narrowing as a memory surged forward like a sandstorm in the dark.
Flashback:
The sacred vault trembled as war cries echoed down its burning halls. Crimson light bled through cracked stone, casting jagged shadows on the walls where Renegade steel clashed against Loyalist resolve. Maika, only sixteen at the time, stood beside her father, the true Lord of the Hi Okami Clan, as fire licked the shattered edges of banners bearing their family's crest.
The Taiyo no Men shimmered in the center of the vault, pulsing with golden warmth, untouched by the surrounding chaos. But the Renegades came for it, rabid and merciless. Not even kinship stayed their blades.
Maika's father, regal and commanding despite the blood coating his robes, turned to her one final time. "You are the daughter of light," he said, voice calm in the storm. "Murasabe trusted me to safeguard the old ways. Now I trust you. Take it, Maika. Take the Taiyo no Men and run."
"But Father—"
He gripped her shoulder, his strength anchoring her panic. "Honor lives only if you carry it. Go!"
As Maika rushed for the altar, the Renegades flooded in. She turned in time to see her father make his last stand, blade in both hands, cleaving down three traitors before they overwhelmed him.
"No!" she screamed, as the vault roared with fire and the scent of scorched loyalty.
She seized the Taiyo no Men, its warmth engulfing her, answering her blood. It shone brighter, recognizing her birthright.
She dashed through the wreckage, sword drawn, cutting down the traitors who dared follow. Each strike was the howl of grief and rage.
She did not look back. She couldn't. Her father's sacrifice lit the way.
And thus, Maika, princess of the true Hi Okami Clan and daughter of Murasabe Soma's most trusted brother, claimed the Taiyo no Men, not with a coronation but with blood and fire.
End of flashback.
And as she stood now beside Shin, watching him bear the same light her father once honored, understanding surged through her like wildfire.
For so long, she had fought to honor her father's dying wish, to protect the Taiyo no Men, to carry their clan's hope—but only now did she truly understand why her father believed so strongly in the Soma name.
Shin stood where her father once stood: resolute, noble, unwavering. He bore the weight of so many lives, so many burdens, and still he did not falter. He reminded her of the old days, of sacred bonds unbroken by time.
She clutched the Taiyo no Men tighter, her breath catching in her throat as tears stung her eyes.
Maika opened her eyes, flames flickering in them.
"Now I see it," she whispered to herself, gazing at Shin. "Why my father believed in the Soma Clan… why he would die for it. It wasn't just about power. It was about trust. About honor."
And deep within her heart, Maika made a silent vow, not just to restore her clan's legacy, but to follow Shin, not because of obligation, but because he had become her light.
"They betrayed us all," she said coldly. "The Renegades. They turned their backs on honor and brotherhood. They killed my uncle. They killed my father. They defiled my people's name. But I survived. And I will purify it."
Before anyone could respond, a rustle of robes and a low chant echoed behind them. From the ruins emerged a captured cultist, eyes sunken and skin pale with corruption. Zera had spared him for questioning, and now he spoke.
"The Ashen Court rises," the cultist croaked. "Laginaple burns. The whole Western Continent trembles. Only Coralis and Aethelmar remain, untouched, but not for long. The king spreads his darkness across the continent. You will drown in his ash."
Maika stepped forward, her voice venom. "Tell me how many of my people he slaughtered. How many Hi Okami did he twist?"
The cultist laughed, a broken sound. "All but you. And soon, even you will kneel."
Shin approached, his crimson gaze boring into the man's soul. "Tell your master something. We don't kneel. We burn away the rot."
He unsheathed Yoshimatsu. With a single upward slash, a wave of purified light tore through the cultist's form, scattering his ash to the winds. The hilltop fell silent once more.
Zera turned, the wind whipping her hair. "That vision... his court truly exists?"
"Yes," Shin said. "The Ashen Court rules everything west of Aethelmar. Only this place and Coralis remain free. The rest is shrouded in darkness."
Maika looked out across the landscape. "Then Kharzad is more than a stronghold. It's the last gate."
Tessara stepped forward, placing her hand gently on the corrupted relic. Her lunar crest glowed.
"We can't leave this unpurified," she said. "Let me try."
Her magic spread across the relic in soft ripples of silver light. The obelisk hissed, black veins seething under her power. For a moment, it resisted.
Then Maika raised her hand, her Taiyo no Men glowing like a second sun. She placed it beside Tessara's.
"Together."
Laverna and Zera joined them without hesitation, forming a circle of radiant unity. Shin stood behind them, raising his crest-marked hand. The pulses synchronized.
Crests glowed. Air shimmered. Sand lifted from the ground in swirling arcs.
The relic exploded in a burst of white light, purified.
Tessara dropped to one knee, breathing hard. Maika helped her up, her grip firm.
"That's one less wound," the sun-kissed kunoichi said.
Zera nodded. "And one step closer to vengeance."
Shin stepped to the front, looking toward the smoke-crowned peaks of Kharzad in the distance. His left hand glowed faintly, the crest on it warmer than ever.
"Kharzad is waiting," he said. "And so is Tristan."
Behind him, the group tightened its formation. Laverna summoned a gust of wind that lifted embers from the sands. Tessara smiled softly, her foxfire dancing in the sky. Maika flipped a kunai through her fingers with a wicked grin. Zera sheathed her blade, her posture unwavering.
Each woman bore a piece of Shin's legacy. Each one now burned with purpose.
Crests flared together.
They turned as one, heading toward the black mountains.
The siege of Kharzad had begun.