Chapter 37: The Rift Opens, The War Begins


    <hr>


    The attack was unexpected.


    The enemy was unknown.


    But it didn’t matter.


    Because the real mission hadn’t changed.


    The Void Rift was still growing, expanding.


    And if we didn’t stop it now—


    The world wouldn’t survive.


    <hr>


    Deployment to the Frontlines


    Arkadia’s forces gathered at the war camp, stationed just miles from the rift’s unstable borders.


    Hundreds of hunters, instructors, and elite squads stood ready.


    Massive siege weapons lined the field, their runes glowing with anti-void enchantments.


    At the center, Headmaster Graves and the academy’s top warriors stood before a magically projected battlefield map.


    The plan was simple.


    <blockquote>


    Phase One: Break through the rift’s outer defenses.


    Phase Two: Establish a foothold inside the void zone.


    Phase Three: Close the rift—by any means necessary.


    </blockquote>


    And who was leading the first strike?


    Me.


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    Because, of course, I was.


    <hr>


    The March to Battle


    As we approached the rift, the world twisted.


    The sky above the rift wasn’t natural—it flickered between deep purples and fractured blacks, like existence itself was breaking apart.


    <blockquote>


    [VOID DISTORTION DETECTED.]


    [WARNING: TERRAIN UNSTABLE.]


    </blockquote>


    The ground was corrupted, pulsing with abyssal energy.


    And waiting for us—


    Was an army.


    <hr>


    The Riftborn Horde


    Hundreds of creatures, twisted and grotesque, stood at the rift’s edge.


    Some were towering, bone-plated monstrosities.


    Others were shadows given form, flickering between worlds.


    And at their center—


    A Void General.


    A humanoid figure, clad in living darkness, its face obscured by a twisted, shifting mask.


    It raised a clawed hand—


    And the horde charged.


    <hr>


    The Battle Begins


    "FORM RANKS!" Graves roared.


    The battlefield exploded into chaos.


    <blockquote>


    [BEAST GOD MODE: ACTIVATED.]


    </blockquote>


    My armor formed instantly, my weapons pulsing with refined abyssal energy.


    Nyx’s Eclipse Fang extended—cleaving through three creatures at once.


    Umbra howled, his clones tearing apart the weaker enemies in a storm of fangs and shadows.


    Noctis flickered through the battlefield, redirecting enemy attacks into their own ranks.


    Iris moved like a storm of ice and steel, cutting through enemy lines with brutal precision.


    And Emilia?


    She wasn’t just healing.


    She was empowering.


    Her magic wrapped around us, reinforcing armor, amplifying speed, making us nearly untouchable.


    But the enemy wasn’t endless.


    The longer we fought—


    The closer we got to the Void General.


    And when I finally stood before it—


    It spoke.


    <blockquote>


    "The False One has come at last."


    </blockquote>


    I froze.


    "...What did you just call me?"


    The General raised its twisted blade.


    <blockquote>


    "Come, Blacksmith. Show me if you are worthy."


    </blockquote>


    And just like that—


    The real fight began.