The battle lasted for hours.

What began as a coordinated assault quickly turned into a full-scale purge of the entire city as waves upon waves of infected and corrupted creatures emerged from every direction imaginable. The streets shook beneath constant explosions of power while the skies burned crimson from the Vermillion Bird’s flames and flashed violet from the Thunderclaw Leopard’s lightning.

And through it all, Grace led the destruction like a force of nature itself.

The second Class 13 monster beast didn’t survive much longer after challenging her. The creature, a gigantic humanoid beast covered in layered bone armor with six massive arms and glowing crimson eyes, had burst from beneath an underground transit station and immediately charged toward her with enough force to shatter entire buildings in its path.

But Grace met it head-on.

The collision alone created a shockwave powerful enough to flatten several nearby streets.

The monster roared furiously, all six arms striking downward simultaneously with enough power to crack the ground apart. Yet Grace didn’t move an inch. Golden celestial energy surged around her body as she caught two of the creature’s arms barehanded before twisting violently.

The sound of bones snapping echoed through the city. And the monster screamed.

Grace didn’t give it the chance to recover.

Her knee slammed into its chest hard enough to crater its armor inward before she seized the creature by its throat and hurled its enormous body through three ruined skyscrapers. The beast barely managed to stand again before the dragon descended from the heavens above and crushed it beneath one colossal claw.

Then the dragon’s jaws opened, and golden fire consumed everything.

The explosion lit up half the city. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Meanwhile, Rune and Davian led the warriors through the surrounding districts with ruthless efficiency. Years of fighting together had turned the team into something terrifyingly coordinated. The warriors moved through the ruined city like sharpened blades, cutting through infected hordes while simultaneously hunting monster nests hidden throughout the collapsed buildings.

Rune’s power had evolved drastically after integrating with the jade ring. No, not the ring anymore. Its power now lived within him.

Green-gold energy flowed across his arms every time he attacked, ancient runes flickering faintly beneath his skin as he tore through monster beasts with frightening precision. Entire packs of creatures collapsed before they could even touch him, his movements faster and heavier than before.

Davian fought differently.

Where Rune was controlled destruction, Davian was overwhelming brutality.

His crimson energy exploded through the streets like wildfire as he carved through enemies with his massive blade, every strike powerful enough to split monster beasts cleanly apart. Blood and black corruption stained the broken roads behind him as infected creatures continued swarming endlessly toward their position.

But they never reached the warriors. Because above them, Grace’s shadow beasts dominated the battlefield completely.

Hours passed.

The city slowly changed. The endless screams began fading. The roars grew fewer. And eventually, silence started returning.

The last major infected horde emerged shortly before sunset.

Tens of thousands of infected flooded through the western districts after being driven from underground tunnels by the Thunderclaw Leopard’s lightning strikes. The sheer number darkened entire streets, their twisted shrieks echoing endlessly through the ruined city.

One of the warriors inhaled sharply at the sight. "That’s..."

"A lot," Davian finished grimly.

But Grace simply stepped forward, her eyes scanning the approaching tide calmly. Then she raised one hand and celestial energy gathered instantly.

The air itself distorted around her as immense power condensed into a glowing sphere above her palm. The surrounding warriors instinctively backed away from the sheer pressure radiating from it.

Then she moved her hand downward, and the heavens answered - a gigantic pillar of golden light descended from the sky.

The attack struck the center of the infected horde with catastrophic force, vaporizing thousands instantly before the explosion expanded outward across several kilometers. Buildings collapsed. Roads shattered. Entire sections of the city disappeared beneath blinding celestial energy.

When the light finally faded, there was nothing left. Not a single infected survived.

The city had fallen completely silent. Even the wind seemed quieter now. Smoke drifted through the ruined skyline as the surviving warriors slowly lowered their weapons, exhaustion finally beginning to settle into their bodies.

"We actually cleared it..." one of them muttered softly, almost unable to believe it.

But Grace’s work wasn’t finished yet. Because killing the monsters wasn’t enough. They needed to secure the city.

2025 immediately projected a large-scale barrier formation across multiple holographic screens while the warriors gathered the spirit stones from the fallen beasts. Hundreds upon hundreds of glowing stones quickly accumulated into massive piles as the cleanup operation began.

The higher-grade stones were separated carefully. Especially the Class 13 spirit stones. Those alone radiated terrifying amounts of energy.

Grace floated high above the center of the ruined city while dozens of spirit stones hovered around her body, glowing brightly beneath the darkening sky. Golden energy flowed from her fingertips into the formation 2025 constructed, weaving together ancient runes.

The ground beneath the city began glowing. Lines of energy spread outward through the streets like roots, activating the barrier.

A massive dome of shimmering golden light slowly rose around the entire city, expanding kilometer after kilometer until it sealed the area completely. The pressure from it washed across everyone below like warm sunlight.

The corrupted energy lingering throughout the city immediately weakened. The air itself felt cleaner, safer. By the time the barrier stabilized fully, night had already fallen.

The city remained ruined, broken, scarred beyond recognition. But for the first time in nearly a decade, it was no longer crawling with monsters. And deep beneath all that destruction, something ancient still waited.

While the cleanup teams got busy gathering spirit stones and salvaging usable materials from the battlefield, Grace moved toward the center of the city alongside Rune and Davian.

2025 guided them through the underground ruins hidden beneath layers of collapsed infrastructure and ancient stone pathways. The deeper they descended, the older everything became.

Modern construction vanished and ancient architecture replaced it. The walls were covered in faded carvings and symbols so old they barely resembled language anymore. Spiritual energy lingered faintly in the air despite the corruption surrounding the area.

And then, they found it - the anchor site.

Acmassive underground chamber opened before them, ancient and silent beneath the earth. And at its center stood a gigantic crystalline structure surrounded by broken pillars and shattered seals.

Or rather, what remained of it.

Cracks spread across the once-glowing crystal like wounds, dark corruption pulsing through the fractures while weakened energy leaked from its damaged surface. Several ancient chains surrounding the core had already snapped completely, lying shattered across the floor.

The moment Grace stepped closer, 2025’s voice turned unusually quiet.

[Confirmed.]

[Veil Anchor Core detected.]

Even Davian went silent as he stared at the enormous damaged crystal. Because now, the apocalypse no longer felt like some distant disaster. It had a face. A wound.

And standing before the broken core of Earth’s Veil for the very first time, all three of them finally understood just how close the planet truly was to collapse.