War, Blood, Greed and Nuclear Blast

Step. Step. Step.

Groza and Liam ran as fast as they could, the buildings of Varthon flashing by as they approached the field where the crucial battle had taken place.

They saw how the dark dome had fallen, how a strange light had paved the way before Kreyn, but they still did not know who had won. They were not sure who had prevailed.

Although only two days had passed since they awoke, that time and the events that had occurred were enough to understand how powerful an opponent Ardur von Wurhen was.

To have even a chance of defeating him, one had to sacrifice everything.

Kreyn did just that.

For his victory, everyone lost something. The villagers of Boneveil Village had to work without sleep and give up their resources, the prisoners lost their prison and were forced to fight, the Varthon residents found themselves in the middle of a massacre, losing everything from their families to their homes, leaving them with only hope.

Even the monsters were no exception to this rule. Vaarh with the Arakta Worms suffered losses and worked to achieve the plan's goal. Merissa had to make a deal and give up her Artifacts. Sure, if Kreyn won, she would get back what she lost, but he could lose with a high probability.

Hundreds of people died, and more than a dozen Origins met in battle, tearing each other apart. Monsters went against humans, while humans went to kill other humans.

All this was done for one thing — Kreyn's victory.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Drops of blood dripped from Kreyn's sleeve as he stood over Ardur's corpse, looking at his face contorted in horror with already empty eyes.

"Kreyn!"

A shout came from the side as Kreyn slowly smiled.

"So you finished first? Good, I knew you could do it."

They wanted to move closer, but stopped abruptly as their eyes widened.

Light and darkness still billowed from Kreyn. Light streams of darkness swirled at his feet, but it was enough to send shivers down Groza and Liam's backs.

"Oh, right..." Kreyn realized what had alarmed them. "I completely forgot about that. Hah, good thing you reminded me, otherwise I would have fallen exhausted, without energy."

He waved his hand as the darkness dispersed at his command. It was not pure darkness, but mixed with light.

Then, Groza and Liam turned their gaze to Ardur. They couldn't believe it, but Ardur von Wurhen was indeed dead.

He wasn't just dead. His opponent, the young man who two days ago had been a prisoner in Ardur's jail, was standing firmly on his feet.

Sure, Kreyn was wounded, and it was the most difficult victory of his life, but now that he was the winner, nothing else mattered.

"So, are you going to keep staring at him, or am I going to get congratulations from my allies?"

Groza was the leader in her world, and initially, she had also been Kreyn's enemy, but she couldn't help but admit that what he had done was beyond her capabilities.

'This is... unbelievable. Is it really over? Did we really win? Has the entire Wurhen Family simply disappeared? All this happened in just two days...?'

"Kreyn, I don't know what to say." Liam gulped, looking around. "Groza and I have been through many battles together, but it has never been this bloody and brutal."

In response, he nodded deeply.

"Alright, I'll take that as a compliment. That's enough, I'm not the most sentimental person, you know?"

Then, he threw his head back in a short laugh.

"Hah, that old bastard! He turned out to be twice, no, three times stronger than I expected! Damn it, he almost killed Vaarh!"

Groza blinked as she looked at the holes in the distance.

"Speaking of which, was that part of the plan, too? I heard his painful roar, he must have taken a nasty wound."

"Nah," Kreyn shook his head. "We're not playing a board game, this is real life. I can't predict every turn of events. I hope Vaarh is alive, the attack Ardur used was powerful enough to practically kill a monster like Vaarh."

Liam tilted his head, thoughtfully.

"Doesn't that mean he made a mistake?"

Groza looked at him with a slight frown. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, if Ardur had used the attack that nearly killed Vaarh, Kreyn would have had no chance to defend himself against something so devastating, right?"

Kreyn smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, you're right. By that point, I had already used the Artifact that could have saved me from a fatal wound. It would be fair to say that was the only moment when Ardur could have won. If he had directed all his power at me then, Vaarh would not have been able to win."

Groza crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, you're saying that the great Ardur von Wurhen had only one chance against you and he couldn't take advantage of it?"

"Something like that. But I don't blame him. He was sure that if he got rid of Vaarh, defeating me would be easy. He was wrong, and it cost him his life. I'm sure that in his entire history, he had never encountered such a situation before, he wasn't prepared for everything he had worked for his entire life to disappear in two days."

Groza shuddered, realizing the meaning behind those words.

"Brrrh, that sounds scary, you know? But... Kreyn." Groza clenched her fists tightly. "I have to admit that without you, we wouldn't have succeeded. Thank you. If it weren't for you, we would never have made it to the Great Lands, and even if we had, we would have rotted in prison!"

Liam glanced at her and nodded. He agreed with Groza.

"Hah, that's why I beat you, isn't it?" He smirked mockingly.

Groza grimaced in a heartbeat.

"What did you say, you piece of shit?!"

"Hahahahaha!"

After a few moments, Liam scratched his cheek.

"So, what are we going to do next?"

In response, Kreyn looked in Varthon's direction.

"We'll tell people what happened. For them and for all of us, a new life is beginning right now!"