The Nova Sanctum cut through the sky like a blade. Its shadow stretched wide across the valleys below, its engines silent but steady, a floating omen no nation could ignore.
The wolves were gone. Nothing but ash and silence where their packs had once howled. But the Sanctum did not pause. It drifted eastward, its course steady, its belly glowing faint with the hum of weapons waiting to strike.
Inside, the crew felt the weight of what had been done. Karl paced the hangar like a caged beast, his claws twitching, fire curling between his fingers. Lucy sat sharpening Infernal Eclipse in silence, each stroke against the blade cutting sparks into the air. Kaelis, small again, rested on Lucian’s shoulder, smoke curling lazily from his nostrils, his eyes half-closed but sharp beneath the lids.
Lucian stood in the control room, cloak loose, his hand pressed against the central console as Alfred’s voice filled the space.
[We are approaching the lands of the Boar Hordes. Their capital lies in the western valleys. The king is Gorran, Alpha Boar, a Gamma-ranked beast who commands armies of iron tusks. Strength reading: very high.]
Lucian’s eyes narrowed faint. "High or not, it won’t matter."
Karl appeared at the doorway, his grin sharp but restless. "So it’s pigs this time. Finally, something I can sink my claws into."
Lucy walked in behind him, her blade sheathed across her back, her voice calm. "Don’t underestimate them. Boars don’t break easy." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noᴠelfire.net
Kaelis chuckled from Lucian’s shoulder, tail curling smug. "Then they’ll squeal louder when they die."
Lucian gave a faint smirk. "We hit them together. No mistakes."
The Boar Nation had prepared.
Their capital stretched across the valley floor, a fortress of iron and stone. Black walls ringed the city, etched with wards pulsing faint crimson. Armies of tusked beasts marched the streets in formation, their armor thick plates of steel, their axes broad enough to fell trees. At the gates, the Boar King himself stood.
Gorran was massive, broader even than Taragon had been. His tusks jutted forward, coated in silver rune-work that glowed with blood-red light. His roar shook the valley, his aura pressing down like a storm.
"Let them come!" he thundered, his voice echoing across the walls. "Let them test their fire against iron! The Boar Nation does not burn!"
The Sanctum arrived above him.
The first volley cracked the walls, stone shattering, towers collapsing in showers of dust. Boar soldiers screamed as the ground split beneath them, flames pouring through the streets. Gorran roared again, his tusks flaring brighter, his aura pushing back the fire.
Space folded beneath his step, the air cracking as he appeared in the center square. The ground warped under his feet, reality bending in and out with each breath. Boar warriors surged at him, axes raised, their roars deafening.
Lucian raised his hand.
The first line of warriors folded inward, crushed into themselves before they touched him. The second line swung their axes, but Lucian blurred, folding behind them, his fist slamming into the ground. Time fractured, gravity twisted, the square imploded in a storm of warped air. Dozens fell in one strike.
The ground shook with every step, his tusks blazing, his body like a living battering ram. He slammed into Lucian, the force splitting the earth. Lucian folded sideways, reappearing at his flank, his hand slicing down. Space collapsed against Gorran’s hide, blood spraying as the strike cut deep.
But the Boar King roared, his tusks flashing. He caught Lucian across the chest, hurling him through a tower. Stone exploded, dust filling the air.
Lucian rose from the rubble, blood dripping from his mouth, his smirk faint but sharp. "Not bad."
Elsewhere in the city, Karl tore through streets in fire and laughter. His claws ripped through soldiers’ armor like paper, his flames bursting outward in violent waves. He grabbed one boar by the tusks and snapped its neck with a roar of laughter, then hurled the body into another squad.
"You call this an army?!" Karl bellowed, his grin wide, his eyes blazing. "This is slaughter!"
Lucy moved behind him, precise where he was reckless. Her blade cut arcs of black fire, each swing silent but devastating. She carved through squads with calm efficiency, her cloak trailing like smoke.
"Karl!" she called once, her voice sharp.
He ducked just in time as her blade swept past his head, cutting through the axeman who had been about to cleave him from behind. Black fire consumed the soldier, leaving nothing but ash.
Karl chuckled, wiping blood from his cheek. "Guess I owe you one."
Lucy’s expression didn’t change. "You owe me more than one."
Kaelis was nowhere to be seen—until his roar split the sky.
His body had unfurled to its vast form, wings tearing the clouds apart. He swooped low over the capital, fire pouring from his jaws, melting streets and boiling rivers. His laughter thundered across the valley.
"Pigs roasting in their pens," he bellowed. "What a feast."
Entire districts burned in seconds under his flames. The wards flickered, then shattered, crimson light scattering like dying sparks.
In the square, Lucian and Gorran clashed again. The Boar King’s tusks smashed into warped space, sparks erupting as his runes fought against Lucian’s Dominion. Lucian’s fists bent reality with each strike, compressing force into singular bursts that cracked armor and bone.
"You think yourself stronger?" Gorran roared, blood pouring from his side. "Boars do not kneel!"
Lucian’s smirk sharpened as his Dominion expanded, space and time warping into fractured glass around them. "Then die standing."
He folded forward, his fist striking Gorran’s chest. Space collapsed inward, ribs shattering. The Boar King coughed blood, his roar breaking.
Lucian slammed him again, then again, each strike folding reality tighter, crushing the king’s aura beneath it. Gorran fell to one knee, tusks dimming, his eyes wide with fury and disbelief.
Lucian raised his hand one last time. Space bent into a collapsing sphere, its weight humming in the air. He pressed it into the Boar King’s chest.
The explosion cracked the mountain.
When the dust cleared, Gorran’s body lay broken, his tusks shattered, his aura gone.
Lucian stood over him, cloak torn, blood dripping, his breathing steady. His voice came calm, low. "Another king falls."
By nightfall, the Boar Nation was gone.
Karl stood in the ruins, his chest heaving, his grin wide. "That was fun."
Lucy sheathed her sword, her eyes steady but shadowed. "Fun isn’t the word."
Kaelis descended, shrinking back into his smaller form, curling smugly on Lucian’s shoulder. "Two kings down. Ten to go."
Lucian stared at the fire still burning in the valley, his voice quiet but sharp. "No. Not ten. However many it takes until the world understands."
The Sanctum hovered above, its shadow vast across the land.
And beneath it, another nation lay in ash.