Parallel Memory

Chapter 652: The Breaking Point

The battlefield roared like a living storm.

The gates of the Devil King’s palace—once a symbol of eternal dominion—now stood as the epicenter of a war that would decide the balance between realms. Fire and frost clashed, light and darkness tore through the air, and the earth itself seemed to convulse beneath the relentless exchange of power.

Kaelion’s command post had moved dangerously close to the front lines. His robes were streaked with ash, his blade drawn but rarely used; his true weapon was his mind. He scanned the chaos below, eyes darting between formations, adjusting, recalculating, adapting. Around him, officers relayed orders and coordinates as if their lives depended on every breath—because they did.

"Report!" Kaelion demanded, voice sharp.

"The left flank’s holding," shouted one of his lieutenants, voice hoarse. "But we’re losing ground at the southern wall. The devils brought in something—winged variants. Fast and heavily armed."

Kaelion’s eyes narrowed. "They’re adapting faster than before. They’ve read our wedge formation." His mind spun through possibilities. "Counter them with aerial spearmen—third platoon. And reinforce with the barrier casters. Keep their wings clipped."

"Yes, Commander!"

As the order rippled outward, Kaelion glanced toward the Saintess, standing amid the chaos like a radiant pillar of light. Her mana poured across the battlefield in waves—gentle yet fierce, pure yet unyielding. Every soldier she touched stood straighter, moved faster, fought harder. But the toll was written clearly across her face.

Her lips were pale, her hands trembling faintly as she maintained the connection. The blessing was beyond what any mortal should sustain, yet she refused to yield. The devils, sensing her as the linchpin of their resistance, began to redirect their efforts—like predators drawn to the heart of light.

Kaelion realized it instantly."They’ve targeted her," he muttered. "Form a secondary barrier—archers, defensive ring around the Saintess!"

He leapt from his vantage point, cloak whipping behind him as he descended into the fray. The command tent was useless now; the only place a strategist belonged was among his soldiers. Landing with a crack of stone beneath his boots, Kaelion drew his sword, not out of desperation—but to lead by presence.

"Hold your ground!" he roared, voice cutting through the chaos. "The moment you falter is the moment the world forgets your names. Stand proud, for humanity endures here!"

His words struck something deep. The soldiers rallied, their morale flaring like embers catching the wind. Even the Saintess turned her head slightly, a flicker of gratitude in her weary eyes.

But the devils came in endless waves.

Their roars shook the ground, their claws gouged trenches in the stone. Each one was a monster born from darkness and fury, bound by Aamon’s will to annihilate. Kaelion watched their movements—fluid, brutal, synchronized. This was not random carnage. The enemy was responding with purpose.

"They’re coordinated," Kaelion thought grimly. "Which means there’s still a commander among them."

His gaze swept toward the highest ridge beyond the gates—and then he saw it. A towering devil, armored in blackened bone, directing the hordes with chilling precision. Its wings spread wide, and the ground trembled as it roared commands in a language ancient and cruel.

Kaelion’s jaw tightened. "So that’s their tactician."

He turned to the Saintess. "Can you amplify my voice?"

She nodded weakly, pressing her hands together. A pulse of holy mana enveloped him, and when Kaelion spoke again, his words carried across the entire field.

"Target the ridge! That one commands the horde! Cut off the head and the body will falter!"

Instantly, catapults reoriented. Archers adjusted aim. Mages redirected mana channels. A storm of arrows, flames, and magic converged on the ridge in perfect synchronization.

The explosion lit the dusk like a second sun.

The ridge shattered, debris scattering into the air as devils screamed and burned. For a moment—just a brief, precious moment—the tide shifted.

"Push forward!" Kaelion roared. "Now! Before they reorganize!"

The soldiers surged, and the devils reeled under the assault. Spears drove through chests, magic tore through wings, and the battlefield seemed to tremble with renewed human fury. Kaelion moved among them, cutting down two lesser devils that broke through the line. His mind was calm, precise, every action deliberate.

The Saintess raised her staff, her blessing pulsing brighter than ever. The air shimmered with gold, each flicker of light revitalizing the wounded and purging the corruption from the ground. It was breathtaking—divine—but unsustainable.

Her vision blurred. She tasted blood.

Kaelion caught her before she fell. "Enough," he said quietly. "You’ve done enough for now."

She shook her head weakly. "If I stop... they’ll die. We’ll lose the line."

"Then let me buy you time."

Kaelion stood, sword glowing faintly as he drew on his own mana reserves—something he rarely did. His art wasn’t meant for combat; it was an extension of his mind, his ability to manipulate flow and momentum. But in the right hands, even strategy could become a weapon.

He extended his hand, whispering a spell. Lines of shimmering mana stretched across the battlefield, invisible to all but him. Each line connected to a soldier, to a point of movement, to a rhythm of combat.

"Formation Shift—Hexagonal Rotation," he commanded.

The battlefield obeyed.

Units rotated mid-combat, swapping exhausted lines for fresh reinforcements without breaking formation. The seamless transition caught the devils off-guard, creating fractures in their assault pattern. The humans moved like a single, living organism—breathing, shifting, adapting.

Kaelion smirked. "Strategy can overcome numbers... if you make the field itself your ally."

The Saintess watched him, her eyes wide with awe. "You... you’re forcing the flow of battle."

"Only for a short while," he admitted. "But long enough to shift the balance."

The devils roared in frustration, and for the first time, Kaelion saw them falter. The vanguard—the strongest of the human elite—charged, spears gleaming under the Saintess’s golden light. The clash that followed shook the ground. Blood, fire, and mana intertwined in a storm of violence that neither side could fully control.

And yet... far beyond the gates, deep within the palace walls, Kaelion could feel it.

A tremor in the flow of mana. A distortion, subtle but immense. It pulsed like a heartbeat—cold, distant, and impossibly vast.

He turned toward the palace instinctively, eyes narrowing. "What in the world is that...?"

The Saintess followed his gaze. "Something’s happening inside," she whispered, her voice trembling. "A presence. One I cannot purify."

Kaelion’s instincts screamed. Inside those walls, where Hiro and Mia fought against Aaron, something had awakened—something older, darker, far beyond their comprehension. The devils outside were no longer the main threat; they were merely the shield protecting something greater.

Kaelion clenched his sword, forcing himself to focus. "Then we have no choice," he muttered. "We hold this line no matter the cost. If we fail here, whatever’s happening inside will consume everything."

The Saintess nodded faintly, summoning her last reserves. Her light grew brighter once more, casting long shadows across the battlefield as the devils regrouped for another assault.

The next wave would be worse. Stronger. Smarter.

Kaelion looked toward the blood-red horizon. "We endure," he said softly, almost to himself. "Because that’s what humans do."

And the battle resumed—more furious, more desperate, and more uncertain than ever before.