The portal mechanism hummed.
Kane's hands moved across essence controls. "Stable in thirty seconds."
Jayden checked his gear. Blade. Void Mantle. Azalea cutting secured.
The team stood ready. Marcus's shield. Elena's crown. Zain's gauntlets. Cinna's staff.
"Once through, you have one hour before your power drops." Kane didn't look up. "Use it to find cover. The Purifiers are in the Shattered Peaks. Northeast from arrival point."
"And if we don't find them?" Marcus asked.
"You die."
Simple. Honest.
The portal ripped open. Purple lightning. Spatial tear. Reality bleeding.
"Twenty seconds," Kane said. "Questions?"
"Yeah." Jayden stepped forward. "Why help us?"
Kane paused. Looked at him. "Because someone should've helped Lucian. No one did."
He pressed the final control.
"GO!"
Jayden ran. Through the portal. Into light.
The team followed.
Reality twisted. Compressed. Expanded.
Then solid ground.
Jayden landed. Rolled. Stood.
New world.
The sky was orange. Three moons visible. Floating continents in the distance connected by glowing bridges.
[ANALYZING NEW ENVIRONMENT...]
[PLANET: KAELOS DETECTED]
[ESSENCE DENSITY: CATASTROPHIC]
[POWER REDUCTION: INITIATING IN 57 MINUTES]
"Move." Jayden started northeast. "One hour."
They ran. Fast. Apex level speed while it lasted.
The terrain was wrong. Too hard. Jayden's foot cracked stone that should've shattered.
Reinforced. Everything here is reinforced.
Fifteen minutes. Mountains appeared. Shattered. Broken. But still standing.
[SHATTERED PEAKS DETECTED]
"There!" Elena pointed.
A settlement. Built into the mountainside. Essence barriers glowing.
They approached. Guards appeared. Twenty. Armed.
"HALT!"
Weapons raised. Essence flaring.
"We're looking for the Purifiers!" Jayden called. "Lucian sent us!"
The guards froze.
"Lucian's dead," one said.
"We know. We were there."
Silence.
Then a woman stepped forward. Tall. Scarred. Powerful essence.
[ANALYZING...]
[SERA RANK: CONSTELLATION]
[SPEED: 167.2 UNITS. POWER: 173.8 UNITS]
Constellation. Above Apex. Above Calamity.
"You're the kids from Nexus." Not a question. "Lucian mentioned you before he left."
"You're Sera."
"I am." She studied them. "You survived Ash's portal. Impressive."
"He escaped here."
"We know. He's been building an army. Fifty thousand demons and growing." Sera gestured. "Inside. Your power drops in thirty minutes. We need to talk."
They followed.
The settlement was a fortress. Carved stone. Essence reinforced. Hundreds of people. All fighters.
Sera led them to a war room. Maps covered walls. Demon positions marked.
"Lucian told you to find us. Why?"
"To stop Ash. Permanently."
"Good luck. He's Sovereign tier now. Beyond what you can handle."
Jayden's eye pulsed.
[SOVEREIGN TIER: 120 150 UNITS]
Above everything they'd reached.
"Then we grow stronger."
"You won't. Not fast enough." Sera pointed at the map. "In two weeks, Ash opens the main portal. Full invasion. Your world drowns in demons."
"Then we stop him before two weeks."
"With what? Your stats?" Sera shook her head. "You're Apex tier. On Kaelos that means Warlord. You'd die approaching his fortress."
Marcus slammed his fist. "Then what do we do?"
"You train. Properly." Sera pulled out crystals. Different. Darker. "Demon cores. From Elders we've killed. Absorb these, you'll adapt to Kaelos's essence. Your power loss reduces from 50% to 20%."
"How many do you have?" Elena asked.
"Fifty. Ten each." Sera's expression was stone. "But absorption is different here. More dangerous. Five have died trying."
"We'll survive," Jayden said.
"You'd better. Because in two weeks, you're our backup plan." Sera moved to the door. "Rest today. Tomorrow, absorption begins. And training that'll make Haven look like vacation."
She left.
The team stood in silence.
[POWER REDUCTION: INITIATING IN 5 MINUTES]
Jayden felt it. His essence compressing. Fighting. Losing.
The countdown hit zero.
His stats dropped.
[SPEED: 179 → 89 UNITS]
[ATTACK: 159 → 79 UNITS]
Back to Warlord level.
"Fuck." Marcus flexed. "Feel like I'm wearing weights."
"We adapt." Jayden checked the team. Everyone affected. "Ten demon cores. Two weeks. Then we kill Ash."
"And if we can't?" Cinna asked.
"Then we die trying."
Footsteps approached. A young fighter. Teenager. Nervous.
"Um. Sera said to show you quarters. Follow me?"
They followed.
The quarters were simple. Stone. Beds. Weapons racks.
"Food in one hour. Training at dawn." The fighter paused. "Welcome to Kaelos. Try not to die."
He left.
Jayden sat. Exhaustion hitting.
Two weeks until apocalypse.
Ten demon cores to absorb.
An enemy beyond their reach.
His eye calculated odds.
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY TWO WEEKS: 41%]
[STOPPING ASH: 12%]
Twelve percent. Barely double digits.
But they'd beaten worse odds.
"Get some sleep." Elena claimed a bed. "Tomorrow starts the real hell."
Jayden lay down. Stared at the ceiling.
Orange sky visible through a window. Three moons rising.
Alien world. Halved power. Impossible enemy.
Just another day.
Black lightning sparked. Weaker now. But still there.
Tomorrow they'd start climbing again.
Tonight, they'd earned rest.
His eyes closed.
War could wait until morning.