Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece

[BONUS CHAPTER — 200 POWERSTONE]

———

Eleanora appeared beside Kyle. Her cloak fluttering in the cold wind. Her red eyes scanned the battlefield. Sharp and focused.

"They're here," she said, her voice low but clear.

Kyle didn't need to look to know she was right.

He could already feel it. The way the air shifted. The quiet before the storm.

The enemy was close. His heartbeat remained steady. But his fingers twitched with anticipation.

Slowly, he turned his gaze toward the ridge.

Dozens of Red Legion soldiers marched into view. Their crimson armor caught the pale morning light, glinting like blood-soaked steel.

They moved with trained discipline. Tight formation, weapons drawn, scanning every rock, every tree.

But they didn't see the real threat. Not the archers. Not the hidden scouts.

The danger was beneath their feet.

They had walked straight into the trap.

Kyle's eyes narrowed. This was it.

He turned his head slightly. His eyes meeting Serena's across the shallow hill. She stood still. Her glaive resting against her shoulder.

Nearby, Cassian adjusted his gauntlets. Fire flickering faintly around his knuckles.

Cedric cracked his neck and checked the position of his fire runes one last time.

No one spoke.

They didn't have to.

They had practiced this. Trained for this. This was the moment all their planning had led to.

Kyle slowly raised his right hand, his fingers curled but relaxed, ready.

The soldiers were halfway across the kill zone.

He counted the steps.

Three more…

Two…

One...

Snap.

A sharp, crisp sound broke the silence. Kyle's fingers snapped together like a conductor calling an orchestra to life.

Instantly, the ice runes beneath the enemy soldiers shimmered with blue light. Veins of magic crawling up through the soil.

Serena's lightning runes buzzed to life, flickering like threads of energy ready to explode.

Cedric and Cassian moved in sync. They snapped their fingers.

Fire runes ignited.

For one strange moment. The world held its breath.

Then—

BOOM.

The ground shook.

A wave of explosions ripped through the earth.

Ice spikes erupted from below, sharp and jagged, tearing through armor and limbs.

Some soldiers didn't even get the chance to scream before they were lifted off the ground by the blasts.

Fireballs burst next, blooming like angry suns.

The force threw Red Legion soldiers into the air like broken dolls, their weapons scattering across the rocks.

Lightning arced through the chaos, crackling and jumping from one target to another. The smell of scorched metal and burning flesh filled the air.

Screams echoed through the cliffs.

Smoke and dust rolled up in thick clouds, blanketing the ridge in a suffocating gray fog.

Kyle didn't move. He watched it unfold with steady eyes.

This wasn't cruelty.

This was war.

And every second of hesitation would cost lives.

Some of the Red soldiers tried to run. Others barely managed to crawl out of the cratered ground.

Kyle raised his hand again and pointed forward.

"Now!"

A second wave hit.

Arrows whistled through the air, fired from Black Legion archers hidden along the treeline.

At the same time, mages unleashed volleys of elemental spells. Fireballs, wind blades, bursts of stone and earth.

The survivors were caught in a storm they couldn't outrun.

One soldier was halfway to cover when a lightning bolt slammed into his back, dropping him instantly.

Another tried to shield a wounded comrade. Only for a shadowy spear of condensed darkness to pierce them both.

There was no escape.

Kyle stepped forward, his voice calm but firm. "Clean up the rest."

The Black Legion soldiers surged forward like a crashing tide.

Boots slammed into mud. Blades gleamed under the pale light.

Screams rose, then were silenced by steel.

Kyle moved with them, Zalrielle humming with mana in his grip.

The air was thick with the smell of smoke, blood, and ash.

Bodies littered the earth, red and black armor mingled with torn flesh and broken steel.

But not everyone had fallen.

In the center of the chaos, a single figure still stood tall.

Captain Veyl.

His black-and-red armor was cracked open at the chest. Blood stained his chestplate, dripping down over the Red Legion insignia.

One shoulder was pierced clean through by a jagged ice spike. But the man hadn't gone down.

He fought like a wounded animal. Desperate, furious, and wild.

Every swing of his blade sent soldiers flying. He wasn't just strong. He was experienced. Dangerous even in this state.

From the edge of the battlefield. Cedric watched with clenched fists.

He saw the trail of bodies Veyl left in his path.

He saw the ice spike still lodged in the man's shoulder, and how it didn't slow him.

Cedric's jaw tightened. "I'll take care of him."

Kyle gave him a brief nod. "Be careful."

Then Cedric took off.

Flames burst at his feet as he launched forward. A blur of fire and steel across the blood-soaked field.

Veyl turned, instinct kicking in just fast enough.

Sparks flew as their swords clashed.

Steel against steel. Fury against resolve.

"You!" Veyl growled, his voice thick with pain and rage. "You're the one who set this up!"

Cedric didn't answer. He pressed forward, his strikes fast and sharp. Light flickered at the edge of his blade with each swing.

Veyl roared, swinging back with brutal strength. His strikes were heavy, but unsteady. His breath came in sharp gasps.

He was slowing down.

Cedric ducked under a wide slash. Then twisted his body and drove a kick into Veyl's wounded shoulder.

The ice spike cracked further. Veyl staggered back, gritting his teeth.

"You're strong," Cedric said, his voice quiet. "But this ends now."

He stepped forward and raised his free hand.

A small sphere of light gathered in his palm. Bright. Focused.

Veyl's eyes widened. He knew what was coming.

He lifted his sword to block—

Cedric unleashed the spell.

A beam of pure white light burst forward, cutting through the air like a lance.

It hit Veyl dead in the chest.

The man froze.

For a second, it was like time stood still. Then his sword slipped from his fingers.

He fell backwards. Hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Silent.

Still.

Dead.

Cedric stood there for a moment.

It was over.

For now.

———

Silence settled over the broken land.

The smell of burnt flesh and scorched fabric hung in the air. The grass was no longer green. It was blackened, red, soaked in blood and ash.

All around them, the Red Legion's small force lay shattered. Those who hadn't died in the explosive rune trap had been cut down in the chaos that followed.

Serena stood at the edge of the cliff. Her glaive resting across her shoulders.

Her eyes were calm, distant. She didn't say anything. But the way she watched the battlefield said enough.

Cassian let out a tired sigh and cracked his knuckles, small flames still dancing across his skin. "That was a mess," he muttered.

Eleanora was already walking the perimeter, eyes scanning the trees. The ridgelines, the sky. Anywhere danger could hide.

Cedric walked back slowly. His sword still dripping with blood.

He stopped beside Kyle. "It's done."

Kyle gave a short nod. He looked over the field again. Bodies. Burnt armor. Smoke.

"Not bad," he said. "Not clean… but not bad."

Cedric glanced toward the place where Captain Veyl had fallen. "He was stronger than I thought."

"You handled it."

"I didn't have a choice."

Kyle looked at him, then clapped him on the shoulder. "That's what makes you dangerous."

For a few seconds, no one said anything. Just the wind, the crackle of dying flames, and the distant calls of crows.

Kyle turned and looked toward the southern ridgeline.

Dark clouds gathered there, thick and heavy.

"This isn't over yet," Kyle muttered under his breath.

———