[30 Minutes Ago - The Canyon Surface]

The wind howled through the "Throat of Cinder," carrying with it the smell of iron and fresh blood.

Kaelen, the leader of the Silver Lance, crawled across the sand. His silver armor, once his pride, was shattered. His leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Please…" Kaelen wheezed, reaching out a trembling hand. "We… we are A-Rank adventurers… citizens of the Empire…"

Stomp.

A heavy boot, armored in blood-red steel, crushed Kaelen's hand into the dirt.

"Citizen?"

Commander Valerius looked down. He wore the pristine white cloak of the Red Templars, now stained with splatters of gore.

His face was hidden behind a T-visor helmet that glowed with anti-magic runes.

Around him, the rest of the Silver Lance party lay dead. The Mage had been beheaded. The Priest was pinned to a rock with black spears.

"You are not a citizen," Valerius spat, his voice distorted by his helmet. "You are a mercenary. A parasite who sells his loyalty for coin."

"We… we just wanted to leave…" Kaelen choked out tears mixing with the blood on his face. "We left the Nest… the Young Master… he sent us back…"

"Young Master?" Valerius tilted his head. "So, someone is down there with the beast."

Valerius raised his sword. It wasn't steel. It was a jagged blade made of red crystal that seemed to drink the light around it.

"Thank you for the intelligence. May your soul will be purified in the Void."

"No! Wait—"

SLASH.

Valerius swung. Kaelen's head rolled across the sand.

The Commander didn't even wipe his blade. He turned to his squad—twenty elite Templars, each radiating the aura of a Peak 4th Order killer.

"Listen to me!" Valerius shouted, his voice cracking with a desperate intensity.

"We have lost Ironforge. The Second Prince is furious. The Dwarves have rebelled, and the artifact production has halted."

He pointed his sword at the massive, buried dome in the distance where heat waves rippled the air.

"If we return empty-handed, we will be executed. We need that Dragon. We need its heart to fuel the Gate. Failure is not an option!"

"Commander!" A scout shouted, holding a mana-compass. "The thermal signature is spiking! And… I detect massive fluctuations of mana. Someone is inside the dome!"

"Heretics," Valerius hissed. "Probably the 'Young Master' this trash spoke of. Trying to steal our Dragon."

He slammed his visor down.

"Deploy the Null-Chains. We are breaching the roof. Kill the humans. Bind the beast."

"For the Void!" The Templars roared.

They charged toward the ventilation shaft.

…................…..

[Present Time - The Nest]

BOOM!

The ceiling of the cavern exploded inward. Massive chunks of rock and glass rained down, smashing into the piles of gold coins.

Dust filled the air, choking the light of the magma rivers.

Through the hole in the roof, twenty figures dropped down. They landed in a perfect circle around Damien and Ignis, their red armor gleaming in the firelight.

They didn't attack immediately. They slammed their weapons, heavy staves and halberds topped with red crystals into the ground.

HUMMMMM.

A high-pitched, dissonant frequency filled the room.

Damien felt his mana seize up. It was like moving through molasses.

"Anti-Magic Field," Damien noted calmly, standing up from his chess game.

"High grade. They came prepared."

Ignis rose to his full height, his massive wings spreading wide, casting a shadow over the intruders.

His tail twitched, knocking over the chessboard and scattering the pieces.

"Rats," Ignis rumbled, smoke pouring from his nostrils. "You break into my home? You break my roof? You interrupt my game?"

The Dragon opened his maw, a fire bright enough to melt steel gathering in his throat.

"Silence, Beast!"

Valerius stepped forward. He held up a black cube covered in glowing red runes.

"Activate the Null-Chains!"

The twenty Templars threw their hands forward.

CLANK-HISS!

Chains shot out from their gauntlets. They weren't made of iron; they were made of red energy.

They flew through the air, wrapping around Ignis's neck, wings, and legs.

HISS!

The chains burned into the Dragon's scales.

"ROAR!" Ignis thrashed, but the chains tightened. The fire in his throat sputtered and died.

"Dragon magic is potent," Valerius sneered, walking toward the bound dragon.

"But it is still magic. And the Red Templars exist to hunt magic."

He turned his gaze to Damien, Isabelle, Leona, and Lyra.

"And you," Valerius pointed his crystal sword at Damien.

"The 'Young Master.' You associate with monsters? You play games with beasts while the world burns?"

"Remove your hoods," Valerius commanded. "Let me see the faces of the heretics I am about to execute."

Damien stood amidst the scattered gold coins. He looked at the struggling Dragon. He looked at the fanatics surrounding them.

He sighed.

"You killed them, didn't you?" Damien asked softly. "The mercenaries. Kaelen."

"I purged the weak," Valerius replied indifferently.

"I see."

Damien reached into his Void Gem.

He didn't pull out a weapon. He pulled out a white porcelain mask.

"Isabelle. Leona. Lyra," Damien said, his voice dropping an octave, losing all warmth. "Masks up."

The three girls didn't hesitate. They pulled out the black masks Damien had bought in Silverwood.

Leona donned a mask painted with a lion's snarl. Isabelle donned a mask with a demon's grin. Lyra donned a sleek, featureless mask.

And Damien placed the white mask over his face. The one with the black "0" painted on the forehead.

Valerius frowned. "Masks? You think hiding your face will save you?"

"I'm not hiding," a distorted, mechanical voice came from behind the Zero mask.

Damien adjusted his coat. His Will Armament flared, pushing back against the Anti-Magic field.

The golden aura on his right and the black shadow on his left began to bleed out, unaffected by the Templar's suppression.

"I am putting on my work clothes."

Ignis, currently wrestling with the red chains, stopped struggling for a second.

He craned his massive neck to look at Damien.

He sniffed.

The scent of the "Human Kid" was gone. Replaced by something cold, metallic, and infinitely greedy.

'Zero?' Ignis thought, his slit pupil dilating. 'isn't he that bastard I saw during the live broadcast?.'

The Dragon grinned, revealing a row of teeth. He stopped fighting the chains and decided to watch.

Damien, no, Zero, stepped forward. He drew the Pantheon Sword.

The crystal blade hummed, hungry for the energy of the anti-magic field.

"Commander Valerius," Zero said.

"You destroyed the chess board."

Zero pointed the sword at the Commander.

"That means you volunteered to be the Pawns."

"Kill him!" Valerius screamed, sensing the sudden spike in danger.

Zero vanished.

[Battle Start]

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