My Infinite System.

The Lion King’s nation lived in its rhythm, steady as it had for centuries.

The citadel, black stone carved into the side of the mountain, loomed over the valley like a permanent shadow. Around it stretched a sprawl of settlements—beastkin huts, stone barracks, smoke curling from forge towers. The air smelled of iron and dust, the constant sound of training echoing through the barracks yard where soldiers clashed their spears together in rhythm.

At the walls, scouts paced the cliffs, their eyes sharp and steady, watching the rivers below. Vultures circled overhead, wings black against the sky. Everything moved like clockwork—patrols changing shifts, hunters dragging in kills, children laughing in the lower settlement.

It was calm.

Until the sky changed.

It started as a hum. Faint, low, like thunder too far to matter. The beasts on the cliffs frowned, raising their heads. Clouds above the valley rippled strangely, as if pushed apart by something unseen.

One scout opened his mouth to call out—

Then the first light streaked down.

A white line, silent at first, then screaming as it cut through the clouds. It slammed into the farthest settlement, a wall of fire exploding outward. Houses folded, the ground itself ripping in two. The blast swallowed screams before they could rise.

The cliff patrols froze. For half a breath they didn’t move, their minds refusing to accept what they saw. Then the second strike came.

And the third.

Fire rained down.

Dozens of streaks carved the sky, falling like the wrath of gods. Each one hit with earth-splitting force, detonations rolling across the valley in waves. Barracks collapsed. Stone shattered. Beastkin warriors— it didn’t matter—were vaporized in the fire before they could even draw weapons.

The rivers boiled.

The cliff scouts screamed warnings, their voices breaking, but they were drowned by the thunder of explosions. Watchtowers toppled one after another, splintering as fire swallowed them. The vulture flights tried to scatter, their wings beating against the shockwaves, but missiles tore through them midair, feathers burning into ash before they hit the ground.

Panic spread fast.

”Shields! Raise the wards!” one commander roared, his voice cracking as he shoved soldiers into position. Beastkin slammed their hands into the ground, glyphs lighting along the cliffs, energy flaring upward in wide arcs.

Barriers rose, black light crashing across the valley like walls. For a moment, it seemed they might hold.

But the fire didn’t stop.

More streaks screamed down, heavier than before, hammering the barriers with relentless force. The shields shuddered, bending, cracking under the weight of explosions. Monster mages bled from their mouths, their arms trembling as they tried to keep the wards stable.

Then one barrier snapped.

The explosion that followed lit the entire valley white. Half the cliff patrol vanished, their bodies torn apart by the collapse. The wards rippled, buckling one after another like dominos. The fire poured through, eating the valley raw.

Inside the citadel, the ground trembled.

The Lion King himself rose from his throne, his mane flaring with energy, his claws flexing as the roars of his people shook the black stone. His Gamma-ranked guardians were already moving, leaping into the courtyard as fire painted the sky above.

”My King!” one of them shouted, wings spread wide, aura blazing. ”It’s not an army! It’s fire from the heavens!”

The Lion King’s teeth bared, his voice a growl that rumbled through the citadel. ”Find the source! Tear it from the sky!”

Another blast shook the mountain, dust spilling from the ceilings, cracks ripping across the obsidian floor. Servants screamed, children clinging to the walls.

The third guardian pointed upward, his aura burning as his eyes narrowed. ”Look!”

Through the storm of smoke and fire, the shape revealed itself—faint, massive, cutting through the clouds like a blade. A ship, black and silver, its underbelly glowing faint with death. The Nova Sanctum.

The Lion King’s roar split the air, echoing across the ruined valley. Soldiers staggered as the force of it shook their bones. His aura surged, towering higher, hot and violent, tearing the courtyard into shards of stone.

”WHO DARES?!”

His guardians roared with him, their auras flaring as they launched upward. Wings spread, claws burning with fire and lightning, they rose toward the Sanctum’s belly.

But even as they rose, the fire didn’t stop.

Another barrage screamed down, faster, heavier, raining across the valley in endless rhythm. Settlements burned. Soldiers collapsed. Whole rivers boiled dry.

The monster nation had prepared for sieges, for raids, for wars. But they had never prepared for this—an enemy they couldn’t see, couldn’t reach, raining annihilation from the sky.

And in the heart of the firestorm, the Lion King’s roar only grew louder, shaking the mountains, as the Nova Sanctum’s shadow darkened the world beneath.

The den of beasts was no longer untouchable.

It was burning.

The hangar doors split open with a grinding hiss, metal folding back to reveal the chaos below. Smoke curled upward from the valley, rivers of flame cutting through the settlements. The sky glowed red from the firestorm, each blast lighting the shattered cliffs.

Lucian stood at the front, cloak brushing the floor as the wind from outside rushed in. He rolled his shoulders once, then tilted his head until his neck cracked. Calm. Cold.

”Let the massacre begin,” he said, voice steady, carrying over the roar of the Sanctum’s engines.

Lucy stepped beside him, Infernal Eclipse balanced against her shoulder. The blade pulsed faintly, fire licking along its edge like it was hungry. Her hair still burned in black flames, her expression calm but sharp. ”Don’t take all the fun,” she muttered.

Behind them, Karl stretched his arms, testing the strength still burning through his veins. His smirk was wide, reckless, but there was something darker in it now. ”I don’t plan on holding back,” he said.

Kaelis perched on Lucian’s shoulder in his small form, tail flicking, molten eyes glowing faint. He gave a low rumble, more amused than serious.

The wind howled through the hangar.

Lucian took one step forward, then another. The floor beneath them hummed, energy surging as the launch sequence engaged. Below, the Lion King’s guardians screamed challenges, their auras blazing like storms rising from the ground.

Lucian’s lips curved faintly, sharp as a blade.

The Sanctum’s fire had broken their walls. Now it was their turn to walk into the heart of the ruins.