Chapter Twenty-Seven:

“The Shattered Sky”

The Drifting Lantern shook with a low, resonant groan.

John's eyes snapped open to the distant thunder of war, his HUD already spamming red with emergency alerts. The scent of salt and something burning filled the air. Something was wrong.

He threw off the blanket, feet hitting the wooden floor just as a second, deeper tremor rolled through the building. Then—

A sound that should not exist split the night.

A high-pitched scream of shattering magic—the kind that burrowed into bone, made the world feel like it was cracking apart. The barrier was breaking.

John was already moving.

Akira burst from his room at the same time. "What the hell—?"

"Outside, now!" John’s feet barely touched the floor as he bolted for the balcony, slamming the doors open.

Yumi and Rai had already reached theirs, standing frozen as the night sky split apart.

The barrier over Luna Bay was fracturing, massive veins of gold light snapping and twisting as the ancient magic failed. Beyond it, three thousand warships emerged from the abyss, their twisted hulls pulsing with unnatural power. Where they passed, the sea turned black. The water died beneath them.

RW's voice cut through the chaos, colder than ever. "Cataclysmic Event Detected. Barrier Failure Imminent. Estimated Time to Total Collapse: Fifteen Seconds."

A deep, unnatural pulse echoed across the sky.

The barrier screamed one last time—then shattered.

The explosion of light threw John back, heat washing over his face as the protective magic of Luna Bay died in an instant. He caught himself against the railing, breath stolen, watching in horrified awe as the final remnants of golden energy rained down like dying embers.

Then came the first volley.

The warships opened fire.

Streaks of twisted, purple energy tore through the sky. The first blast hit the outer harbor. Stone vaporized. The second slammed into the market district. Buildings folded in on themselves. The third hit the harbor tower.

The entire structure disintegrated.

Screams filled the air.

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John didn't have time to think. He turned, already moving, heart hammering. "We need to get down there!"

The common room was in chaos. Tables overturned, scattered meals left forgotten, defenders scrambling for weapons. The scent of burning wood seeped through the walls, smoke already curling at the edges of the windows.

Elder Warabi stood in the center, directing a group of hastily armed villagers, her voice unwavering despite the terror in her eyes. "Form up! Defend the city at all costs! If we fall here, fall back to Kagemura!"

John barely paused, pushing through the panic with Yumi, Rai, Akira, the Okami-Yama twins, and the two Nekomijin fighters at his back. The air itself felt electric, charged with the raw aftermath of shattered magic.

As soon as they reached the streets, they ran.

The defenders of Luna Bay fought with the ferocity of demons.

Nekomijin warriors met the first wave head-on, their battle cries drowning out the wails of the dying. The air filled with the clash of steel, the shrieks of corrupted monsters, the heavy, echoing blasts of enemy warships.

John’s Twin Fangs ignited in his hands. He moved as one with his party—Akira’s blade carving through the twisted, flesh-wrapped horrors that had once been sailors, Yumi’s obsidian claws raking through enemies with calculated lethality, Rai’s wind magic whipping through the battlefield, deflecting attacks and sending enemies tumbling.

The Okami-Yama twins fought like spirits of war, moving with inhuman speed, their blades cutting through enemies before they could even scream. The two Nekomijin warriors fought beside them, one wielding twin daggers, the other a spear wreathed in flame.

But for every corrupted creature they cut down, three more took its place.

The warships weren’t just firing—they were summoning.

From the depths of the blackened water, massive horrors crawled onto land—twisted fusions of shipwrecks and sea creatures, their bodies pulsing with necrotic energy. Tentacles ended in jagged, rusted suckers. Faces that had once been human screamed soundlessly from beneath layers of corrupted barnacles.

John sidestepped a massive tentacle, twisting his body just in time to feel the air splitting just past his cheek. He brought his blades up, fire and steel colliding, his HUD flashing damage numbers too fast to track.

A Nekomijin warrior beside him cried out—a blade of corrupted bone piercing through her gut. Her eyes went wide, breath hitching as she crumpled. John lunged, cutting the enemy down, but it was too late. Too many were dying.

A thunderous roar split the battlefield.

John looked up, blood pounding in his ears. A shape moved through the sky.

Reinforcements.

From the cliffs above, the warriors of Kagemura descended. Kitsune archers loosed arrows wreathed in sacred Foxfire, cutting through enemy ranks. Human warriors wielding ancient weapons charged down the slopes, blades glowing with the power of generations.

And behind them—

The last surviving Players from the Tokyo camp.

They had survived the destruction of their base. And now? They were here to finish this.

A massive shockwave rolled through the battlefield.

John turned—

Vassoth’s flagship was moving.

The massive vessel turned broadside, corrupt energy building to unfathomable levels.

John’s HUD flashed warnings he’d never seen before.

The blast fired.

The entire harbor exploded.

Buildings collapsed. Stone melted. Survivors ran for cover that no longer existed.

Then, at the center of the destruction, a figure appeared at the bow of the flagship.

Vassoth.

RW’s voice was not cold this time. It was afraid.

"The corruption levels have exceeded all known parameters."

Vassoth jumped.

The impact drove John to his knees.

The corrupted Lord rose to his full height. Darkness poured from his form.

John met his gaze, muscles tensed. "You should’ve stayed in your grave."

Vassoth chuckled, a sound like grinding stone. "This world is already a graveyard. You just haven't noticed yet."

Then—

A wolf’s howl cut through the chaos.

John looked up.

On the cliff’s edge stood the Yama-Okami reinforcements riding massive wolves, their eyes blazing.

Hope flickered.

But would it be enough?