As Valieon was returning to the Flame Dominion, the wind was quiet, yet something heavy hung in the air. On the coast of Terra Stronghold, he stopped to catch his breath. The trees nearby bore strange glowing fruits, soft and cool to the touch. Valieon plucked a few and sat on a rock, eating in silence, the Eternal Blades wrapped on his back.
But peace never lingered long around him.
A sudden pressure in the air made his senses flare. He rose, alert.
"Your aura," a deep voice echoed from the shadows, "It does not belong to any Dominion I know. Who are you?"
A tall figure emerged from the forest—sharp eyes, weathered armor, and a body radiating raw earthen power.
Valieon didn't flinch. "I'm Valieon, from the Flame Dominion. I mean no harm."
The man chuckled darkly. "You lie. No flame burns like yours. No aura twists like that. That aura… belongs to a demon."
Before Valieon could react, a fist landed straight in his face, launching him across the trees. He crashed against a cliff wall, rubble falling over him. When he rose, a strange mark had appeared—jet black, slashing down from his left eye, glowing like a seal of ruin.
A purplish, glittering aura surged around him—violent, unnatural, divine.
The man didn't hesitate. He prepared to strike again.
But Valieon moved first.
In a blur of godspeed, he appeared behind the man and struck his forearm. The man blocked, but his arm began to bleed instantly.
Valieon's stance changed. "Eclipse Fang."
The man recognized the danger and grounded himself, the earth around him pulsing with life.
"Stoneheart Breaker," he whispered, bracing for impact.
Valieon vanished again—this time above.
Their fists collided mid-air.
A titanic explosion followed, shaking the very crust of Terra. The sound echoed across the Realms, and even the great Land Sentinel, ruler of Terra Stronghold, felt the tremor in his throne.
He immediately dispatched an army to the coast.
When the dust finally settled, the forest was gone. Mountains had cracked. Valleys had been born.
And the mysterious man knelt in the ruins, one arm gone—his flesh burnt away by the sheer force of Valieon's strike.
Gasping, he looked up. "Who are you…?"
Valieon didn't answer. He looked at his own hands, trembling. He had let anger control him again.
The man coughed blood, smiling despite the pain. "I am Jude… Elite General of Terra… how… how did you do that with just one blow…?"
Valieon turned as troops neared. He stepped back into his boat and pushed into the misty waters.
Jude lay still, his breath fading with the setting sun.
That night, the announcement spread like wildfire across every Realme:
"General Jude has fallen. The killer will not go unpunished."
A new hunt had begun.
And Valieon had crossed yet another line he could never uncross.