Drake did not take his eyes off Aurelius.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
The faint concern vanished from the ancient blacksmith’s face as though it had never existed.
Yet Drake trusted what he had seen.
Aurelius had expected a battle.
He had expected the Six Orders.
He had expected the Red Door to open.
But he had not expected whatever the Orders were trying to accomplish now.
Another thunderous impact shook Blackstone.
The First Failure stumbled.
Not because it had been wounded.
Because every attack landed with impossible precision.
The Crimson Order’s burning harpoons drove into its left shoulder.
At the same instant, the Argent Order’s towers unleashed pillars of silver lightning against its right leg.
The Storm Order tightened the living serpent around its wings, forcing the massive creature to twist.
The White Choir’s hymn echoed through the valley, suppressing its thoughts whenever it tried to resist.
The attacks looked chaotic.
They were anything but.
Every movement forced the First Failure one step closer to the Red Door.
Captain Veller reached the same conclusion.
“They’re treating it like livestock.” Drake nodded.
“No…” His eyes narrowed.
“They’re trying to fit it somewhere.” Aurelius finally spoke.
“Now you are asking the correct question.” Drake turned sharply.
“What is behind that door?” The ancient blacksmith looked toward the Red Door.
“For someone who understands.” “I asked what.” “You did.” Again.
A half-answer.
Drake exhaled slowly.
Getting information from Aurelius was like trying to hold water in an open hand.
The mountain suddenly groaned beneath their feet.
A deep crack spread across the First Failure’s back.
Not from damage.
From something moving beneath its skin.
The ancient creature screamed.
Thousands of eyes opened across its body.
Hurts…
Drake immediately reached through the forge-link.
Where?
The answer came as sensations instead of words.
Pressure.
Cold.
Something hard pushing upward from deep inside.
Then another image flashed through Drake’s mind.
A gigantic black ring buried beneath layers of living flesh.
Ancient.
Covered in strange forging symbols.
Not chains.
Not bones.
Something else.
Drake’s breathing slowed.
That object wasn’t new.
It had been inside the First Failure for a very long time.
The Orders weren’t trying to imprison the creature.
They were trying to push it until…
That buried object reached the Red Door.
Cain suddenly staggered.
His hollow heartbeat echoed unevenly.
Clang…
Clang…
Clang…
His amber eyes fixed upon the battlefield.
“I remember…” Drake looked at him.
“What?” “Not everything.” Cain pressed his remaining hand against his head.
“Just fragments.” The memories clearly hurt.
“The laboratory…” “Rows of rings…” “Living forges…” Then his body stiffened.
“They’re trying to recover something.” Drake frowned.
“What?” Cain shook his head.
“I don’t know.” “But I remember one sentence.” He looked toward Aurelius.
“It was never supposed to leave the workshop.” Silence followed.
Even Aurelius glanced briefly toward Cain.
The expression lasted less than a second.
Approval?
Recognition?
Drake couldn’t tell.
The White Choir suddenly changed its hymn.
The melody became faster.
Sharper.
The First Failure cried out.
Its thoughts became confused.
Grow…?
Run…?
Hide…?
Drake felt the creature losing itself again.
“No.” He placed his hand against the living ground beneath him.
“Listen to me.” The forge-link opened completely.
Unlike before, Drake didn’t try to force calm.
He simply shared his own heartbeat.
Steady.
Unhurried.
One strike after another.
Like a blacksmith’s hammer.
The First Failure slowly matched the rhythm.
Its breathing stabilized.
The White Choir increased its volume.
The connection wavered.
Aurelius quietly watched.
“You soothe rather than command.” Drake didn’t answer.
“You’ve noticed.” “I noticed long ago.” The ancient blacksmith folded his hands behind his back.
“Interesting.” Another explosion interrupted them.
One of the Argent towers collapsed.
A massive golden root burst from beneath it, throwing stone hundreds of meters into the air.
The Orders immediately adjusted.
They weren’t trying to destroy the root.
They redirected it.
Again.
Always toward the Red Door.
Captain Veller cursed under his breath.
“They’ve rehearsed this.” Drake’s mind raced.
Years.
Perhaps decades.
Every Order moved as though following a single plan.
Not a battlefield strategy.
A ritual.
Someone had coordinated this long before today.
But who?
Surely not Aurelius.
Then…
Who possessed enough authority to command all Six Orders?
The answer disturbed him.
Someone they all obeyed.
Someone above the Orders themselves.
Before Drake could pursue the thought— The sky darkened.
The Arkwhale descended.
Golden blood flowed from countless wounds across its enormous body.
Yet it still flew.
Its mournful song echoed through the valley.
The First Failure immediately answered.
The two ancient beings recognized one another.
Not as enemies.
As survivors.
The Arkwhale passed over Drake’s head.
Its enormous eye met his.
A single feeling crossed the forge-link.
Protect.
Then it struck.
Not the Orders.
The Red Door.
Its massive wing slammed into the crimson frame.
The entire mountain shook.
Black fire exploded outward.
For the first time— The Red Door moved.
Only a few inches.
But it moved.
Aurelius’s calm expression finally changed.
His eyes narrowed.
“No.” He disappeared.
Drake never saw him move.
One moment he stood beside the doorway.
The next— He stood beneath the Arkwhale.
One gloved hand touched the descending wing.
Nothing dramatic happened.
No explosion.
No flash of mana.
The Arkwhale simply stopped.
A creature larger than a mountain…
Stopped by one hand.
Every person on the battlefield stared in disbelief.
The Arkwhale pushed harder.
Its muscles trembled.
Its wings strained.
The ancient beast released a cry powerful enough to shake clouds apart.
Aurelius did not move an inch.
Drake’s heart pounded.
That wasn’t strength.
No living body could physically stop the Arkwhale.
Something else was happening.
Vulcan’s lessons returned.
A blacksmith understood structure.
Not just metal.
Everything.
Aurelius wasn’t resisting the force.
He had found the single point supporting the Arkwhale’s movement.
He wasn’t overpowering it.
He had interrupted it.
The realization sent a chill through Drake.
That level of understanding bordered on impossible.
Aurelius gently pushed forward.
The Arkwhale drifted backward through the sky as though caught by the wind.
No injury.
No violence.
Simply redirected.
The ancient blacksmith lowered his hand.
“You should not interfere.” The Arkwhale answered with another mournful song.
Not fear.
Defiance.
Drake looked toward Aurelius.
“You don’t want the door damaged.” “I don’t.” “Why?” “It must remain intact.” “For what?” “When the proper time comes.” Again…
Nothing more.
The battlefield suddenly erupted.
The Crimson flagship fired every remaining harpoon simultaneously.
Hundreds of burning chains crossed the sky.
The First Failure tried to dodge.
The White Choir’s hymn froze its movement for an instant.
The chains struck.
Every one of them.
The ancient creature collapsed to one knee.
Its body slid across the mountainside.
Toward the Red Door.
Drake felt terror through the forge-link.
Not fear of pain.
Fear of the doorway itself.
No…
The plea echoed inside his heart.
Dark…
Cold…
Alone…
Drake looked toward Aurelius.
For the first time since meeting him— His voice carried genuine anger.
“What happened behind that door?” Silence.
Long enough that Drake almost believed he would receive no answer.
Then Aurelius spoke.
“I failed.” Nothing else.
Just two words.
No explanation.
No excuse.
No denial.
Drake stared at him.
The answer felt honest.
Yet it explained nothing.
The First Failure screamed again.
This time Drake understood.
The creature wasn’t afraid of Aurelius.
It was afraid of returning there.
Whatever had happened in that place…
Even after centuries…
It still haunted the ancient beast.
Drake made his decision.
He planted the Origin Hammer into the living ground.
Blue fire erupted along the forging runes.
Every free beast connected to his forge-link felt it.
Granite.
Nox.
The pale dragon.
The two-headed wolf.
Even Ember’s tiny Heart Rune flared brilliantly.
Drake didn’t issue a command.
He made a request.
“Help me.” One after another— The responses came.
Not obedience.
Choice.
Granite roared from the distant Walking Forge.
Nox answered with a crystal chime.
The pale dragon spread its wings.
The two-headed wolf howled beneath the collapsing cliffs.
Even the six-headed dragon beneath Eli raised all six crowns toward the sky.
The forge-link expanded.
Not through domination.
Through trust.
Aurelius watched the network forming.
For the first time…
He smiled.
Not with amusement.
With quiet appreciation.
“So…” he murmured.
“The old path still exists.” Drake frowned.
“What?” The ancient blacksmith looked toward the growing web of voluntary bonds.
“Do not lose it.” Before Drake could ask another question— A horn echoed across the battlefield.
Not from any Order.
Something else.
Every commander turned toward the northern horizon.
Black clouds rolled over the mountains.
Within them…
Thousands of crimson eyes opened.
Captain Veller’s face lost all color.
“…Impossible.” Drake looked toward him.
“What is it?” Veller answered without taking his eyes off the approaching darkness.
“Those aren’t Order troops.” The clouds descended lower.
They weren’t clouds.
They were flying creatures.
An army.
Each one looked like a twisted fusion of beast and machine.
Metal bones.
Living flesh.
Red crystal hearts.
None resembled natural life.
Cain’s hollow heartbeat became frantic.
“I know them.” His voice barely remained steady.
“The Forgotten Legion.” Aurelius’s expression hardened.
For the first time since his arrival— He looked genuinely surprised.
“They survived…” Drake looked between the approaching army and Aurelius.
“You know them?” The ancient blacksmith spoke quietly.
“I destroyed them.” The answer chilled everyone present.
Yet the creatures continued coming.
Thousands.
No…
Tens of thousands.
They ignored the Six Orders.
Ignored the First Failure.
Ignored the Arkwhale.
Every crimson eye fixed upon a single target.
The Red Door.
The leading creature opened its jaws.
A voice emerged.
Broken.
Mechanical.
Ancient.
“Recover…” Thousands of voices answered together.
“…the Forge.” The battlefield fell silent once more.
Not because of Aurelius.
Not because of the Orders.
Because every force present suddenly realized…
There was another player entering the war.
One powerful enough that even Aurelius had not expected them.
The game had just changed.
End of Chapter 12