Chapter 169: The Last War
The ground didn’t just crack.
It split open.
A deep, blinding silver light tore through the asphalt like lightning trapped beneath the earth. The entire street shook violently as the fissure widened, swallowing pieces of broken pavement and crushed vehicles.
Everyone stopped fighting.
Even Victor’s soldiers.
Even the massive shock units.
For one moment, the entire battlefield froze as something ancient began rising from the depths below.
Callum slowly stood up from behind the destroyed car he had been hiding behind.
“…okay.”
He stared at the glowing crack spreading across the street.
“That definitely wasn’t part of the plan.”
Dominic, still in his massive black wolf form, stepped backward slightly. His golden eyes reflected the light pouring from the ground.
Even he looked uncertain.
Selene lowered her blade slowly.
Her silver eyes widened.
“I don’t believe this…”
Aidan spoke quietly beside her.
“You know what it is.”
Selene nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Her voice dropped to almost a whisper.
“It’s a Core.”
Victor heard the word.
And for the first time since this entire nightmare started—
He looked genuinely afraid.
“That’s impossible,” he muttered.
The silver light exploded upward in a column that lit the entire city skyline.
The crack in the street widened even further until something massive emerged from the ground.
Not a creature.
Not a machine.
A structure.
A huge, ancient sphere made of crystal and metal, covered in glowing runes that pulsed with the exact same silver energy burning inside my chest.
It hovered a few feet above the ground, humming with unimaginable power.
The Umbra stepped forward slowly.
Its white eyes gleamed with fascination.
“The Ascension Core.”
Callum blinked.
“…the what?”
Selene answered quietly.
“The original power source of the Ascended.”
Callum turned to me.
“…you have got to be kidding me.”
Victor stared at the floating sphere with disbelief.
“No.”
“This was destroyed.”
Aidan shook his head.
“Clearly not.”
The Core pulsed again.
A deep wave of silver energy rippled outward across the battlefield.
The moment it passed through Victor’s army—
Every enhanced soldier dropped to their knees.
Their enhancements shut down instantly.
Weapons fell from their hands.
The shock units staggered backward, roaring in confusion.
Victor’s containment towers flickered violently.
The machines sparked—
Then exploded.
Dominic shifted back into human form as the energy washed over him.
He stared at the floating sphere in shock.
“That power…”
Elena whispered,
“It’s connected to Roxanne.”
She was right.
I could feel it now.
The energy inside the Core wasn’t just similar to mine.
It was the same.
Like two halves of the same heartbeat.
Victor’s voice trembled slightly.
“…no.”
His calm mask had finally shattered.
“You were never supposed to awaken it.”
The Umbra chuckled softly.
“You built your entire experiment on ancient power you didn’t understand.”
Victor glared at it.
“Silence.”
The Umbra only smiled wider.
“You thought you created the first Ascended.”
Its white eyes flickered toward me.
“But all you did…”
“…was wake the last one.”
The Core pulsed again.
Stronger.
And suddenly—
The voice inside my mind returned.
Clearer than ever before.
You have found it.
I swallowed slowly.
“Who are you?”
The voice felt ancient.
Gentle.
Powerful.
The first.
My breath caught.
The first Ascended.
Memories flashed through my mind again.
Not visions this time.
Real memories.
An ancient war.
Ascended warriors battling vampires, wolves, hunters—entire supernatural armies united against them.
And one leader.
A woman glowing with the same silver light I carried.
The voice spoke again.
Our kind was nearly destroyed.
The Core pulsed brighter.
But our power remained.
Victor shook his head violently.
“No.”
“You are an experiment.”
His voice grew desperate.
“I created you!”
I looked at him.
“No.”
The silver energy surged through my body again.
“You just woke me up.”
Victor’s face twisted with anger.
He raised his hand sharply.
“Kill her.”
The remaining soldiers hesitated.
Their enhancements were gone.
Their weapons useless.
Victor shouted again.
“I gave you orders!”
But none of them moved.
Callum slowly raised his hand toward them.
“…I think they quit.”
The shock units roared and charged again.
Victor had built those creatures without enhancement energy.
They were still dangerous.
Still powerful.
Dominic stepped forward instantly.
“So did we.”
Selene, Elena, Aidan, and Callum moved beside him.
But I stopped them.
“It’s my fight.”
Dominic looked at me.
“No.”
“It is.”
The Core pulsed again.
And suddenly—
The silver energy around me expanded outward like wings of light.
Every nerve in my body burned with power.
But it didn’t hurt.
It felt… right.
The voice inside my mind whispered.
Take what is yours.
I reached toward the floating Core.
The moment my hand touched its surface—
The world exploded with light.
A massive wave of energy shot across the battlefield.
The shock units froze mid-charge.
Their metal armor cracked apart like glass.
The machines collapsed instantly.
Victor staggered backward.
“…impossible.”
The Core rose higher into the air.
Then slowly—
It dissolved.
Not destroyed.
Absorbed.
Into me.
The silver light wrapped around my body like a storm.
Power surged through every part of me.
The city lights flickered across the skyline.
Victor stared at me in horror.
“What have you done?”
I looked down at my hands.
The silver glow was brighter than ever before.
But perfectly calm.
Perfectly controlled.
“I finished what you started.”
Victor took a step back.
“You’re unstable.”
“No.”
The energy surged again.
“I’m complete.”
Victor’s desperation finally turned into rage.
He pulled a small device from his coat.
“If I can’t control the Ascended…”
He raised it.
“…then no one will.”
Aidan’s eyes widened.
“He’s triggering the failsafe!”
Callum shouted,
“WHAT FAILSAFE?!”
Victor pressed the button.
All around the battlefield—
The bodies of the enhanced soldiers began glowing red.
Explosive implants.
Selene cursed under her breath.
“He’s going to kill all of them!”
Victor smiled darkly.
“And take you with them.”
Hundreds of explosions were about to go off simultaneously.
Dominic shouted,
“ROXANNE!”
But the silver energy inside me surged again.
Stronger than ever.
The voice inside my mind whispered calmly.
Stop him.
I raised my hand.
And released the power.
A wave of silver light swept across the battlefield.
The glowing red implants inside the soldiers flickered—
Then died.
Every single one.
Victor stared in disbelief.
“That’s not possible…”
The Umbra chuckled softly.
“You really should stop saying that.”
Victor backed away slowly.
His entire army had fallen.
His machines destroyed.
His soldiers disarmed.
And standing in front of him—
The fully awakened Ascended.
He looked at me one last time.
“You think this is over.”
My voice came out calm.
“It is.”
Victor shook his head slowly.
“No.”
His eyes darkened.
“The world will never accept you.”
Callum stepped forward.
“Good.”
“Because the world sucks.”
Selene raised her blade again.
“Leave.”
Victor looked around the battlefield.
At the destroyed machines.
The silent soldiers.
Then back at me.
For the first time—
He looked defeated.
“…this isn’t the end.”
He turned and walked toward one of the remaining vehicles.
No one stopped him.
The car drove away slowly.
Victor disappearing into the night.
The war…
Was finally over.
The silver light around my body slowly faded.
The battlefield grew quiet.
Dominic walked toward me slowly.
His golden eyes searching my face.
“Roxanne.”
I looked at him.
The energy inside my chest finally felt calm.
Balanced.
“I’m still me.”
Dominic smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Callum exhaled loudly.
“Well.”
He looked around at the destroyed street.
“That escalated quickly.”
Elena laughed softly for the first time in hours.
Selene sheathed her blade.
“The war is over.”
The Umbra watched quietly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at it.
The shadow creature tilted its head slightly.
“The war that ended the Ascended is over.”
It paused.
“But the story…”
Its white eyes flickered toward me.
“…is just beginning.”
And somehow—
For the first time since this nightmare started—
That didn’t scare me.
Because now…
I knew exactly who I was.
The last Ascended.
And this time—
No one was going to erase us again.