The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Day the Sun Was Swallowed by the True Eclipse

The summit of the mountain was far removed from human civilization.

No villages could be seen from that height, no roads crossed the surrounding valleys, and even the distant cries of monsters were almost completely swallowed by the wind. It was the perfect place to unleash an enormous amount of power without worrying about ordinary people becoming accidental casualties.

Three figures stood near the edge of the mountain.

Ares stood at the center, calmly looking toward the endless sky ahead of him. Behind him were Draven and Cedric, both of whom had been wondering why their master had suddenly brought them all the way out here.

Draven yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"What are we doing here anyway, Master? I’m still tired. Couldn’t we have done whatever this is tomorrow?"

Ares glanced over his shoulder.

"Stop complaining."

"I’m not complaining. I’m simply expressing my concern regarding the completely unnecessary destruction of my sleep schedule."

"Whatever you want to call it."

Ares turned his attention back toward the sky.

"We aren’t here to wander around. There’s something I want to show you."

Draven’s expression immediately became more attentive, while Cedric quietly waited for Ares to continue.

For several seconds, Ares said nothing.

Then he slowly raised one arm until his hand rested around chest level.

The air around the mountain began to change.

"Ever since I first discovered Eclipse, I’ve been trying to understand what it actually is. At first, I believed it was simply a strange form of energy that allowed me to strengthen other people, but the more I experimented with it, the more I realized that there were layers to its existence that I hadn’t even begun to understand."

A faint darkness gathered around his hand.

"I’ve spent years experimenting with its density, its flow, its structure, and the way it interacts with ordinary mana. I’ve forced it through different forms, combined it with the knowledge I’ve gained about magic, and repeatedly pushed it beyond the limits I originally believed it possessed."

He paused.

"Recently, I discovered something."

The darkness around his hand changed.

It didn’t grow violently.

It didn’t explode.

Instead, the familiar violet hue that had always accompanied his Eclipse Power gradually disappeared, replaced by a darkness so deep that it almost seemed to consume the light around it.

Within that darkness, faint silver-white traces began moving slowly, followed by a thin ring of white-gold light that formed around the center.

The image resembled an eclipse.

A dark sphere surrounded by a brilliant corona.

The wind stopped.

The surrounding trees became completely still.

Even the atmosphere seemed to grow heavier.

Draven’s eyes widened.

Cedric’s expression changed completely.

Ares continued speaking as though nothing unusual had happened.

"It wasn’t another technique."

His eyes remained fixed on the power surrounding his hand.

"It was another form of Eclipse."

The energy spread slowly across his body, forming a silent current of black, silver, and white-gold light.

"I call it the True Eclipse."

Draven stared at him.

"That’s..."

For once, he seemed unable to find a joke.

Cedric’s eyes remained fixed on Ares.

"Master..."

His voice was quiet.

"I can feel it."

Ares looked toward him.

Cedric swallowed.

"Your power has changed completely. It isn’t simply stronger than before. The nature of it feels different, as though the power we’ve known until now was only an incomplete expression of something much greater."

Draven slowly nodded.

"Even I can feel that."

His expression became increasingly serious as he studied the darkness surrounding Ares.

"That power..."

He paused.

"It’s even xx stronger than mine."

Ares said nothing.

The True Eclipse continued circulating around him with almost unnatural calmness.

There was no uncontrolled pressure, yet the sheer presence of the power made the mountain beneath their feet tremble.

For the past several years, Ares had secretly continued experimenting with Eclipse whenever he had the opportunity. He had never been satisfied with simply knowing that his power was extraordinary. He wanted to understand where it came from, how far it could evolve, and whether there was a limit hidden somewhere beyond his current understanding.

Every day, he had pushed it a little further.

And now, for the first time, he had found an answer.

There was another stage.

Another form.

A deeper manifestation of Eclipse.

Ares looked down at himself.

His ordinary clothing began dissolving into tiny particles of darkness.

The fabric reformed around his body almost immediately.

A simple black robe appeared first, fitted closely enough to allow unrestricted movement without becoming unnecessarily elaborate. A long coat-like layer extended behind him, following the shape of his body rather than hanging like an oversized cloak.

The hood formed last.

It settled naturally over his head, casting his face beneath a deep shadow.

Thin silver-white lines appeared along the edges of the robe, resembling the brilliant corona surrounding an eclipse. A faint white-gold glow moved through them whenever the True Eclipse Power circulated through his body.

There were no excessive ornaments.

No unnecessary decorations.

The design was simple, elegant, and practical.

It looked less like ceremonial clothing and more like the natural attire of someone who belonged to the darkness itself.

Draven stared.

Cedric remained completely silent.

Ares adjusted the edge of his hood.

"Hmm."

He looked at himself for a moment.

"Much better."

Draven finally found his voice.

"Master..."

Ares looked toward him.

"What?"

"You’re terrifying."

Cedric’s eyes remained fixed on the faint white-gold light moving along the edges of Ares’s robe.

"The power is difficult to perceive properly."

Ares turned toward the sky.

"Stay here."

Draven blinked.

"Where are you going?"

"Up."

Before either of them could ask another question, Ares disappeared.

The next instant, he was already far above the mountain.

He continued ascending until the land below became almost impossible to distinguish, leaving only the endless sky surrounding him.

Eventually, Ares stopped before the sun.

The brilliant light illuminated his dark silhouette from behind.

For a moment, he simply looked at it.

Then he raised his hand.

The True Eclipse responded.

A small black circle appeared in front of him.

It began expanding.

Larger.

Larger.

Larger.

The darkness continued spreading across the sky as Ares poured more of his power into it.

The phenomenon resembled something he had known long before coming to this world.

An eclipse.

A natural event he had seen during his previous life, when the moon passed between the Earth and the sun and temporarily blocked its light.

But this time, there was no moon.

There was only Ares.

And the power he had spent years developing.

The enormous black circle continued expanding until it reached the sun.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then the daylight began to disappear.

The brilliant surface of the sun was gradually covered by an enormous black disc.

Only a thin ring of white-gold light remained around its edges.

Daylight became twilight.

Twilight became darkness.

Across the kingdom, people stopped whatever they were doing.

Merchants abandoned their stalls and stepped into the streets.

Farmers stopped working in their fields.

Children pointed toward the sky.

Knights halted their patrols.

Adventurers stepped out of inns and taverns.

Nobody understood what was happening.

"It’s getting dark."

"But it’s still daytime!"

"Where did the sun go?"

"Is this some kind of forbidden magic?"

"Could a monster have caused this?"

"Get inside!"

"Call the knights!"

Panic spread through several cities within minutes.

Some people began praying.

Others ran toward their homes.

Several powerful mages immediately attempted to analyze the phenomenon, but even they were unable to determine what kind of magic could possibly create something on such a massive scale.

The royal court received reports almost immediately.

The kingdom’s strongest knights were placed on alert.

Nobody knew whether the phenomenon was a warning, a natural disaster, or the beginning of something far worse.

Meanwhile, the Eclipse Order reacted very differently.

Members stationed throughout different cities and territories stopped whatever they were doing the moment they felt the change in their Eclipse Power.

Some stood on rooftops.

Others stepped outside their facilities.

Several members who had been training suddenly stopped and looked toward the darkened sky.

"The Great Eclipse..."

One member whispered.

Another slowly lowered her weapon.

"Master."

The Eclipse Power inside her body began responding.

"My power..."

She stared at her hands.

"It’s surging."

Another member closed her eyes.

"I can feel it too."

The resonance spread throughout the Order.

It wasn’t enough to transform them or dramatically increase their strength, but every member could feel the source of their power responding to something far greater than themselves.

"The Eclipse is changing."

"The Great Eclipse has done something."

"His power..."

Several members lowered their heads almost instinctively.

Their expressions were filled with awe.

In another territory, a group of Eclipse members stood silently beneath the darkened sky.

One of them smiled.

"To think we would witness this."

Another lowered her head.

"This is the power of the Great Eclipse."

Their admiration was unmistakable.

Far above the kingdom, Draven and Cedric could only stare.

Draven’s mouth remained slightly open.

"I..."

He slowly shook his head.

"I don’t even know what to say."

Cedric stood beside him, his eyes fixed on the enormous black disc covering the sun.

"Neither do I."

"With his own power."

Cedric remained silent.

Draven slowly smiled.

"I really don’t regret becoming his subordinate."

Cedric looked toward Ares’s distant silhouette.

"Neither do I."

He paused.

"But..."

His expression became more serious.

"Is it really acceptable for a human to possess this much power?"

Draven didn’t answer immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on the figure above the eclipsed sun.

"Even the heroes of the past..."

He slowly shook his head.

"I don’t think they could compare to this."

Cedric’s expression changed.

"This amount of power..."

He lowered his gaze for a moment.

"I can’t even measure it."

Then he looked back toward Ares.

"Just who is Master?"

Draven gave a quiet laugh.

"That’s what I’ve been wondering."

His expression softened slightly.

"Even I was worried when I first met him. To think that someone so young could possess this much power..."

He looked toward the kingdom below.

"Fortunately, he’s on the right side."

Cedric nodded.

"And he actually cares about humanity."

Draven sighed.

"Otherwise, I don’t even want to imagine what this world would look like."

For a moment, the two remained silent.

Then Draven’s thoughts turned toward the people who served beneath Ares.

The Four Black Roses.

The Seven Crowns.

The Ten Reapers.

Even the earliest members Ares had empowered had already reached levels that ordinary beings could never hope to approach. If their growth continued at the same pace, some of them might eventually cross into something beyond what this world considered mortal.

Especially the Four Black Roses.

And the Seven Crowns.

They were no longer ordinary people.

They had received Ares’s power, adapted to it, and developed their own abilities around it.

Their evolution was still continuing.

Draven slowly turned toward Cedric.

"Cedric."

Cedric looked at him.

"Yes?"

"The reason we evolved..."

Draven paused.

"It was because of Master, wasn’t it?"

Cedric’s expression became slightly tense.

Draven continued.

"Even if you never told me, I could tell. You didn’t simply evovle your dark magic after meeting him."

His voice became quieter.

"Your old power changed."

Cedric lowered his gaze.

"Yes."

Draven watched him carefully.

"Before you met Master, you were an undead."

Cedric looked down at his hands.

"I can no longer summon or awaken undead in the same way I once did."

Draven raised an eyebrow.

Cedric continued.

"But my evolution changed the nature of my power."

A faint dark aura gathered around his hand.

"I can create undead now."

The darkness condensed.

"Not ordinary undead."

The energy became denser.

"Creatures created through my own power."

Cedric closed his hand, and the darkness disappeared.

"The old me could never have done this."

He looked toward Ares.

"But Master changed that."

Draven smiled.

"I knew it."

Cedric’s expression softened slightly.

"I was ashamed of keeping it from you."

"You didn’t need to be."

Draven looked back toward the sky.

"Master already knows."

Cedric nodded.

The two men remained silent for a moment, watching the enormous eclipse above them.

Then their expressions gradually changed.

The amusement disappeared from Draven’s face.

Cedric’s usual calmness faded as well.

They weren’t looking at Ares with fear.

They were looking at him with something closer to reverence.

Above them, Ares remained suspended before the eclipsed sun, surrounded by the immense power that had transformed the daylight into darkness.

The sight was almost impossible to comprehend.

Draven lowered his head.

"The Great Eclipse..."

Cedric followed.

"The true power of Eclipse..."

Neither of them looked away.

For the first time, they understood that what they had received from Ares was only a small portion of something much greater.

And witnessing that truth left them with only one thought.

They were fortunate to stand beneath the shadow of the Great Eclipse.

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