7/8

7/8 The end of #100 is the beginning of the world we see in Realm War. Governments have lost control, people and places have been displaced, and the Dark Horde has the freedom to hunt down whoever is left resisting. Sela can't just gather the same team and try the same attack again. The Blood Knights helped make this defeat possible, and the resistance will need something that can actually stop them. It will also need people, somewhere to gather them, and a reason for frightened survivors to believe fighting is still worth it. That's a lot to ask after the world has just been torn apart. The heroes who remain are not starting from a safe headquarters with a fresh plan. They have to find one another and build a resistance under the Queen's rule. So #100 delivers the disaster the earlier books have been moving toward. It doesn't resolve the Age of Darkness. It leaves the characters at the point where preventing it is no longer possible, and surviving it becomes the next job.