Infinity – Chapter: When Shadows Pierce the Soul
Smoke billowed across the shattered obsidian floor, cloaking the battlefield in a haunting stillness. The last echoes of the clash faded into silence.
And then, as the veil of smoke lifted, Kael was revealed—kneeling, bloodied, and barely breathing. One hand clutched his side where jagged wounds spilled his strength onto the cold ground. His dark aura flickered around him like dying embers.
From the smoke stepped Baelgor Vrax, the Warden of the Ash Chains. A towering devil clad in iron-forged bone, cruel horns curling back like a crown. In his gauntlet-clad hand, iron spikes glowed with infernal heat.
"You put up a good fight, mortal," Baelgor rumbled, voice like molten stone grinding together. He raised his arm, iron spike poised. "But this... is the end. Now your soul... feeds me."
The spike plunged into Kael's chest.
A gasp escaped his lips as the pain surged through him. Kael collapsed to the side, vision darkening. Time slowed. His senses drifted into silence.
So this... is how it ends? he thought. After everything?
But as the darkness pulled him under, images surged forward—his childhood, the broken world he came from, the helpless cries, the fire, the chains...
Then—Liora's laughter. Her voice. Her tears. And Anay's steady hand.
A thought struck him like a thunderclap:
"If Baelgor can pierce into my past... then others like him could do the same to them. Liora... no, she'd be shattered."
His fingers twitched. A heartbeat. Then another. The flame inside him pulsed.
I can't die here...
Baelgor turned away. But the faint glow behind him stopped his step. Kael's fingers curled into fists. His aura, once fading, now crackled back—bruised but burning.
"I have to defeat him... I must."
Scene Shift: The Subconscious Divide – Anay & Liora
Where Kael fought alone, Anay and Liora awakened not in pain, but together.
They stood in a vast void of soft, swirling mist—like the inside of a dream. Their surroundings shimmered with fragments of memories and echoes of feelings.
Anay looked around quickly. "Liora... Where's brother Kael?"
She turned, gripping her staff tightly. "He was with us before the pulse. Something's wrong."
Two shadows formed ahead—emerging from the mist like venom slipping into water.
A raspy voice spoke, "He fights Baelgor alone."
From the haze, two devils appeared:
Veidar, a slithering figure cloaked in liquid shadows. At his side walked a Shadow Wolf, eyes glowing violet, its form shifting like smoke.
Kharix, a hulking brute with serrated bone armor, claws twitching with hunger.
Liora's voice turned sharp. "Who are you?"
Veidar grinned. "I am Veidar. And this is Kharix. We are not Lords of the Nine—but for you two, we're more than enough."
Kharix's laugh was low and guttural. "You wish to find your friend? Defeat us first."
Veidar's Shadow Wolf stepped forward, its eyes locking with Liora's.
Something in her froze.
A flicker. A memory. A lone wolf, once her companion, once her shield. Betrayed. Taken.
Her voice faltered. "That... that wolf—"
Veidar chuckled. "Ah... you recognize her, do you? A fine beast. Reforged in the Abyss."
Liora's grip on her staff tightened. Anay stepped beside her, silent but fierce.
Kharix spread his arms wide, claws clashing. "This is dual match. We come as one."
The mist churned. The battlefield formed.
Anay and Liora stood back-to-back, breaths aligned, hearts steady.
The battle hadn't begun—but already, their resolve blazed.
TO BE CONTINUED...