Chapter 53 – The Rift in the King's Shadow
The dimension pulsed like an erratic heart — each beat threatening to burst apart. Light and darkness intertwined, swirling in the air like a storm devouring itself. Every clash between Elarion and Maxcen shifted the realm, turning it into new paintings: a crimson desert, a blackened sea, a snowy field soaked in blood.
Enver stood at the edge of that vortex of power. Even as a mere witness, he felt his bones tremble, cracking from within. And yet… his eyes grew sharper.
Maxcen struck the air, and from the void erupted layered black spirals. Between them, the silver flicker of the median Morren spun like formless blades. Each blow was not meant merely to strike Elarion's body, but to rip through the essence of his very being.
Enver observed. There was something strange — within every massive strike, there was a fleeting moment when the entire spiral paused, locked at its core. One blink. One breath that was not quite perfect.
Elarion was hurled back, his form shattering into shards of light before pulling himself together again. His breath faltered, but his eyes still burned.
Maxcen lowered his stance, movements calm like a sovereign already assured of victory.
Enver remembered an old phrase: "No force exists without pause — the pause is the doorway."
His hands trembled. He knew — if he misstepped, he could be consumed completely. But if he was right, then…
Maxcen lifted the median Morren again. The vortex of black energy formed, denser and deadlier than before.
Enver raised both hands, gathering a force he himself had never tested. And at the precise instant the spiral froze for a fraction of a second… he released a thin burst of energy, a needle of light piercing the heart of shadow.
An explosion followed. Not vast, but deep. Maxcen's spiral quivered, its form breaking unevenly.
Elarion seized the moment. With a swift motion, he struck — not at Maxcen's body, but at the very same point Enver had pierced. Their combined assault forced Maxcen back — something that had never happened in this eternal duel.
Maxcen turned. His face remained calm, but his eyes… cold as steel fresh from ice.
"So, you dare… to trespass into a realm not your own." His voice did not rise, yet every word added weight to the air pressing down on Enver.
The dimension shook violently. Lines of light clawed toward the fractured sky, cascading like a rain of burning embers. Maxcen lowered the median Morren — not against Elarion, but aimed directly at Enver.
Elarion straightened, his eyes widening as he shouted:
"Enver!—"
Before the warning was complete, the secret world shattered once more, unleashing a surge of power capable of erasing a name from history itself.
Chapter ends.
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