Chapter 56 – The Price Paid by Blood
The sky of the dimension seemed to crush itself. Light and shadow clawed at each other, spinning aimlessly, spewing flashes that burned the eyes.
The first card still floated in the air, its pulse like a second heart for this realm. With every passing second, its color grew darker—sign of it devouring something unseen.
Enver knew what he was sacrificing. Each breath weighed heavier. Each step dragged him deeper into the ground.
Yet he did not stop. His hand tore the second card from his body.
The pain was like ripping out his own rib while burning the flesh around it.
This card was not dark, but pale silver—its surface smooth, reflecting the face of whoever gazed into it. But the reflection was not of the present self, it was of a future that might be.
He raised the card high, and the runes along its edges began to glow. Echoes of an incantation filled the air—words whispered only by those who dared to wrench the threads of fate by force.
Maxcen halted. His gaze sharpened, and then his lips curved.
"I know that spell… Morren."
The very name made the air tremble.
Elarion moved swiftly, slashing through Maxcen's spiral of shadows before he could advance toward Enver.
"Do not touch him!"
But Maxcen did not strike. He only stared, as though deciphering every inch of Enver's being.
"So… you even carry the median within your blood.
You are not merely rejecting fate—you are uprooting it, Enver.
You are defying me."
Enver did not answer. He cast the second card to the ground of the dimension. The moment it touched, the land throbbed—as if a great beast had awakened. From its cracks, light surged upward, forming a colossal circle.
The circle sealed part of the dimensional fracture leaking into the human world. But its effect did not end there—it also enclosed Maxcen, Elarion, and Enver within its heart.
Elarion shot a sharp glance toward Enver.
"You fool… you know this will devour you alive!"
Enver staggered, but his gaze never wavered.
"If I must break… let it be here.
I will not become him. I never wanted that."
Maxcen chuckled low, eyes fixed on him.
"Like me? You cannot fathom how far I've walked to shape this world. You are only delaying the inevitable."
The light from the second card pierced into Enver's skin, etching burning runes across his chest. His body trembled violently, yet his hand had already reached toward his side—where the third card still lay hidden.
Elarion cried out instantly,
"No! That card will erase you from every timeline!"
But Enver only smiled faintly. There was no hesitation in his eyes.
Only resolve. He did not want to be Maxcen. He only wanted to be himself.
And the sky of the dimension began to collapse—piece by piece.