The hollow's scream rattled through the fracture-realm, echoing against the cracked sky. Chains writhed like serpents around it, dragging across the glass ground with a screech sharp enough to split the air.
Ren stood tall, flames running steady along his arms, his vow-thread burning hot in his chest. His knuckles still stung from the last strike, but now he wasn't trembling. His breaths came heavy but stable, each one fueling the fire.
The girl with shard-wings hovered slightly above the fractured surface, her silver hair lifting as if caught in an invisible wind. Her wings spread wide, feathers gleaming with a light that wasn't entirely hers—some of it shimmered as though stolen back from the chains themselves.
The hollow tilted its fractured head. Cracks ran across its mirrored body, unstable light spilling through, but still it stood, chains twitching like hungry mouths. Its voice—Ren's voice twisted with static—hissed again:
