Chapter 9: The Revenant Breaks
In the deepest levels of the city, beneath the forgotten subways and rusted piping of Old Bastion, the lock broke.
Not with a roar.
Not with a quake.
But with a hiss—like a sleeping serpent exhaling its final breath.
Chains thousands of years old cracked.
A prison carved in stone groaned.
And in the center of the chamber, a figure opened its eyes.
One was silver, the other black, pulsing like a collapsed star.
Its skin was stretched tight over its bones, armored plates embedded in its limbs.
The sigil of the First Heir—scratched out across its chest.
It stepped forward, boots clanking against the floor.
The Bound Revenant… was free.
Above ground – Eastgate Cathedral
Rayven was meditating, seated cross-legged in the candle-lit crypt below the cathedral. The training had grown intense, now that Rhea and Selene both pushed him from different angles—one logical and sharp, the other ruthless and instinctive.
But something shifted.
A wave of heat. Then… cold.
The candle flames bent inward.
He snapped his eyes open.
The air vibrated with an unnatural pulse. The Core inside him flared to life. His gauntlet screamed in silent warning.
Selene barged into the chamber, two blades drawn.
"You felt that too?" she asked.
Rayven stood. "Something broke loose. Something… old."
Rhea entered a moment later, face grim.
"It's the Revenant," she said quietly. "The Council released it."
Selene cursed under her breath.
"Why?" Rayven asked.
"To force your evolution—or your death," Rhea replied. "The Revenant was created from a failed heir. A blend of flesh, steel, and pure Core rot. It exists to erase imperfection."
Rayven's eyes narrowed. "Then let's give it a perfect target."
Downtown Bastion – One hour later
Chaos erupted like a firestorm.
The Revenant tore through traffic with unnatural speed. It didn't walk—it glided, as if dragged by some invisible force. Cars flipped. Roads cracked. Every surface near it rotted—as if time itself recoiled from its presence.
The first responders barely lasted five seconds.
By the time Rayven and Selene arrived, the city had descended into panic.
From a rooftop, Rayven stared down at the destruction.
"There," Selene pointed. "Near the old metro entrance."
Rayven leapt, landing hard on the ground in front of the monster.
The Revenant slowly turned to face him.
"Finally," it rasped. "A pulse worth hunting."
Rayven clenched his fists, the gauntlet charging. "Let's see if your memory still hurts."
Without warning, the Revenant launched at him.
The Battle
The first strike knocked Rayven back ten meters.
He rolled and flipped to his feet, arm glowing with veinfire.
He summoned the relic's energy and fired a pulse-blast—striking the Revenant in the chest.
The monster barely flinched.
It raised both hands—and the air itself cracked.
A gravity wave collapsed the asphalt, sending debris flying. Rayven shielded himself just in time.
Selene jumped in from the side, blades slicing at the joints.
She managed to take one of its fingers—but it instantly regrew, sprouting wires like vines.
Rhea called from above, hurling a sigil dart that exploded into pure light—blinding the Revenant.
"Now, Rayven!"
Rayven drew on the Core's energy—more than ever before. The fire coiled around his entire arm, his body lifted slightly from the ground.
"Let's end this."
He drove forward like a comet, punching the Revenant full in the chest.
BOOM.
The street cratered. The Revenant skidded back, finally stumbling.
But even then, it laughed.
"You burn bright, Forgotten Heir. But brightness fades."
Its armor split—and from within, a second layer emerged. Sleeker. Sharper. Hungrier.
Selene hissed. "It's shedding its limiter."
"Then so will I," Rayven growled.
He raised his palm—and for the first time, opened the hidden seal beneath his gauntlet.
The inner sigil glowed white.
Selene shouted. "Rayven, no—! That part of the relic isn't stable yet!"
Too late.
The power surged—and Rayven vanished in a streak of blue flame, slamming into the Revenant so hard that buildings nearby cracked from the shockwave.
The Revenant's torso exploded in half.
Aftermath
Rayven dropped to one knee, coughing up smoke.
Selene rushed to his side.
"You idiot," she muttered, grabbing him. "You almost cooked your soul."
But Rayven smiled. "Almost doesn't count."
They looked at the heap of metal and flesh.
It didn't move.
Rhea stepped forward, studying the remains. "The Council won't be pleased. You weren't meant to survive."
Rayven met her eyes. "Then let them come."
Suddenly, a glimmer in the wreckage caught his attention.
A memory crystal—black and silver—half-melted, but pulsing with faint echoes.
He picked it up, and as soon as his fingers touched it, his mind was pulled into another vision:
A room. A table.
A woman—his mother?—placing a child in a stasis chamber.
A sigil scrawled on the wall behind her. The same one as Rayven's gauntlet.
"Sleep now, my heir. They will forget you. But one day… you'll wake."
Rayven gasped as he snapped back to reality.
His hands trembled.
"I wasn't just hidden. I was sealed… deliberately."
Selene's eyes widened. "By your own bloodline?"
Rayven stood slowly, the crystal tight in his grip.
"Someone knew this city would fall. And they left me behind… as its last hope."