The Echo struck—A wave of light, sharp as blades.
Vael raised his arm.Shadows surged, clashing mid-air.Darkness met light.
The chamber howled.
Nyra flinched, her barrier cracking.Reylen dragged her behind a pillar.
Eron didn't move.He simply watched.Eyes burning with old fear.
Vael stepped forward.His feet sank into the shifting ground.Reality here was breaking.
"You don't control me," Vael growled.
"I am what made you."
"No," Vael said."You are what tried to erase me."
The Echo shifted.Its body scattered—Fractals of past kings.Of Vael.Of everyone who had worn the crown.
Each face screamed.
Vael clutched his chest.Pain stabbed through him.Not physical—Memory.
He saw Reya.Smiling.Then burning.
He saw himself—Younger.Laughing.
Gone now.
The crown pulsed.Wanting more.Feeding on the loss.
But Vael didn't give in.
He looked to Nyra—Her eyes met his.Not afraid.Just… waiting.
He turned back to the Echo.Lifted both hands.
"No more," he said.
And let the shadows fall away.
The crown flickered.
The Echo stopped.
"You reject me?"
"I reject the cycle," Vael said.
He stepped through the light.
It burned.It tore at him.
But he kept walking.
Each step—A piece of the crown broke.
Cracks split down the middle.
Nyra cried out, "Vael!"
He turned, smiling just once.
"I don't need it to be strong."
The Echo screamed.
Reality shattered.
When the light faded—Vael lay still.The crown was gone.Only dust remained.
Nyra rushed to him.Reylen followed, heart pounding.
"Is he…?"
Vael's eyes opened.Black no longer.Just tired.
"I'm still here," he said.
Eron stared at the dust.
"The Echo's broken."
"No," Vael whispered."Only silenced."
From deep below,Something stirred.
Something older than the Echo.
The vault began to shake.
Reylen cursed."Not again—"
A hidden door cracked open.Stairs leading down.
Vael stood up slowly.
"No more illusions.Now we find what's real."