The storm swallowed everything.
Shadowfire cascaded like a hurricane, tearing at the ground, ripping whole shards of glassy terrain into the sky. Kaelen fought within the chaos, his blade flashing in bursts of light, each swing carving brief sanctuaries before the void closed again.
The Echo-Lord towered through the storm, every strike of his colossal sword shaking the battlefield like the heartbeat of a dying star. His blows were relentless, crushing, as though he intended to grind Kaelen into dust by sheer inevitability.
Kaelen's arms burned, muscles screaming. Every parry rattled his bones, every strike chipped away at his strength. His breath came ragged, blood trailing from his lips.
I can't hold this…
And then—Lyra's voice, cutting through the roar:
"Kaelen, don't you dare break now!"
Her aura flared, a beacon in the maelstrom. She raised her hands, golden light spiraling outward, creating a shield that wrapped Kaelen like armor. The storm slammed against it, but her will held, her body trembling under the strain.
The Echo-Lord's eyes narrowed.
"So the Seed awakens further. Good. Let it consume you."
He thrust his blade downward, a strike that split the battlefield itself. Kaelen met it with everything he had left. Light and shadow collided, birthing an explosion that hurled both back across the plain.
Kaelen landed hard, his body barely obeying him. His vision blurred.
But through the haze, he saw Lyra—glowing brighter than ever before. Her eyes were no longer just hers; they shimmered with the infinity of stars. The Seed pulsed inside her, answering the Sun, defying it.
Ceyra shouted over the chaos, her voice urgent. "Lyra—stop! If you go further, it'll devour you!"
Lyra shook her head, golden flames dancing across her skin. "No. This power was never meant to devour. It was meant to choose."
She lifted her arms, and the chains that still bound the citadels quivered. Her light touched them, not with force but with resonance—calling, coaxing. One by one, cracks spread through their links.
The Echo-Lord staggered, fury breaking through his composure. His voice thundered like collapsing galaxies.
"You cannot unmake eternity!"
Kaelen pushed himself upright, leaning on his blade. He spat blood into the void and grinned, savage and unyielding.
"No… but she can rewrite it."
And as Lyra's light speared into the final chains, the Black Sun itself began to scream.