The void trembled beneath Vemy's feet. Every shard of Prismarine fire circling him pulsed with a rhythm that was no longer wholly his. The aftermath of the First Ring-Bearer's defeat had left the abyss unstable, a place where gravity, light, and void itself refused to obey any law.
Vemy's breath came in ragged gasps, wings of jagged Prismarine fire fanning behind him, sharp arcs slicing through the fractured air. Even with the First Ring-Bearer gone, the fissure continued to pulse with a presence far older, far crueler.
Akiar hovered a fragment away, stormlight crackling faintly, eyes scanning the abyss as if it could reveal the next threat.
"You did well," Akiar said, voice low, almost reverent. "But the god… it doesn't test mercy. Not like this."
Vemy wiped blood from his lips, the taste metallic, and clenched his fists. "I don't care how much it tests me. I'll bend it—or burn it—until it sees me as more than a pawn."
The shards of his fractured ring answered, spinning faster, coalescing and dispersing in chaotic orbits that tore faint trails in the void. It was a dance of destruction and creation, a melody of war that only he could conduct.
But the fissure trembled. A low vibration pulsed through the abyss, echoing in Vemy's bones. Something was coming. Something patient, calculating… watching.
He tightened his grip on the spear, feeling the resonance of the Prismarine fire sync with his heartbeat. "No more games," he muttered. "If it wants a fight, it'll get one. All of me."
Akiar's storm surged in agreement, electricity lacing the edges of reality, sparking against shards of floating obsidian. "Be careful," he warned. "This isn't the First Ring-Bearer. Whatever steps through… it knows what you can do. And it will exploit every weakness."
Vemy's grin was bloodied but unwavering. "Then it can try."
From the fissure came a pulse of light, subtle at first, then growing into something sharp, insistent. It wasn't the god itself—but it was a herald. A signal that the next test, the next challenge, was coming.
The shards around Vemy flared, wings of jagged Prismarine fire slicing arcs through the void. He could feel his own power growing—not just through strength, but through the chaos, the rebellion of his fire.
Somewhere deep, in the silence between heartbeats, a voice whispered—not from the god, not from Akiar, but from the Prismarine itself: You are becoming more than they thought possible.
Vemy clenched his spear. "Then I'll show them all."
The fissure pulsed again, brighter, sharper, splitting the void's edges as if reality itself was bracing for impact.
And then… silence.
But in that silence, Vemy felt it: the abyss was not done with him. It would not yield, and neither would he.
The shards of his Ring spun faster, each one a reflection of his defiance, each one a promise. The storm and the fire coalesced around him, waiting.
Waiting for the next strike.
🔥 Cliffhanger: The fissure pulses one last time, and from within, a presence older than the Ring God itself prepares to step into the abyss—and face Vemy's defiance head-on.