The cavern echoed with heavy breathing. Everyone lay sprawled across the rocky floor, their bodies trembling from the mad dash through the cult's army. Lyra's healing light flickered faintly as she poured what little mana remained into Rihan's wounds.
But no matter how much she tried, the crimson glow of the Judicator's chains still pulsed faintly across his arms.
"Stop…" Rihan hissed, pushing her hands away. His voice was ragged, yet steady. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine!" Lyra snapped, her usual gentleness replaced by raw panic. "That power… it's not natural. It's eating into you."
Rihan looked away. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Every time he closed his eyes, he could hear the sound of chains rattling, and see the Judicator's burning gaze staring at him from the abyss.
Elira leaned against the cavern wall, her expression cold, calculating. "The cult won't stop. That general… he'll hunt us down until one of us is dead."
Kael spat blood on the floor, wiping his blade clean. "Then we kill him first."
Mira let out a bitter laugh, though her voice carried no humor. "You saw that army, Kael. We're barely standing, and you want to charge back in?"
"No." Kael's eyes gleamed dangerously. "I want to end this hunt on our terms."
Everyone went silent. Even Mira stopped smirking.
Rihan finally spoke. "You mean… bait him out."
Kael nodded. "Without his army, the general is vulnerable. If we can isolate him, we stand a chance. But if we keep running, we'll just be picked off one by one."
Mira tapped her bow thoughtfully. "Risky. I like it."
Lyra, however, looked horrified. "You can't be serious! That general nearly killed Rihan with a single throw. If he hadn't—" her voice cracked, "—if he hadn't used those chains, we'd all be dead."
Silence followed her words.
Rihan clenched his fists. "Which is exactly why we can't keep running. If I'm really tied to this… Balance-breaker thing, then that general is just the beginning. We need to face him. Here. Now."
The chains across his arm pulsed faintly, as if agreeing.
---
The Hunt Begins
Hours later, the group stood in the ruins of an abandoned underground shrine. The ceiling had long since collapsed, shafts of faint moonlight filtering in from cracks above. Moss and broken statues littered the ground.
It was the perfect place for an ambush.
Mira crouched atop a fallen column, arrows nocked and ready. Elira stood with her palms pressed to the floor, carving faint runes of light into the stone. Lyra hid behind one of the shattered altars, her healing staff trembling in her hands.
And at the center, Kael and Rihan waited side by side.
The silence stretched.
Then—
Boom.
The first tremor shook the shrine. Dust cascaded from the ceiling. Another step. Then another.
The obsidian general emerged from the shadows, his armor gleaming like a beast born of the abyss. His spear dragged against the stone, carving sparks with every step. Behind him, only a handful of soldiers followed—his personal guard.
He laughed, voice booming across the ruins. "You thought you could flee from the Eclipse's gaze? Foolish. You carry a power that belongs only to the Mistress. Surrender it, Balance-breaker, and your deaths will be swift."
Rihan stepped forward, blade raised. "You'll have to take it."
The general roared, lunging forward with terrifying speed. His spear lashed out like lightning, aimed directly for Rihan's chest.
But this time, Rihan was ready.
The Judicator's chains erupted around his arm, intercepting the strike with a clash that shook the shrine. The impact sent cracks spidering across the floor, yet Rihan stood firm.
"Not this time," he growled.
---
The Battle
Kael charged from the side, his runeblade igniting as he struck. Sparks flew as steel clashed against the general's armor. Mira's arrows rained from above, each one glowing with fire and lightning. Elira's runes flared to life, forming barriers that slowed the advance of the general's guards.
But the Eclipse general was relentless.
With a single sweep of his spear, he shattered Kael's guard and forced him back. Another spin, and Mira was nearly skewered—saved only by Elira's barrier intercepting the blow.
"Pathetic!" the general bellowed. "You insects dare oppose the Mistress's will?"
Rihan darted in, chains lashing from his arm. They coiled around the general's spear, pulling it off balance. For a brief moment, Rihan's eyes flashed with the same eerie glow as the Judicator's.
The general snarled, wrenching the weapon free. "That power…! You are the successor!"
Rihan's chest tightened at the words. Successor? Successor to what?
But he had no time to dwell on it. The general's counterattack came fast, spear whistling through the air. Rihan ducked under the strike, driving his blade into the cracks of the obsidian armor.
For the first time, the general staggered.
Kael seized the opening, his runeblade carving a burning arc across the general's chest. Mira's arrow struck the same wound, detonating on impact.
The general roared in fury, his armor fracturing.
"You dare wound me?!"
Dark energy erupted from his body, flooding the shrine with suffocating pressure. The ground trembled, statues crumbled, and even Elira's barriers cracked under the weight of his aura.
Lyra cried out from behind the altar, clutching her chest. "His power… it's overwhelming!"
Rihan's System flared violently.
[Warning: Host at risk of Soul Overload.]
[New Condition Unlocked: Eclipse Corruption Detected.]
Pain lanced through him as the chains writhed uncontrollably. He could feel the Judicator's presence again, whispering in his mind.
Break the balance. Shatter the scales. Claim what is yours.
Rihan grit his teeth. "Not yet…"
With a roar, he pulled the chains tighter, binding the general's arm for just a heartbeat. "Now! Everyone, strike!"
Kael unleashed his strongest technique, Mira fired a volley of explosive arrows, Elira's runes flared like miniature suns—
—and Rihan drove his blade, wrapped in spectral chains, straight into the general's chest.
The explosion of light and shadow rocked the entire shrine.
---
Aftermath
When the dust cleared, the obsidian general was on one knee, black ichor spilling from the cracks in his armor. His spear lay shattered at his side. Yet his eyes still burned with fury.
"You… will regret this," he rasped. "The Mistress… will see your chains… and she will come for you herself."
With a final laugh, his body dissolved into a cloud of black smoke, leaving only fragments of his shattered armor behind.
The shrine fell silent.
Everyone collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Mira flopped onto her back with a groan. "Well… that was fun. Can we never do it again?"
Kael wiped his blade, grim but satisfied. "We got him. For now."
Lyra rushed to Rihan, tears brimming in her eyes. "You nearly died! Again! Rihan, this power—it's tearing you apart."
Rihan didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the fragments of the general's armor. Even as they lay still, he could feel the Eclipse's corruption seeping from them.
And deep inside, the System whispered:
[Balance Path Progression: 17%]
[New Title Acquired: "Eclipse Hunter – Fragment."]
Rihan's chest tightened. This was only the beginning. The general was gone, but the Mistress now knew of him.
And she was coming.