The main hall of Ashen Academy was a crucible of chaos, its air thick with the stench of scorched stone and the electric hum of unleashed power. The green portal pulsed like a wound in reality, vomiting forth cloaked figures whose glowing eyes burned with that same sickly light as Seris's runes. They moved with unnatural speed, encircling Won in a blur of shadow and steel.
The blade-wielding leader, a figure cloaked in darkness, raised its weapon—a jagged shard of green energy that seemed to scream as it cut the air. Students at the hall's edge screamed, some scrambling back, others frozen in awe. Mira's voice pierced the din, raw and desperate. "Professor, watch out!"
Won stood at the center, his coat flaring like a dark flame, the void around him a living thing, pulsing with hunger. His eyes gleamed, abyssal and unyielding, as he faced the shadowed attackers. "You want to end me?" he said, his voice a low growl that carried over the chaos. "Try."
The leader lunged, its blade slashing in a vicious arc. Won raised a hand, and the air shimmered, the void swallowing the strike whole. The blade vanished mid-swing, leaving the leader stumbling. But the other shadows didn't hesitate. They attacked in unison, their weapons—swords, spears, chains—all glowing with that unnatural green light, striking from every angle.
Won moved, not with speed but with precision, his hands weaving patterns in the air. The void surged, pockets of nothingness erupting around him. Weapons dissolved, shadows staggered as their attacks were consumed, and the ground beneath them warped, forcing them to their knees. The crowd gasped, phones shaking in trembling hands, capturing every second of the spectacle.
But the portal wasn't done. That vast presence, the one that had silenced even the God of Emptiness within Won, began to emerge. The air grew heavy, oppressive, as if the world itself were bowing under its weight. A massive figure stepped through, its form shrouded in shifting darkness, its eyes twin voids that rivaled Won's own. It was humanoid but wrong—too tall, too angular, its limbs bending at unnatural angles. The crowd fell silent, even Mira's shouts dying in her throat.
The figure spoke, its voice a low, grinding rumble that shook the hall. "Vessel of Emptiness, you carry a stolen power. Return it, or be unmade."
Won's smile was cold, savage. "Stolen? I am the void. And you're in my way."
The figure raised a hand, and the portal flared, unleashing a wave of green energy that tore through the hall like a tidal wave. Pillars cracked, the floor shattered, and students screamed, diving for cover. Faculty members, finally breaking through the chaos, conjured barriers of fire, ice, and stone, but the wave smashed through them, sending professors sprawling.
Won didn't flinch. The void roared, a black wall rising to meet the wave. The collision sent shockwaves through the hall, shaking the walls and sending debris raining down. Students screamed, some buried under rubble, others dragging their friends to safety. Mira pulled Cal behind a fallen pillar, her eyes locked on Won. "He's fighting that thing!" she hissed, her voice a mix of awe and fear.
The shadowed figures attacked again, their movements faster now, coordinated. Won spun, his hands a blur, and the void answered. One shadow's spear vanished, another's chain dissolved, and a third was yanked into a pocket of nothingness, its scream cut off as it disappeared. But the leader was relentless, its blade reappearing in a flash of green light, slashing at Won's chest.
He sidestepped, the void shimmering around him, and countered with a gesture. The leader's cloak unraveled, exposing a face that was less human than nightmare—eyes glowing, skin like cracked stone, mouth a jagged maw. The crowd gasped, some retching at the sight. The leader hissed, lunging again, but Won was faster. He snapped his fingers, and the ground beneath the leader vanished, dropping it into a void that pulsed with dark energy. It clawed at the air, screaming, before the void snapped shut, leaving nothing behind.
The massive figure at the portal didn't react. It stepped forward, each movement shaking the ground, and raised both hands. The air twisted, and a new wave of energy surged—not green this time, but a deep, pulsating crimson that burned with an ancient malice. It wasn't aimed at Won alone but at the entire hall, a force meant to erase everything.
Won's eyes narrowed. "Enough."
He clapped his hands, and the void exploded outward, a black sphere that swallowed the crimson wave. The hall trembled, cracks spreading across the ceiling, threatening to bring it down. Students screamed, faculty shouted, and the air grew thick with the clash of powers. The void held, but the effort was visible—Won's jaw tightened, his hands trembling slightly as he pushed against the figure's power.
The figure's voice rumbled again, cold and amused. "You are strong, vessel. But you are not whole. The god within you is incomplete."
Won's smile vanished. The god's voice stirred, sharp and urgent. It knows. It senses the fracture.
"What fracture?" Won muttered, his voice low, meant only for the god.
Your human heart. It holds you back.
Won's eyes darkened, but he didn't respond. Instead, he stepped forward, the void surging around him like a storm. "I don't need to be whole to end you."
The figure laughed, a sound that made the air feel brittle. It raised a hand, and the portal pulsed again, releasing a swarm of smaller shadows—creatures of darkness and light, their forms shifting, impossible to pin down. They surged toward Won, a chaotic mass of claws and blades, their eyes glowing with that same crimson malice.
Won moved like a predator, his hands weaving through the air. The void answered, pockets of nothingness swallowing the creatures whole. But there were too many, and they were fast, some slipping past his defenses, their claws raking at his coat. A gash opened on his arm, black blood oozing—not human, but something else. The crowd gasped, Mira's voice rising again. "He's hurt!"
Won didn't falter. He raised a hand, and the air around him warped, pulling the creatures into a vortex that crushed them into nothing. The effort cost him—his breath came harder, his eyes narrowing as he faced the massive figure.
"You cannot win," the figure said, its voice a low thunder. "The void is not yours to command. It belongs to us."
"Us?" Won's voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos. "Who are you?"
The figure's eyes gleamed, and it stepped closer, its form growing larger, more oppressive. "We are the Forgotten. The ones who bound your god long before your world was born. And we will bind you now."
It raised both hands, and the portal flared, a massive rune forming above it—larger than any Seris had conjured, pulsing with a power that made the air scream. The rune spun, releasing tendrils of crimson energy that lashed out, not just at Won but at the hall itself. Walls crumbled, students screamed, and faculty barriers shattered like glass.
Won's eyes blazed. He raised both hands, and the void surged, a black tide that met the tendrils head-on. The clash was cataclysmic, the hall shaking as light and darkness tore at each other. Students fled, some caught in the crossfire, their screams fading as they were buried under rubble. Mira dragged Cal toward the exit, her eyes never leaving Won. "He's still fighting," she whispered, her voice fierce.
Jace, watching from the shadows with his crew, clenched his fists. "He's distracted," he hissed. "Now's our chance."
Sable's runes glowed brighter, her voice low. "Not yet. Let the Forgotten weaken him. Then we strike."
Lila's frost crept across the floor, her voice trembling. "You're insane. That thing will kill us all."
Torren's sparks flared. "Let it. As long as Hollow goes down with it."
Back in the hall, Won pushed against the rune's power, his void swallowing tendrils of crimson energy, but the strain was evident. His coat was torn, black blood dripping from his arm, and his breath came in sharp gasps. The god's voice roared in his mind. You're faltering. Let me take control.
"No," Won growled, his voice barely audible. "This is my fight."
The figure laughed, its voice shaking the hall. "Your fight? You are a vessel, nothing more. Surrender, or we will take what is ours."
Won's smile returned, cold and defiant. "Come and get it."
He clapped his hands, and the void exploded, a black sphere that consumed the rune entirely. The hall shook, the ceiling cracking, chunks of stone falling. The figure staggered, its form flickering, but it didn't fall. Instead, it raised a hand, and the portal pulsed again, releasing a new wave of energy—pure, unfiltered, a force that made the air feel like it was burning.
Won met it with everything he had, the void surging to its limit. The clash was blinding, the hall a battlefield of light and darkness, reality itself fracturing under the strain. Students were gone now, fled or buried, the faculty overwhelmed. Only Mira remained, hidden behind a pillar, her eyes wide with awe and terror.
The figure stepped closer, its voice a low hiss. "You cannot hold us forever, vessel. The void will consume you first."
Won's eyes gleamed, his voice steady despite the strain. "Then let's see who breaks first."
But as he pushed against the figure's power, the portal flared again, and a new presence emerged—not a figure, but a sound. A low, resonant hum, like a heartbeat, growing louder, stronger. The air grew heavier, the ground trembling, and the god's voice went silent, replaced by a single, chilling word in Won's mind: Run.
Before he could react, the portal split open, and a massive hand reached through—a hand of shadow and light, larger than the hall itself, its fingers dripping with crimson energy. It reached for Won, and the void faltered, his power flickering under its weight.
Mira screamed, her voice lost in the chaos. "Professor!"
Won turned, his eyes meeting hers for a fleeting moment, and then the hand closed around him.