The main hall of Ashen Academy was a graveyard of shattered stone and fading runes, its air choked with the acrid scent of scorched magic. The massive hand of shadow and light, dripping with crimson energy, closed around Won, its fingers like a cage of raw power that made the air scream. The void around him flickered, struggling under the weight of a force older than time itself. Mira's scream echoed, raw and desperate, as she clung to the pillar, her eyes locked on the scene. "Professor!" she cried, her voice swallowed by the chaos.
The crowd was gone, fled or buried under rubble. Faculty members lay scattered, their barriers broken, their powers spent. Jace, Lila, Torren, and Sable watched from a shadowed alcove, their faces pale, their plans unraveling. Sable's runes pulsed faintly, her voice a whisper. "This is beyond us."
Jace's flames flickered, his jaw tight. "He's done. No one survives that."
But Won wasn't done.
Inside the hand's grip, the void roared to life, a black storm that pushed back against the crimson energy. His coat was torn, black blood dripping from his wounds, but his eyes burned with defiance. The god's voice, silent moments ago, surged in his mind, urgent and fierce. You cannot fight this alone. Let me take over!
"No," Won growled, his voice straining as he pushed against the hand's crushing force. "This is my body. My fight."
The hand tightened, its energy searing his skin, but Won's void expanded, a sphere of nothingness that cracked the fingers like glass. With a shout, he thrust his hands outward, and the hand shattered, fragments of shadow and light dissolving into the air. He landed hard on the cracked floor, his breath ragged, his body trembling but unbowed.
The massive figure from the portal—the Forgotten—loomed larger now, its form shifting, no longer humanoid but a towering mass of darkness and crimson light, its eyes like twin stars burning with ancient malice. Its voice shook the hall, a low rumble that made the remaining pillars groan. "You resist, vessel. But resistance is futile. The void is ours."
Won wiped blood from his lip, his smile cold and savage. "Come take it."
The figure raised both arms, and the portal behind it flared, unleashing a swarm of shadowed creatures—smaller than before but faster, their forms flickering like static, their claws glowing with crimson energy. They surged toward Won, a chaotic wave that tore through the rubble-strewn hall. Students still lingering at the edges screamed, some conjuring desperate barriers of fire or ice, only for them to shatter under the creatures' onslaught.
Won moved like a storm. His hands wove through the air, the void answering with surgical precision. Pockets of nothingness opened, swallowing creatures whole. A claw slashed at his side, drawing more black blood, but he countered with a gesture, erasing the attacker in a flash of darkness. The hall trembled, the air thick with the hum of his power, and the crowd—those brave or foolish enough to stay—watched in awe.
Mira, still behind her pillar, dragged a wounded student to safety, her eyes never leaving Won. "He's unstoppable," she whispered, her voice a mix of fear and worship. Cal, beside her, shook his head, his face pale. "Or he's about to break."
The Forgotten didn't relent. It gestured, and the portal pulsed again, releasing a new wave of energy—not crimson this time, but a blinding white that burned like a star. It wasn't an attack but a transformation. The hall's walls began to shift, runes long dormant in the stone flaring to life, glowing with a light that matched the Forgotten's eyes. The ground cracked, and a massive rune formed beneath Won, its edges sharp and pulsing with power.
Won's eyes narrowed. "Another trap?"
The god's voice was grim. Not a trap. A binding. They're trying to seal us.
"Seal us?" Won muttered, dodging a creature's claw as he scanned the rune. "Like they sealed you?"
Exactly. Move, or we're done.
Won leaped, the void surging to propel him upward as the rune flared, releasing a cage of white light that snapped shut where he'd stood. The air screamed, the cage's energy tearing at reality itself. He landed on a broken pillar, his breath heavy, his wounds burning. The creatures didn't stop, swarming toward him, their numbers overwhelming.
The Forgotten's voice boomed, shaking the hall. "You cannot escape your fate, vessel. The void was never yours."
Won's smile returned, sharp and defiant. "Then I'll make it mine."
He clapped his hands, and the void exploded outward, a black tide that consumed the creatures in its path. The cage of light flickered, its edges unraveling as his power pushed against it. The hall shook, chunks of the ceiling falling, and the students still watching screamed, some running, others too mesmerized to move.
But the Forgotten was relentless. It raised a hand, and the portal flared again, releasing a single figure—not a creature, but a woman. Seris. Her runes glowed brighter than before, her eyes burning with that same white light. She smiled, her voice cold and mocking. "You're stubborn, God of Emptiness. But stubbornness won't save you."
Won's gaze hardened. "You ran last time. Ready to lose again?"
Seris laughed, raising her hands. The runes on the walls pulsed in sync with her, and the cage of light reformed, larger, stronger, closing in on Won from all sides. He raised his hands, the void surging, but the cage was faster, its edges burning as they tightened around him. His void flickered, struggling under the white light's weight.
The crowd gasped, Mira's voice rising above the rest. "No! Fight it!"
Jace, watching from the alcove, clenched his fists, flames sparking. "She's got him," he muttered, but his voice wavered. Sable's runes glowed, her eyes calculating. "Not yet. He's still fighting."
Lila's frost crept across the floor, her voice trembling. "He's losing."
Torren's sparks flared. "Good."
Won's jaw tightened, his hands trembling as he pushed against the cage. The void roared, black tendrils lashing out, cracking the light, but it wasn't enough. Seris stepped closer, her runes flaring, and the cage tightened further, forcing Won to his knees. Black blood dripped from his wounds, pooling on the floor, and his breath came in sharp gasps.
The god's voice roared in his mind. Let me take control! You're too weak!
"No," Won growled, his voice raw. "I'm not weak."
He slammed his hands into the ground, and the void surged, a black wave that shattered the cage in a blinding explosion. The hall shook, the walls cracking, and Seris staggered back, her runes flickering. The Forgotten roared, its form growing larger, more unstable, as if angered by Won's defiance.
"You dare!" the Forgotten thundered, raising both hands. The portal pulsed, and a new wave of energy surged—not light, not shadow, but a chaotic mix of both, tearing through the hall like a storm. Won raised his hands, the void meeting it head-on, but the force was overwhelming, pushing him back, his boots sliding across the cracked floor.
Students screamed, the few remaining faculty conjuring desperate barriers. Mira pulled another student to safety, her eyes locked on Won. "Don't give up!" she shouted, her voice breaking.
Won's eyes gleamed, his smile returning despite the strain. "I'm just getting started."
He thrust his hands forward, and the void exploded, a black sphere that consumed the storm. The hall trembled, the ceiling collapsing in massive chunks, and the Forgotten staggered, its form flickering. Seris screamed, her runes flaring as she tried to reinforce the binding, but Won was relentless. He advanced, the void surging around him, swallowing her runes one by one.
"You can't stop me," he said, his voice cold and final. "Not you. Not your masters."
Seris's eyes widened, fear flashing across her face. "You don't understand what you're fighting!"
"Then show me," Won said, raising a hand. The void pulsed, and Seris's runes shattered, her body lifted off the ground as the darkness closed in.
But before he could finish her, the Forgotten moved. It raised a hand, and the portal flared, releasing a massive surge of energy—not an attack, but a summons. The air screamed, and a new figure emerged—not shadow, not light, but something else entirely. A being of pure chaos, its form shifting, impossible to pin down, its eyes burning with a power that made even the Forgotten pause.
The god's voice roared in Won's mind, filled with something he'd never heard before: fear. That's no mortal. That's no god. That's…
The being turned its gaze on Won, and the world seemed to stop. Its voice was a whisper, yet it shook the hall, echoing in every mind. "You carry our brother's power, vessel. Give it to us, or we will tear it from you."
Won's smile faltered, his wounds burning, his void flickering. The hall was a ruin, the students gone, the faculty broken, and the Forgotten loomed behind, its eyes gleaming with triumph.
He raised his hands, the void surging one last time, but the being stepped forward, its form unraveling reality itself. The air cracked, the ground split, and a single, chilling word echoed in Won's mind as the being reached for him.
"Now."