The storm had not stopped for three days.
Lightning twisted across the clouds like veins of living fire, striking the barrier domes around Eryndor. The city's defenses flickered — a heartbeat away from collapse.
"Mana pressure is rising again!" Lyra shouted over the roaring wind. Her eyes glowed faintly as she projected the data from her wristplate.
"If this continues, the entire northern district will rupture!"
Daren clenched his fists, armor coated in dust and sparks. "Then we stop it before it does!"
He dashed forward, leaping across the broken plaza. His blade hummed with stored energy — a relic from the Promethean War, humming with ancient power.
Lyra bit her lip. "Daren, don't—!"
But he was already midair.
With a roar, he drove his sword into the heart of a pulsing fissure — an explosion of light tore through the storm, momentarily silencing the chaos.
For a moment, it worked… until the fissure opened wider.
From it, something crawled out.
A being of light and shadow intertwined — humanoid, but shifting every second. Its voice was a choir of echoes.
> "You seek to mend what was meant to break."
Lyra froze, the aura around it nearly paralyzing her.
"That… that's not from this plane."
The creature turned its faceless head. "Your realm borrowed the flame of creation. Now it burns beyond control."
Suddenly, blue light slashed through the storm.
Lio appeared — his body crackling with unstable energy, the mark on his hand pulsing violently.
"Step away from them!"
His voice echoed unnaturally — layered, as if two beings spoke at once.
Daren stumbled back. "Lio?! You're alive—"
"Barely," Lio muttered. He faced the entity, fists clenched. "You're the echo I saw in the void."
The creature shifted. "I am what remains of your origin."
And then — chaos.
Lio charged first, the ground cracking beneath him. His strikes tore through the air like sonic bursts. The entity countered with light spears, each one warping the space around them.
Lyra raised her staff, forming a barrier to shield the nearby civilians, while Daren dove through falling debris to reach Lio's flank.
> "Lyra! I need a mana sync — now!"
"Got it!"
A sphere of azure light linked the three of them — energy flowing like shared blood.
Lio clenched his jaw. "Alright… let's end this."
He sprinted, Daren mirrored his movement, and Lyra unleashed a storm of radiant arrows.
For a moment, their synchronization was perfect — the kind of unity that only came from years of trust.
The entity staggered — cracks forming along its luminous form.
> "You fight like mortals," it said, voice faltering. "But your hearts burn like gods."
Lio smirked, sweat dripping from his chin. "Then maybe that's what we are."
A final flash — and the being shattered into motes of light, dispersing into the storm.
Silence returned… but only for a breath.
Lyra fell to her knees. "If that thing was just a fragment… then what's coming next?"
Lio looked up at the cracking sky. The Gate of Origins pulsed brighter than ever.
> "The beginning," he whispered. "And the end."