Liora screamed.
Not in pain—but in overwhelming power, bursting out of her like a star tearing itself apart.
Elias held her tighter, even as light seared his skin.Her small fingers clutched the front of his shirt, trembling violently.
"Aru—!" he shouted.
"I know!" she yelled back, shielding her eyes from the gold flares erupting off Liora's body."She's going critical! Elias, you have seconds before—"
Before what?
Before she tore open another seal?Before Heaven declared her an anomaly and erased her?Before the Abyss sensed her awakening and came to claim her?
Elias didn't know.
What he did know was this:
Liora was still a child.His child.His family across two lifetimes.
"I've got you," he whispered to her, voice breaking. "I'm here, Lio."
She sobbed against him, her glow flickering like a dying flame.
"I-I don't want to hurt anyone…"Her breath hitched."I don't want to be what she made me."
Her mother.
Her curse.
The demonic pact that branded her before she was even born.
Elias reached up and touched her cheek—and the moment his fingertips brushed her skin, the glow surged outward—
—only to collapse inward like a tide recoiling.
Aru stared. "Elias… she's syncing with you."
The being—his form cracking, destabilizing—spoke in a voice layered with static:
"Your soul and hers share a primordial bond. She merges with you instead of the seals. This defies the prophecy."
Another thunderous snap tore through the realm—
The third chain broke.
This time the sound carried a deeper resonance, like something enormous stretching awake beneath the world.
Liora cried out and pressed herself into Elias, terrified.
He tightened his hold."Stay with me, Lio. Look at me."
She looked up.
Her eyes—usually soft brown—now gleamed bright gold, swirling with a pattern he had never seen.
Not angelic.Not demonic.
Something… older.
Aru grabbed Elias's arm."We can't stay here. The moment the fourth chain breaks, this entire realm collapses!"
The being lifted his hand, trying to stabilize the shattering surroundings.Light poured from him in fractured beams.
"You cannot flee," he warned. "You must decide. The child's awakening will either—"
He didn't finish.
A fresh crack split through the air, this time directly above them.Black flames licked downward, curling like claws searching for Liora.
Elias moved instinctively, shielding her.Aru summoned her weapon, slashing at the creeping dark.
"What IS that?!" she yelled.
The being answered:
"The Abyss. It senses her rebirth."The cracks deepened, swallowing stars."If it reaches her before her awakening stabilizes, she will be claimed."
Elias's blood went cold."Claimed… by what?"
Liora whimpered, shaking violently."Brother… I'm scared…"
The being stepped forward, his radiant body flickering like a dying lantern.
"She must be contained or guided. Your mark—the Sinless Sigil—can do either."
Aru stared at Elias."Eli… what will you choose?"
He looked down at the little girl in his arms.
Her face was streaked with golden tears.Her power pulsed like a heartbeat against his chest.Her fear shook every inch of her tiny frame.
Contain her?
It would bind her power forever.She would live… but as a shadow of herself.
Guide her?
It meant risking everything—and possibly triggering the final seal.
He breathed out slowly.
"Liora," he whispered. "Look at me."
She lifted her trembling, luminous eyes.
"You're not a curse," he said."You're not a monster.""You're my sister."
Her glow stuttered—flickered—softened.
Elias wiped her tears with his thumb.
"I'm choosing you. Not the seals, not Heaven, not the Abyss. You."
She collapsed against him, sobbing.
Aru exhaled shakily. "Thank God…"
But the being's expression twisted.
"You have chosen the path of instability. Then I must—"
Before he could finish—
The fourth and final chain broke.
The sound was catastrophic—a roar that felt like the world being turned inside out.
The cracks above them burst into swirling darkness.
Aru screamed, grabbing Elias."RUN!"
Elias clutched Liora and sprinted—
But something vast reached through the void, a voice booming like a thousand wings unfolding:
"THE DAWNBORN HAS RETURNED."
The Abyss had arrived.
And it wanted Liora.
Elias didn't slow.
He held her close, whispering:
"I won't let them take you."
And with the world collapsing behind them—
They leapt into the unknown.