The Null Rift screamed.
Not metaphorically — the entire dimension shrieked as if it possessed nerves and bones and rage of its own. The pressure slammed into Aera's skull, a hurricane of sound and force that nearly knocked her off her feet.
Lian's grip tightened.
"Stay with me," he muttered, silver power roaring up his spine like a tidal surge.
Together, they pushed.
The light they unleashed met the walls of the realm with the violence of a supernova. Cracks spidered upward, downward, outward, splitting the dark horizon into jagged, trembling shards.
For a moment, Aera dared to hope.
Then the Rift fought back.
The floor liquefied beneath them, sucking at their boots. Shadows convulsed upward like serpents, wrapping around Aera's legs, her waist, her arms. The darkness was frigid, numbing, a hungry void trying to pull her under.
"Aera!"Lian yanked her closer, but the shadows tightened with wicked purpose.
Her lungs seized.
Her heartbeat fluttered violently.
The Rift whispered inside her head, its voice a crawling cold:
"You are the weakness.Give in."
"No," she gasped, but her voice came out thin, swallowed by the void's hunger.
The shadows climbed higher.
Lian tore at them with bare hands ablaze in silver fire. Every strike broke one tendril only for two more to coil in its place.
His teeth bared. "They want you isolated."
Aera felt it too.
The Rift wasn't attacking him.It was attacking her bond.Her mind.Her identity.
Trying to pry her away from him.
The shadows around her pulsed, rhythm syncing with her heartbeat.
"Lian—"Her voice trembled. "It's in my head."
He stopped fighting for a split second. His eyes snapped to hers — fierce, unyielding.
"Look at me, Aera."
She tried. But the shadows tugged her chin downward, dragging her gaze toward the abyss below.
Aera's heartbeat turned erratic.
The Rift pressed deeper, whispering like poisoned silk:
"He will break.He will choose power over you.Just like the others."
Her breath fractured.
The words dug into old fears she never voiced — not even to herself.
Lian stepped closer, chest rising with a sharp inhale. His voice cut through the Rift's poison like a blade.
"Aera. Look. At. Me."
She wrenched her eyes upward, gasping.
Lian's hands cupped her face.
The shadows recoiled from his touch, sizzling.
"You are not alone in this." His forehead pressed against hers, grounding, hot, anchoring. "Not now. Not ever. Do you hear me?"
Her breath hitched.
Her vision cleared.
Something in her — the same thing that had awakened in that earlier battle — surged to life. A force that wasn't just bond-born. Something older. Something buried. Something the Rift had accidentally provoked.
Her mark ignited.
Light burst along her skin in violent arcs. The shadows screamed and peeled away from her, evaporating into black mist.
Lian stumbled back, stunned by the sheer magnitude of her power.
"Aera…"His voice was almost reverent, almost afraid.
She didn't have time to think.
The Rift cracked open behind them with a thunderous rip.
"Now!" she yelled.
Lian didn't hesitate.
He grabbed her hand.
And together, they hurled their combined power at the heart of the realm.Light exploded outward — a star collapsing and rebirthing in the same breath.
The Null Rift shattered.
And the world swallowed them in a blinding surge.