The palace shook beneath the storm of magic.
Silver and gold threads spiraled violently around Shoko as chunks of broken stone floated from the ground itself. The pressure pouring from him distorted the air, forcing even nearby soldiers to retreat deeper into the halls.
Across from him, the Herald stood motionless within the dark mist.
Watching.
Waiting.
Almost curious.
Shoko's chest rose and fell heavily as blood dripped from the cut on his forehead. The impact he took for Elyndra still burned through his body, but he ignored it.
He only stared at the figure before him.
The one who had haunted his life from the shadows.
The corridor around them was in ruins now. Fires burned along shattered pillars while masked creatures crawled through the darkness beyond. The sounds of distant fighting echoed through Lunareth.
But none of it mattered to Shoko anymore.
Only the Herald.
Only the thing that kept trying to pull him into emptiness.
The Herald slowly raised its hand.
"You finally resist properly."
Shoko's threads sharpened instantly. "Stop talking like you know me."
The Herald tilted its head.
"But I do."
The world suddenly went silent.
Shoko's vision blurred.
Then the memories came.
Not fully.
Only fragments.
A dark room.
Chains.
A child curled against a cold floor.
Hunger.
Fear.
And standing outside the cage every single night…
A pale figure with a white mask.
Watching him.
Always watching.
Shoko saw himself younger, smaller, shaking violently after beatings from overseers. Whenever he looked toward the darkness beyond the bars, the figure was there.
Silent.
Motionless.
Waiting.
Another memory flashed.
The slave camp is burning.
Smoke fills the air.
The wall exploded.
And just before Ariandel found him…
The masked figure standing in the flames.
Its hand is reaching toward him.
"You were never meant to stay there."
The vision shattered.
Shoko staggered backward, breathing hard.
"No…" he whispered.
The Herald spoke softly.
"I watched your suffering. I watched you endure. Every scar shaped you closer to awakening."
Ariandel's face twisted with fury.
"You were there?" Flames exploded around her body. "You let a child suffer his entire life?!"
"I allowed him to evolve."
Ariandel moved instantly.
A torrent of fire roared through the corridor toward the Herald, melting stone and vaporizing the lingering mist.
The Herald lifted one hand.
Dark threads formed a barrier.
The flames split apart harmlessly.
Then the barrier expanded outward.
Black energy surged across the walls like spreading roots, swallowing the corridor in darkness.
King Thalanar immediately swung his radiant blade, but the moment it touched the barrier, his magic shattered.
The queen tried next.
Silver chains erupted from her hands.
They dissolved on contact.
The Herald's voice echoed through the chamber.
"No interference."
The barrier sealed completely around the battlefield.
Leaving only:
Shoko.
Ariandel.
Elyndra.
And the Herald.
The king slammed his fist against the barrier from outside. "Shoko!"
But no sound came through anymore.
Inside the darkness, the Herald finally took another step forward.
"You may call me Vaelith."
The name itself felt ancient.
Heavy.
Like something forgotten by history.
Shoko clenched his fists. "I do not care what your name is."
Vaelith's hidden gaze remained fixed on him.
"You will."
The fight exploded instantly.
Shoko vanished first.
Threads shot forward from every direction, tearing through the air faster than arrows. Vaelith twisted effortlessly between them, gliding through the attacks with unnatural grace.
Ariandel joined from the left, flames condensing into burning spears that crashed into Vaelith's barrier repeatedly.
The palace trembled beneath the impacts.
Elyndra raised both hands.
"Lunaris Bloom."
Silver flowers of light spread across the ruined floor before erupting upward into beams of concentrated magic.
Vaelith finally blocked.
The explosion lit the corridor white.
Shoko appeared directly behind him.
His threads wrapped around Vaelith's damaged arm.
Then tightened violently.
The sound of tearing magic echoed everywhere.
Vaelith's injured arm split further apart.
Golden energy spilled from the wound like liquid light.
For the first time, Vaelith staggered.
Ariandel smirked. "Ha. That actually hurt him."
Vaelith slowly looked down at the damage.
Then toward Shoko.
"Excellent."
The word sent chills down Shoko's spine.
Vaelith suddenly disappeared.
A heartbeat later, Shoko barely blocked a strike aimed directly at his throat.
The impact launched him across the corridor.
Stone shattered behind him.
"Too slow," Vaelith whispered.
Ariandel intercepted with fire-coated punches, forcing Vaelith backward while Elyndra created support barriers around Shoko.
Elyndra rushed beside him quickly.
"You are bleeding everywhere."
"I noticed."
She placed glowing hands against his chest.
"This spell is imperfect," she admitted nervously. "Mother taught it to me, but I never mastered it fully."
Soft silver light flowed into him.
The pain eased slightly.
Not fully healed.
But enough.
Shoko stared at her. "Thank you."
Elyndra smiled weakly. "Do not die yet."
Vaelith's voice interrupted them.
"You cling to weakness."
Ariandel blasted him backward with another explosion. "And you talk too much."
The battle intensified.
Shoko and Ariandel moved together almost perfectly now.
Threads and fire intertwined through the battlefield while Elyndra reinforced them from behind with healing and support magic.
Vaelith countered everything.
His movements were flawless.
Like he already knew every attack before it happened.
Shoko realized it first.
"He is reading our threads."
Vaelith smiled beneath the mask.
"Finally."
Ariandel cursed. "That is cheating."
Vaelith raised his hand.
The masked creatures outside the barrier suddenly screamed.
Dark energy poured into him through the walls.
His damaged arm began repairing itself.
"No way," Ariandel muttered.
Vaelith's power surged.
The corridor collapsed around them.
Ariandel shielded Elyndra from falling debris while Shoko held the ceiling apart with threads.
Vaelith used the opening instantly.
A blast of black-gold magic erupted point-blank.
Ariandel took the hit protecting Shoko.
She crashed into the wall hard enough to crater the stone.
"Ariandel!" Shoko shouted.
She coughed up blood but forced herself up. "Still alive."
Vaelith appeared before Elyndra next.
Shoko reacted immediately, but too late.
Vaelith struck Elyndra across the stomach with overwhelming force.
She slammed into the ground violently.
"Elyndra!"
The barrier magic around the corridor flickered.
Shoko's heartbeat pounded.
No.
Not again.
He refused.
He rushed Vaelith head-on.
Their powers collided violently.
Threads against threads.
Silver and gold against black and white.
The force split the floor beneath them.
Shoko screamed as he pushed harder than ever before.
Vaelith stared directly into his eyes.
"Yes."
Then Vaelith unleashed a pulse of ancient magic.
The explosion threw everyone apart.
Ariandel hit the ground hard, barely conscious.
Elyndra struggled to even breathe.
Shoko staggered to his knees.
Vaelith stood untouched at the center of the ruined corridor.
The barrier surrounding them began shrinking slowly.
Crushing the battlefield tighter and tighter.
Ariandel forced herself upright first.
Her flames had nearly gone out.
She looked toward Shoko.
Then smiled weakly.
"You'd better win this, kid."
Before he could respond, she pressed her remaining magic into his threads.
Flames merged into silver and gold.
Elyndra crawled closer next.
Her hands trembled as she grabbed his arm.
Silver light flowed into him.
"All I have left," she whispered.
Shoko's eyes widened.
"No. Stop. You both need it."
Ariandel laughed weakly. "Too late."
Elyndra smiled softly despite the blood on her lips.
"Please come back alive."
Vaelith watched silently as power gathered around Shoko.
Then the barrier finally sealed completely.
Ariandel and Elyndra collapsed outside its edge.
Leaving only two figures standing within the darkness.
Shoko.
And Vaelith.
The final duel had begun.