Lumara did not flee in fear.
She retreated to prepare death.
The sealed plane she emerged into was older than Valderia itself—a divine failsafe carved outside mortal perception. Endless white stone, suspended symbols of law rotating slowly in the void. This was where gods were judged when gods threatened balance.
Lumara stood at its center, blood still burning gold at her lips.
She straightened.
"So," she said to the silence, "you followed after all."
The space darkened.
Kharos emerged without tearing reality this time. He **stepped in**, as if the plane itself had accepted him. His presence warped the symbols around them, causing several to fracture instantly.
> **"You knew this would end here,"** Kharos said.
"I knew it would end with one of us erased," Lumara replied. "I hoped it would be you."
She raised her arms.
The plane responded.
Every symbol ignited, flooding the void with absolute law. Time froze at the edges. Space locked. Even Kharos felt resistance press against his form.
"This realm answers to me," Lumara declared. "I am order. I am continuity. Without me, Valderia collapses."
> **"Without you,"** Kharos answered,
> **"it finally breathes."**
Lumara attacked first.
Not with force—but with **judgment**.
Reality itself condemned Kharos, attempting to overwrite his existence. His form flickered as layers of him were stripped away—memory, intention, presence.
For the first time, he **staggered**.
Below, far away in the mortal world, Lucien screamed awake.
The blessing inside him burned violently.
Adrien dropped to his knees.
Ombre clutched his head, laughing and crying at once.
Malrick whispered, "She's killing him."
Lumara advanced, pouring everything she had left into the plane.
"You were never balance," she said coldly. "You were chaos pretending to care."
Kharos lifted his head slowly.
Darkness gathered—not wild, not vast.
Focused.
> **"And you,"** he said,
> **"were fear pretending to be order."**
He reached inward.
Not outward.
He burned **himself**.
The shadows collapsed into a singularity of intent. The plane screamed as laws began failing simultaneously—not shattered, but **ignored**.
Lumara's eyes widened.
"What are you doing?"
> **"Ending this."**
Kharos moved.
He did not strike her body.
He struck her **authority**.
The concept that made Lumara absolute unraveled. The plane lost its anchor. Symbols cracked and fell like dying stars.
Lumara screamed as her wings shattered, divine light bleeding out uncontrollably.
"No—Valderia needs me!"
> **"Valderia survived you,"** Kharos replied.
> **"It will survive without you."**
He reached her.
Placed one hand against her chest.
And **withdrew his blessing from the world** for a single moment.
In that instant, Lumara was no longer divine.
She was only a woman who had ruled too long.
The plane collapsed.
Light imploded inward.
When silence returned, only Kharos remained—standing alone in the void.
Lumara was gone.
Not sealed.
Not reborn.
**Erased.**
Across Valderia, every divine system tied to her failed at once.
Glyphs died.
Control collapsed.
The war ended—not with celebration, but with exhaustion.
Lucien stood slowly, feeling the air change.
Adrien exhaled, the pressure lifting.
Ombre stared at the sky. "She's… gone."
Malrick closed his eyes.
"History just broke," he said.
Above them, the clouds parted.
Kharos looked down upon the world he had reclaimed.
> **"Ten years,"** he whispered.
> **"Then the true cost begins."**
He faded.
Valderia was free.