The Lunar Heart cracked.
The sound was not loud.
It was worse than loud.
It was the sound of something ancient deciding it had endured enough.
A single fracture spread across the massive moonlit crystal suspended above the underground sea, black corruption racing through it like poison through veins.
The entire Hall Beneath the Moon trembled.
The underground sea rose.
The silver stars reflected in its surface shattered into darkness.
And for one terrible moment—
Everything stopped.
Even breathing felt wrong.
I stood on the central platform, fists clenched, Ashborn only a few steps away, the moon-shaped gate fragment glowing behind him like a prize placed at the centre of a war.
His final words still echoed inside me.
"Your goddesses will be the first to die."
I hated how calm he sounded saying it.
Like he wasn't threatening.
Like he was warning.
That was worse.
Yue Xiang landed beside me in a storm of silver light, crescent blade raised, moonlight bending around her like a living oath.
Jian followed seconds later, sword drawn, expression grim.
Across the platform, Ashborn simply watched us.
Still calm.
Still terrifying.
Still annoyingly well-dressed for someone causing a realm collapse.
I pointed at him.
"You know, for once, I'd really like an enemy who panics."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Panic is inefficient."
Of course, that was his answer.
The corruption chains around the Lunar Heart thickened.
The black sea below us began rising in spirals, wrapping around the platform like the realm itself was trying to strangle its own heart.
ARINA's warning flashed violently.
Critical Emergency Lunar Heart Integrity: 18% Abyss Core Awakening: 87% Recommended Action: Immediate intervention
Eighteen per cent.
That was less a number and more a cry for help.
Yue Xiang's voice cut through the chamber.
"The heart must be purified now."
I looked up at the floating divine crystal.
"How?"
She pointed her blade toward the moon fragment behind Ashborn.
"The fragment stabilises the sovereign seal. Without it, the heart cannot be restored."
Right.
So step one:
Steal the divine artefact from the immortal nightmare man.
Very reasonable.
Jian moved first.
He rushed Ashborn with the kind of commitment usually reserved for revenge and tax collectors.
Steel met empty air.
Ashborn stepped aside as if he had seen the attack an hour ago.
Probably had.
He struck once.
Open palm.
Jian flew across the platform and crashed into the edge hard enough to crack stone.
I stared.
"I am starting to dislike him personally."
Yue Xiang answered without looking away.
"That is healthy."
She attacked next.
Moonlight erupted.
Her crescent blade cut a silver arc across the platform, sharp enough to split reflected stars.
Ashborn finally moved seriously.
Black energy wrapped around his hand.
He caught the blade.
Caught it.
With one hand.
No dramatic power-up.
No speech.
Just insultingly efficient.
The impact shook the entire chamber.
Their eyes met.
Two rulers of entirely different wars.
Ashborn's voice was quiet.
"You were always wasted here."
Yue Xiang's expression did not change.
"And you were always too arrogant to understand duty."
She twisted the blade.
Moonlight exploded.
Ashborn stepped back for the first time.
Good.
Small victories mattered.
I moved.
Straight for the fragment.
Because if two terrifying people were busy fighting each other, that was the perfect time for theft.
Flame Step activated.
Crimson light flashed beneath my feet as I sprinted across the platform.
Almost there—
A black chain burst from the corrupted sea and wrapped around my ankle.
I hit the ground hard.
Naturally.
I looked down.
The chain was made of liquid darkness and frozen moonwater, crawling upward like it had personal issues.
"ARINA?"
"Yes."
"Please tell me this has a weakness."
Target: Corruption Chain Weakness: Fire Secondary Recommendation: Panic later
I almost laughed.
Fair.
I slammed my hand against the chain.
Phoenix fire surged.
Golden flames erupted across the black metal.
The chain screamed.
Yes.
Actually screamed.
Which was satisfying.
It shattered.
I rolled forward, grabbed the moon fragment—
And the world stopped.
The moment my fingers touched it, a flood of memories slammed into my mind.
Not mine.
Ancient.
A gate opening beneath a black sky.
Countless sovereigns standing together.
Fire goddesses.
Moon queens.
Dragon rulers.
Forest empresses.
All watching the same impossible door.
And behind it—
something vast.
Something that should never exist.
A voice whispered through the vision.
"Seal it… before it remembers us."
I gasped and nearly dropped the fragment.
Too late.
Ashborn was already there.
His hand closed around my wrist.
Cold.
Unavoidable.
His eyes behind the obsidian mask were no longer calm.
For the first time—
There was urgency.
"You saw it."
Not a question.
I forced myself to breathe.
"Yeah."
I looked directly at him.
"And now I'm even less likely to trust you."
He almost sounded tired.
"Then you are still a child."
He pulled harder.
Trying to take the fragment.
No.
Absolutely not.
I tightened my grip.
Phoenix fire and moonlight erupted together.
Yue Xiang shouted my name.
The Lunar Heart cracked again.
The entire chamber collapsed into chaos.
Jian, bleeding and furious, threw his sword—not at Ashborn, but at the corruption pillar feeding the Heart.
Smart man.
The blade struck.
The ritual faltered.
For one second—
one perfect second—
Ashborn's focus shifted.
Enough.
I used it.
I drove my head straight into his mask.
Pain exploded.
He's too, hopefully.
The obsidian mask cracked.
A visible fracture.
First blood.
Ashborn stepped back.
Actually stepped back.
Good.
Excellent.
I held the moon fragment against my chest.
Mine.
Yue Xiang landed beside me.
Silver light wrapped around both of us.
Her hand touched the fragment.
The Lunar Heart above answered instantly.
Moonlight surged upward like a river returning home.
The corruption chains trembled.
Ashborn looked at us.
Then at the cracking seal.
Then at the fragment.
And for the first time—
He chose retreat.
Not fear.
Calculation.
"Another time," he said.
I hated how certain he sounded.
The black gate opened behind him.
Before stepping through, he looked at me one final time.
"When you learn what lies beyond the final gate…"
His voice was colder than the abyss.
"…you may pray I was right."
Then he vanished.
The gate closed.
Silence.
The fragment pulsed in my hands.
The Lunar Heart above us shone brighter.
The corruption was weakening.
But not gone.
Yue Xiang looked at me.
"This is not over."
I nodded.
No.
It wasn't.
Because now I had seen it too.
Whatever existed beyond the final gate—
Even Ashborn feared it.
And somehow—
I was walking straight toward it.
Again.
Terrible life choices.
Consistent, though.