The Godswound wasn't a place. It was an **absence**.
Kael phased through the battlefield, the Lotus Dagger cold in his hand. Arion's forces held the line, buying them time. Garrick dueled an Omega Unit twice his size, roaring Lyra's name like a battle cry. Bastian triggered a final trap—a wave of alchemical fire that engulfed a Templar cohort. Elara's voice, mimicking the Devourer itself, screamed *"BETRAYAL!"* in the enemy ranks, causing panic.
Kael, Lyra, and Bastian reached the rift.
The air inside was wrong—no sound, no light, no time. Just endless falling darkness and the whispers of consumed souls. In the center, chained to a throne of black stone, floated the **Devourer of Light**—a shifting mass of void and stolen eyes, each one a soul it had eaten.
Malrik stood before it, arms raised, chanting. "**Take them all! Let their faith feed your hunger!**"
Lyra's voice cut through the void. "It's not a god, Kael! It's a **prison warden** who went mad! The original seal is in its core—made of the first believers' *true* faith!"
Bastian understood. He slammed his hammer on the rift's edge. "Break the warden, break the seal!"
Malrik turned, snarling. "Foolish insects! You cannot kill hunger!"
He hurled a bolt of soul-energy. Bastian took it full in the chest, his Void-Forged armor shattering. He fell, blood blooming on his tunic.
"BASTIAN!" Lyra screamed.
Kael didn't hesitate. He activated **Soul-Shroud**. The world went silent, dark, empty. He phased past Malrik's defenses, appearing behind the Devourer's throne.
The Devourer turned its countless eyes on him. "**You are empty,**" it whispered, its voice the sum of every lost soul. "**No faith. No light. Only void. You are… perfect.**"
It reached for him, not to kill, but to *consume*—to make him its new vessel.
Kael didn't fight it. He **embraced it**.
He plunged the Lotus Dagger into his own chest—not to kill himself, but to open his soul. He poured every memory into the void:
- The baker in the alley
- Lyra's storm-gray eyes
- Bastian's first *clang*
- Elara's laugh
- Garrick's atonement
- Lena's hand in his
He showed the Devourer not faith, but **humanity**—flawed, painful, beautiful humanity.
The Devourer recoiled. "**This… is not hunger. This is… connection.**"
For a split second, the chains on its throne **glowed gold**—the original seal, reacting to true feeling.
"NOW, LYRA!" Kael roared.
Lyra, tears streaming, slammed her hands on the rift's edge. She chanted the oldest Aethelian prayer—the one *before* the Church, the one about **balance**, not light. The chains flared brighter.
Malrik screamed, "NO! I AM YOUR VOICE!"
Kael ripped the Lotus Dagger from his chest and threw it. It flew true, striking Malrik's heart.
The Archbishop didn't bleed. He **unraveled**, just like Valerius, his stolen power evaporating.
The Devourer let out a sigh that shook reality. "**Thank you… for remembering us.**"
The Godswound began to close.
Kael grabbed Bastian's limp body and phased out as the rift sealed with a thunderclap.
Outside, the eclipse ended. Sunlight flooded the capital.
The Omega Units collapsed, their bindings broken. Templars dropped their weapons, dazed, as if waking from a nightmare. Malrik's army dissolved into confused citizens.
In the Dawn District, people cheered. Arion fell to his knees, weeping.
But Kael only cared about Bastian.
The smith's chest rose—weak, but steady. Lyra pressed herbs to his wound. "He'll live," she whispered. "He's too stubborn to die."
Garrick and Elara found them, battered but alive. Elara placed a hand on Bastian's forehead. "Sleep, Forgemaster. We've got watch."
Kael looked at the sunrise, at his guild, at the free city.
They'd done it.
Not with a god's power.
But with **human hands**.
> **[QUEST COMPLETE: SEAL THE GODSWOUND.]**
> **[REWARDS: VOID SOVEREIGN (FULL MASTERY), ETERNAL VOID BOND (GUILD).]**
> **[FINAL STATUS (KAEL)]**
> **STR: 8 | AGI: 11 | VIT: 9 | INT: 17 | WIS: 16 | CHA: 14 | VOD: 20**
> **[GUILD STATUS: ALL MEMBERS FULLY HEALED, TRAUMA RESOLVED (85%), VOD MAXED.]**
> **[PUBLIC TRUST: AETHELGARD — 89%.]**
> **[CRIMSON LOTUS: STATUS — LEGACY.]**
> **[MISSION: COMPLETE.]**