Mira's rescue bought them time—but not much.
"The Star-Eater's changing tactics," Lyra said two days later in their mountain camp. She showed Kael a sketch Mira had drawn: the Sky-Sunder Peak, but with **five pillars** of light surrounding the summit. "He's building a **Celestial Loom**. At the next lunar eclipse, he'll weave the rift into reality itself—turning Aethelgard into a star-forged paradise… with no room for shadows. Or memories."
Bastian studied the drawing. "Pillars are weak points. If we break them, the loom unravels."
Arion's rangers arrived that night with supplies—and grim news. "The Star-Eater's influence spreads," their captain reported. "Villages in the south report children sleepwalking toward the north. Their eyes… they glow."
Kael knew what they had to do. Not infiltration. **Assault**.
They divided into teams:
- **Team One (Lyra, Garrick, freed Blades)**: Infiltrate the eastern pillar, disable its light-core.
- **Team Two (Elara, Bastian)**: Sabotage the western pillar with starsteel charges.
- **Team Three (Kael, Mira)**: Breach the central summit, confront the Star-Eater.
Mira insisted on going. "I know his voice," she said, her small face set with determination. "I can find the real him behind the mask."
The night of the eclipse, they moved.
The pillars were guarded not by soldiers, but by **Star-Touched**—adults whose eyes had turned silver, moving with eerie grace. Garrick's team dueled them with restraint, using void-snares to disable, not kill. Bastian's charges detonated with silent pulses of anti-light, shattering the western pillar's core.
Kael and Mira reached the summit as the moon began to eclipse the sun.
The Star-Eater stood before the Sky-Rift, now a swirling vortex of silver and void. The Celestial Loom hummed, threads of light stretching to the broken pillars. "**You are too late, Empty One,**" he intoned. "**The new age begins now.**"
Mira stepped forward. "You lied to me," she said, her voice clear and strong. "Stars don't take. They **shine for everyone**."
The Star-Eater hesitated. For a fraction of a second, the mask flickered—revealing not a face, but a **void filled with weeping stars**.
Kael saw it—the weakness. The Star-Eater wasn't a god. He was a **lost soul**, corrupted by the very light he worshipped, trying to remake the world in his broken image.
"Mira's right," Kael said, walking forward, Lotus Dagger in hand. "You don't need to erase the shadows. You need to **remember** why you loved the light."
He didn't attack. He **offered** his hand. "Let us help you."
The Star-Eater trembled. The loom flickered. The rift pulsed.
Then, with a roar of anguish, he raised his hands—not to strike, but to **pull the rift into himself**.
"**If I cannot have purity… then let the stars die with me!**"
Light exploded.
Kael shielded Mira with his body, **Void Sovereign** flaring to its limit. The blast hurled them off the peak.
They landed in deep snow, bruised but alive. Above, the bleeding star **winked out**. The Sky-Rift sealed with a sigh.
Silence returned to the mountains.
> **[QUEST: SEAL THE SKY-RIFT.]**
> **[SUCCESS: COMPLETE. STAR-EATER CONTAINED WITHIN SELF-SACRIFICE.]**
> **[REWARDS: VOID SOVEREIGN — COSMIC AWARENESS, ETERNAL BOND (GUILD + MIRA).]**
> **[FINAL STATUS (KAEL)]**
> **STR: 9 | AGI: 12 | VIT: 10 | INT: 18 | WIS: 18 | CHA: 16 | VOD: 22**
> **[GUILD STATUS: FULLY SYNCHRONIZED. VOID RESISTANCE 100%.]**
As dawn broke, the Crimson Lotus gathered on the summit. The sky was clear, filled with ordinary stars.
Mira pointed upward. "Look. They're still there. Just… quiet."
Kael smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Some stars don't need to bleed to be seen."
The Crimson Lotus had faced the void in the heavens.
And found that even in the darkest sky, **humanity was the brightest light of all**.
> **[MISSION: COMPLETE.]**
> **[LEGACY: EXPANDED.]**
> **[THE SHADOWS ARE NOT EMPTY. THEY ARE FULL OF STARS.]**