The giant portal of pure Veil energy pulsed in the center of the camp.
Bright purple-black light poured out of it like blood from a wound.
Kai was on his knees, clutching his head.
The pain was worse than anything he had felt before. Nyxar and Veyra were fighting inside him with everything they had left.
Lira knelt beside him and wrapped him in her strongest silver threads.
She said "Hold on, Kai. Do not let them win. You are stronger than both of them."
Mira threw every card she had left.
"Calm Card! Will Card! Friendship Card! Come back to us!" The cards exploded around Kai with warm light, but the pain did not stop.
Kai screamed as his eyes flickered rapidly between normal brown, deep purple, and misty gray.
His voice kept changing.
"I am Kai!"
"You belong to us!"
"I choose me!"
"Submit!"
The portal flashed brighter.
Something massive began to push through from the other side.
Elder Voss shouted from across the camp, "It is a Void Herald! A messenger from the deepest gods! If it fully comes through, it will destroy everything!"
The ground split wider, a huge clawed hand made of swirling darkness and stars reached out from the portal.
Kai felt the two gods inside him suddenly stop fighting each other.
They both whispered at the same time, "This one is stronger than us. If it takes you, we will all be erased."
Kai used that moment of fear.He pushed with every bit of will he had left and shouted, "Then help me stop it!"
For a few seconds, Nyxar and Veyra worked with him instead of against him.
Kai stood up.
His body glowed with a mix of black, gray, and his own normal light.
He dashed toward the portal using every Echo he had.Shadow step. Wind dash. Stone skin. Fighter strength. All of them at once.He became a living storm and punched the giant clawed hand with everything he had.
The impact was massive.
The hand recoiled, but it did not retreat. Instead, it swung at Kai.The blow sent him flying across the camp.
He crashed into a broken wall and coughed blood.
Mira screamed and ran to him.
She threw her last Healing Card and said "Get up, Kai! We need you!"
Lira sent her silver threads to wrap around the giant hand, trying to slow it down.
She shouted "We are running out of time!"
Kai forced himself to stand.
His body was shaking. The god fragments inside him were terrified of the new being coming through the portal.
He looked at Lira and Mira and said "I will not let it take anyone. Not while I can still fight."
He charged again. This time he used the Dual God Whisper one last time under his own control.
Black and gray energy mixed with his own will and formed a glowing spear in his hands.
He threw it straight into the portal.
The spear hit the emerging creature and made it roar in pain.
The roar was so loud that the ground cracked even more.
The giant hand retreated slightly back into the portal but it was not defeated.
A voice boomed from inside the crack — deep, cold, and filled with stars.
"I am Zorath, the Devourer of Realms. This vessel has stolen from many gods. Now it will belong to me."
Kai felt a third powerful presence reach for his mind.Nyxar and Veyra both screamed in fear inside him.
They said "He is stronger than both of us combined!"Kai fell to his knees again.
Three gods were now fighting for control of his body.
His eyes changed rapidly — purple, misty gray, and now a deep starry black.
His voice became a terrifying mix of all three.
"I am Kai!"
"You are ours!"
"You will serve!"
"You will be devoured!"
Lira and Mira ran to him.
Lira wrapped him in every thread she had left and said "Fight them, Kai! You are still you! Remember the morgue! Remember us!"
Mira hugged him tightly and said "Do not leave us! We need our Kai back!"
Kai screamed in agony.The portal grew larger.
Zorath's giant hand reached out again, this time aiming straight for Kai.
The three gods inside him fought harder than ever.Kai looked at Lira and Mira with tears in his eyes and whispered one last time with his real voice,
"I love you both… if I disappear… remember the gamer who tried his best…"
The giant hand closed around him. The light from the portal became blinding. Everything went white when the light faded…
Kai was gone and only his clothes remained on the ground.
Lira and Mira stared in horror.Mira whispered, "No… Kai…"Lira fell to her knees, silver threads fading.
She said "He is gone… the gods took him…"
The portal began to close but something was wrong.A single figure started to form in the center of the fading light.
It had Kai's shape… but its eyes glowed with three different colors at once — purple, misty gray, and starry black.
The figure opened its mouth and spoke with a voice that was not Kai's, but a terrifying mix of three gods.
"I am no longer Kai Voss.
I am the Trinity Vessel."
It looked at Lira and Mira with cold, glowing eyes and smiled."Now… the real game begins."