The arena quaked as the titan dissolved, its grand theatrics discarded. What remained was no illusion of golden wheels or false suns — only the raw, suffocating presence of Vex himself.
The undead creation loomed at the center of the battlefield, rebuilt from splintered bone and black fire. Its furnace-heart pulsed once, and the air turned heavy with despair.
Aria stumbled, clutching her chest. Memories not her own bled into her mind — failures, betrayals, losses she had buried. Her knees buckled as if the weight of regret alone was enough to crush her.
"Aria—!" Fenric's silver flames flared, forcing back the choking miasma. He knew the trick now. Vex wasn't trying to burn them — he was breaking them from within.
Laxin snarled, chains rattling in defiance as he wrapped them around his arms. His eyes flickered with half-remembered faces, voices from his past whispering accusations. His chest tightened, but his grin sharpened.
