The monastery wind fell still.
Selena's breath hitched as she stared into the eyes of the monster they thought they'd banished. Lorenzo stood tall despite the gaping wound in his chest, his blood glowing like molten lava. Behind him, a swarm of hooded figures emerged from the mist—silent, soulless, and pulsing with Core corruption.
"Impossible," Dante growled, stepping protectively in front of Selena.
Lorenzo chuckled, the sound low and unhinged. "Did you really think a little trial would be enough to stop me? That altar was once mine too, brother. The Core doesn't punish its favorites—it rebirths them."
Selena took a step forward. "You're barely standing."
"And yet I'm here," he sneered, holding out his arms. "You might've sealed your bond, but you've also awakened the Covenant. Look behind me. Every one of them—chosen by the Core. Bound by blood. We are its army."
Dante's jaw clenched. "You're leading them to war."
"No," Lorenzo said with a twisted smile. "To judgment."
Before either of them could move, Lorenzo raised his hand. The glyphs on his skin blazed like wildfire. The ground beneath them cracked, and from it burst dark vines of energy, writhing like living tentacles.
Selena pulled Dante back, but one of the vines grazed her ankle. Pain exploded through her leg like acid.
Dante caught her. "Selena—!"
"I'm fine," she hissed through gritted teeth, pushing herself upright. "Don't let him touch you."
Elias stepped forward from behind them, staff glowing. "You're defiling sacred ground, Lorenzo."
Lorenzo turned to him. "You taught me the old ways, old man. Did you really think I wouldn't surpass them?"
He snapped his fingers.
The hooded figures surged forward.
---
Dante launched into battle first, flames bursting from his fists as he intercepted the corrupted acolytes. Selena raised her hands, calling the Core's power—but this time, she didn't let it consume her. She directed it, focusing the energy into precise beams that knocked the acolytes backward.
But they kept coming.
Their bodies crumbled only to regenerate. It was like fighting shadows in human skin.
Elias created a barrier of holy fire around the entrance of the monastery, shielding the monks. "He's using blood magic. The Covenant is a binding spell—they won't fall unless the source does!"
Selena looked to Lorenzo.
Dante was already heading straight for him.
"Dante, wait—!" she cried.
But Lorenzo met his charge head-on, blades of energy clashing as brother met brother in a deadly dance of rage and power.
"You were always Father's favorite," Lorenzo snarled, dodging a fireball. "The chosen heir. The golden son."
Dante struck back. "Because I didn't murder him!"
"You think I wanted to?" Lorenzo screamed. "The Core demanded it. It promised me freedom."
Selena attacked from behind, catching Lorenzo off guard with a strike of compressed energy. He stumbled, eyes flashing.
"You were never free," she said coldly. "You've been a slave to that power since the beginning."
Lorenzo's smile faltered.
Then something inside him snapped.
With a howl, he slammed his palm to the ground. The earth shattered.
All three were thrown backward.
Dante landed hard, blood trickling from his brow.
Selena rolled, gasping for air.
When she opened her eyes, the world had shifted.
---
They were no longer at the monastery.
Instead, they stood in a barren landscape—a wasteland of bones and ash. The sky was a swirling mass of red clouds. The air burned.
Selena clutched her head. "What... what is this?"
"A mirror realm," Elias's voice echoed, though his body was nowhere to be seen. "Lorenzo's made this place from the Core's memory. It exists outside time. He's isolating you."
Lorenzo stood on a pillar of bone, arms raised. "Welcome to the Crimson Covenant. The final trial."
Selena turned to Dante. "Can you still feel the bond?"
He nodded. "Faintly—but it's there."
"Then we fight. Together."
The Core glyphs lit across both their bodies. Selena summoned her shadow wings. Dante's flame erupted into a blazing halo.
They attacked as one.
Lorenzo laughed as their power struck him. "Yes! Feed it! Feed the Core!"
Each attack only seemed to fuel the realm's fury. The sky cracked open. Lightning poured like rivers. The ground melted into black tar.
Selena realized the truth.
"It's not a trial. It's a trap!"
Dante's eyes widened. "He's trying to overload the bond. Break it."
Lorenzo screamed, "Your love is your curse! Your bond is your prison!"
He unleashed a blast of raw Core energy.
It hit Dante full-force.
Selena screamed. "Dante!"
He hit the ground, unmoving.
"No, no, no—" She crawled to him, cradling his face. "Stay with me!"
Dante's eyes fluttered. "I... I can't feel the bond."
Tears streamed down her face. "Don't say that. You promised."
"I'm sorry."
Lorenzo descended, shadows coiling around him.
"It's over, Selena. He's fading. And soon, the Core will claim you too."
But Selena wasn't listening.
She pressed her forehead to Dante's.
And whispered, "Then take me with him."
Her glyphs pulsed—violently.
A surge of golden light exploded outward.
Lorenzo was thrown back, screaming as his own glyphs unraveled.
The realm shattered.
---
They awoke—both of them—back in the real world.
Rain pelted the ground. The monastery lay in ruins.
Elias stood weakly nearby, injured but alive.
Dante stirred, coughing. Selena sobbed, laughing through tears.
"You came back," she whispered.
"You pulled me back," he replied, hand tightening in hers.
But their moment was short-lived.
Because where Lorenzo had stood, now there was only a crater—filled with a swirling vortex of black and gold.
And from its center...
A single, pale hand reached up.
Clawed.
Inhuman.
The Core was no longer just a force.
It was becoming a being.
And it had chosen its next vessel.