Chapter 33 – Cracks in the Soul and the Gaping Truth
The seal did not move. But inside it, Lumina stirred.
Not with her body, but with her mind.
She heard her own voice. A voice she had never heard before. Not the whisper of a spirit, not Verruksha, not Ilior. Not even a spell.
It was only herself. Whole. Straight. Without a curse.
"If they were all wrong, why should I bear it?"
The black space in which she was imprisoned began to take shape—walls of memory. She saw herself as a child, sitting in a basement. Amari just stood at the doorway. Just stood.
Then another image: Serdyn chanting a spell, but never looking at Lumina. His voice flat. His gaze far away.
"You are our child. But…"
The words came from a memory she had never opened.
Lumina took a short breath. "I know now," she murmured.
Outside the seal, Archon stood at the center of the magic circle. Behind him, Kavdrin and Miredan. Two other council members held soul rods—tools for erasing astral entities.
"The main seal is ready. Let us cleanse her body of all contamination," Archon said.
"Including herself?" Kavdrin asked.
Archon did not answer.
Meanwhile, Miredan stared at the symbols appearing above the seal. Not a sign of resistance, but a sign that only appears when a human soul refuses to be manipulated.
"Something is shifting," Miredan muttered. "We don't fully control this."
Archon pressed on.
But inside the seal, Lumina's body began to glow.
She embraced all the curses. The betrayals and the lies. She allowed them to merge.
And from this, her strength emerged.
The first crack appeared in the air, not in the ground. The second crack appeared in the magic circle around her. And the third appeared in Archon's own heart.
---
In Maxcen's Realm
Amari stood. But her steps faltered. The world she stood upon had no direction—only a black space with floating crystal shards.
"This is my resting world," Maxcen said.
He sat upon a throne made of nothing. Only shadow. Yet enough to command the space.
"You have overstepped. Fifty years in the human world. Your time was up, yet I gave you extra so you could last longer."
Amari lowered her head.
"I know. But I cannot simply give up. She… is my daughter."
"Our daughter," Maxcen corrected sharply.
Amari fell silent.
Maxcen stood. His face was half-covered in an aura, but his gaze was sharp. There was no anger, no disappointment. "For fifty years, you thought your body was free. But no human ever touched you for one reason: I protected you."
Amari touched her arm. She began to understand. Every touch that never touched. Every wound that never bled. Because Maxcen had layered her in dimensional protection.
"I broke the pact," Amari whispered.
Maxcen stepped closer. "And I will collect on it. But not now."
He turned toward another dimension. The place where Lumina was.
"Because now, our child has made her choice."
---
Back to the Seal
Kavdrin stepped back. The magical symbols began to burn from within.
"Archon! The seal is changing shape!"
But Archon remained silent. He saw something he never wanted to see—power he had not designed.
Miredan raised his hand. "If this continues, the Nodus Mentem could reverse. It could absorb back!"
"Keep going!" Archon shouted. "We must erase the source!"
However, before they could go further, Lumina's voice came from inside the seal—calm and clear.
"I am not an heir. I am not a unifier. I am not a bridge. I am a result. And I will decide this result."
The seal slowly burst open. Not shattered, but peeling away like skin. From within, Lumina stepped out. Each step pressed on the space around her. Median energy, spirit power, and ancient blood gathered in her body—and she no longer denied them.
Archon took a deep breath. "You. Withdraw. Now."
Kavdrin and Miredan immediately moved. But one of Archon's cards remained. Lumina didn't take it. She only looked at it.
"This is a curse tool."
Archon turned sharply.
"I will erase all of this. Even if I must burn my own body," Lumina said.
---
End of Chapter
Maxcen chuckled softly.
"Now this is just the beginning. Let's see who betrayed who first."
And from afar, Ilior's voice echoed throughout the astral realm:
"Your blood has not yet finished being spilled."