The ground split open beneath the monolith.
Dust and fragments of ancient stone drifted through the air as a silver path revealed itself etched into the earth like veins beneath scarred skin. Glyphs flickered along the edges, awakening after decades of dormancy.
Ashen stood at the edge, eyes wide, voice low. "This was once the seat of the Sealbearers. Before they were hunted. Before the First Breach."
Kael examined the descent. A spiral stairwell curved down into blackness, choked with soul mist and time.
Elira looked up. "How deep does it go?"
Ashen swallowed. "Deep enough that even the Devourers forgot it existed."
Kael gave one nod. "Then we go."
---
They stepped into the dark.
The deeper they went, the colder it became. Not physically but spiritually. Their soulflames dimmed. Even the system's interface flickered.
Kael activated his *Soulsense*, his silver-marked hand glowing faintly.
System Alert:
"Entering Zone: Vhal'Aras
—Soul Density: High
—Environmental Threat: Residual Echoes Detected
—Caution: Echo Entities may emerge during node approach."
Elira stayed close, her hands crackling with protective wards.
Ashen trailed behind, silent—yet Kael noticed how the boy's mark pulsed brighter the farther they went, as though this ruin *recognized* him.
---
At last, the stairwell ended in a vast underground vault.
Staggering spires of shattered soulglass stretched skyward. Crumbled statues lined the edges some bearing the same Sealbearer sigils Kael now wore. At the center, a suspended sphere of cracked soulstone floated above an altar of polished obsidian.
The *Fourth Soul Node*.
Kael approached slowly.
Then he stopped.
Because beneath it, bound by ancient chains, was a *corpse* or what should have been one.
It opened its eyes.
---
*Meanwhile—Above Ground*
Seyric Drayle watched the monolith with narrowed eyes, his Hunters surrounding it.
He motioned forward, and the Soulhounds snarled.
"Their trail ends here. We breach now."
Two of the Hunters raised their weapons soulblades shaped like whips of molten shadow and slammed them into the ground. The monolith cracked fully open, and the entire plateau trembled.
They dropped into the abyss after Kael.
---
*Back Below—Vhal'Aras Vault*
The corpse beneath the Node rose with unnatural grace. Pale skin, sunken eyes, and a twisted soulflame that pulsed *black and silver*.
It spoke.
"You… are not ready."
Kael stepped forward. "I've claimed three Nodes. Reforged my blade. I chose the Sealbearer path."
The creature tilted its head. "Then you must prove you are not another Devourer in disguise."
With a gesture, the chamber shifted—illusions warping reality, memories rising like mist.
Kael suddenly stood in the field where his mother died.
The screams.
The fire.
His father's voice telling him to run.
It wasn't real but it felt real.
He gritted his teeth. "This again?"
The system crackled:
"Trial of the Node Initiated
> Resist Illusion
> Soul Fortitude: 67%
> Danger: Memory Overlap Detected"
Kael roared drew his Sealblade and *cut* through the illusion.
Reality shattered.
The figure staggered.
"Well done," it whispered. "Then take the node. And with it… the truth."
The Node descended slowly. Kael reached out
System Alert:
"Fourth Soul Node Acquired
> Sealbearer Resonance Unlocked
> New Trait: Memory Sever
—Allows destruction of false memory constructs and illusion-based soul techniques."
Then the vault shook violently.
Elira spun around. Kael—we're not alone!
---
Seyric and the Hunters arrived.
They landed with thunderous force, weapons drawn, soulflames roaring.
Seyric stepped forward, eyes locked on Kael.
"So the little prodigy found the node."
Kael stood between the altar and the Hunters. "You're too late."
Seyric smiled coldly. "No. I'm just in time."
Then he attacked.
Kael and Seyric clashed in a flurry of sparks and screams. Emberfang met Seyric's soulwhip, silver light against violet flame. Elira conjured a ward barrier as two Hunters lunged, while Ashen activated forgotten glyphs on the floor, warping reality around them.
Kael unleashed *Memory Sever*, shattering one of the Hunter's illusions mid-combat. The man fell to his knees, overwhelmed by returning trauma.
Seyric, unfazed, surged forward. "You chose the wrong side, Kael. Rebellion dies tonight."
Kael snarled, blade flashing. "You should have killed me when I was still unsure."
With a soul-scream, Kael activated the Fourth Node's resonance, and silver fire erupted around him forcing Seyric back with burning recoil.
"You're not just a traitor," Seyric spat, bleeding. "You're a catalyst."
Kael's voice was cold. "And you're a relic of a broken system."
---
The battle raged.
But with the Node claimed and Emberfang reforged, Kael fought not as a student, but as a Sealbearer of legend.
One by one, the Hunters fell back overwhelmed by soul-techniques they had never seen. Seyric, wounded and outmaneuvered, signaled retreat but not before vowing:
"I will see your blade broken. I swear it."
He vanished into the mist.
---
As silence returned to the vault, Kael turned to the Node altar, breath heavy.
Ashen stepped forward. "The next one… it's not just a Node. It's a *key*. The Fifth Node unlocks the Gate."
Kael nodded.
"I'm ready."