The sound came like the strike of a bell—low, resonant, final.
Kiel felt it before he heard it. A deep, pulling snap somewhere in his chest, followed by a surge of heat so intense it was almost cold. The hybrid core didn't just crack this time—it split.
The battlefield went silent.
Then the world screamed.
---
The storm around him collapsed inward, folding into a single point of impossible darkness. It sucked in air, light, and sound all at once, until the pressure made the ground buckle. Then—
BOOM.
It erupted.
A shockwave tore through the valley, flattening everything in its path. The Alpha staggered, its armor peeling away in ribbons of shadow. Even Nyra, braced against the blast, was flung backward, her daggers flying from her grip.
---
When the light cleared, Kiel was gone.
In his place stood something wearing his outline. The Titan-Shadow from before was no longer shifting, no longer barely holding form—it was solid now, with blackened armor-like plates wrapping a body far too massive to be human. Crimson veins pulsed through the plates like molten rivers, and its eyes…
They weren't eyes anymore. They were burning fractures, each one bleeding gold and black fire.
When it moved, the air tore.
---
"Kiel?" Nyra's voice shook—not with fear, but something worse. She took a step forward. "Say something. Please."
The creature tilted its head at her, as though recognizing her shape. Then it spoke, and the voice that came out was a discordant mix of his and something older, deeper.
"The name you call is no longer mine."
---
Aeloria dove from above, wings blazing with desperate light. "We can still purge it!"
She drove both blades into the thing's chest—directly where Kiel's heart should be. For a heartbeat, it seemed to work. Light flared…
Then it shattered, spilling like water against unbreakable stone.
The creature's claws closed around her arm. With a flick, it hurled her across the battlefield, smashing her into the cliffside hard enough to leave a crater.
---
Seris shouted a binding spell, runes spiraling into chains of pure energy. They wrapped the creature's limbs, glowing brighter and brighter—
Until the hybrid flames turned and devoured them, absorbing the magic like it was fuel.
---
The Alpha, recovering, lunged from the side, jaws snapping toward the creature's throat.
It never landed the bite. The blackened Titan simply raised one claw, caught the Alpha's head mid-charge, and slammed it into the earth so hard the ground cratered.
The hybrid's new voice rumbled low. "Mine."
The Alpha snarled—but the sound turned into a strangled cry as the shadow bled into its wounds, draining it. Its massive frame began to shrink, its power leeching away into the creature that had been Kiel.
---
Nyra was already moving. She vaulted over a shattered boulder, grabbed one of her fallen daggers mid-sprint, and drove straight for the Titan's back.
"Kiel! If you're in there, fight me! I'm not letting you vanish into this thing!"
Her blade met armor—and for the first time, it pierced. Black ichor hissed from the wound, and the Titan roared, spinning to face her.
That roar shook something loose inside. For just a flicker, his eyes—what remained of them—cleared.
"…Nyra…?"
---
She froze. "Yes! That's you! Stay with me!"
But the core's energy surged again, drowning the voice. The Titan's claws rose, trembling—not sure whether to strike or reach for her.
The ground beneath them cracked wide, crimson light spilling from below. The entire battlefield tilted as though the earth itself was being pulled into the storm now spiraling above.
---
Seris' voice rang out from the ridge. "If we don't seal him now, there'll be nothing left of him—or us!"
Nyra didn't move. Her dagger stayed poised, but her voice was steady. "Then you'll have to go through me first."
The Titan's gaze locked with hers. Somewhere in the endless fire and shadow, Kiel still fought.
But the Shatterpoint had passed—and the hybrid form would not be contained again.