The strike hung frozen in the air, caught between two hands one of flesh, one of shadow.The Fragments of Eternity shimmered all around them, their glow flickering as if holding their breath.
The shadow's grin faltered."This isn't possible… You can't hold me. I am you."
Aloysius's grip tightened, crushing the blade until it dissolved into black mist."You're wrong. You're only the parts of me that feared losing control. But fear… is just another weapon."
The Weaver's threads writhed violently, sensing something was slipping beyond her pattern.
Then, instead of striking his shadow down, Aloysius pulled it toward him. The mist swirled around his body, seeping into every pore, every vein, until the world trembled.
His body became a seamless union of light and darkness flesh wrapped in a living aura of shadow-fire, eyes burning with an unholy gold. The ground beneath him cracked, unable to bear the weight of his fused essence.
The Weaver staggered."You've merged your duality… This was never meant to happen. The Fragments will consume you!"
But Aloysius only stepped forward, his voice echoing in two tones the mortal and the godlike."No. I will consume them."
With a single gesture, the Fragments that floated in the void spiraled toward him, embedding into his being. Each shard's power roared like a star igniting, reshaping the space around him.
The Weaver realized too late She was no longer the one weaving the pattern.