The crack in the gate pulsed like a bleeding wound, red light spilling into the ruins. The air thickened with ash, the scent of burning iron suffocating. Maxwell knelt before it, trembling, his storm-gray eyes flickering crimson as the voice of his father thundered through his skull.
Break them, Maxwell. Break the chains. Free me.
He pressed his hands against the stone, the cold searing into his skin, his veins glowing faintly red. For the first time in his life, he felt a pull stronger than duty, stronger than fear. This was blood. This was family.
Gabby staggered through the storm, her golden wings shielding her from shards of flying stone. She seized his shoulders, shaking him violently. "Maxwell, listen to me! That voice is not salvation — it is a weapon! Samael uses it to bind you!"
Maxwell's eyes snapped to her, wild and desperate. "You don't understand! It's him — my father! I can feel it!"
Gabby's voice cracked with fury and sorrow. "I understand more than you know! You think you are the only child of Heaven and Earth who has longed for what cannot be? You think you are the only one torn between two worlds? Maxwell — your father made his choice! And if you break these chains, the Abyss will spill into this world!"
Anthony crawled to them, clutching the Codex, his lips split and bleeding. "Gabby speaks true! The Codex warns of this! To unbind the Abyss is to loose Samael himself!"
But Maxwell's hands shook violently against the gate. His father's voice filled him, drowning out theirs. They would deny you, my son. They would chain you as they chained me. But together, we could end their lies. End their wars. No more covenants, no more angels, no more demons. Just us.
Maxwell's breath hitched, his vision swimming. His sword lay forgotten at his side, its silver glow dimming as the crimson threads in his veins grew brighter.
Gabby gripped his face, forcing him to look at her. Her golden eyes burned, fierce and unwavering. "Maxwell. You are not your father's chains. You are not Samael's heir. You are more. Look at me."
The whispers screamed louder, Samael's laughter echoing in Maxwell's skull. The storm roared. The gate cracked wider, light and shadow pouring out in violent streams.
Then Maxwell heard something else.
A voice — faint, fragile, but familiar. Not his father's. His mother's.
Maxwell… my son… you are stronger than the darkness. Stronger than blood. Stronger than me.
His breath caught. The crimson glow flickered.
Gabby's hand pressed harder against his chest, over his racing heart. "Choose, Maxwell! Choose who you are!"
With a roar that tore his throat raw, Maxwell seized his sword, its runes flaring violently between silver and red. He drove it into the stone of the gate.
The ground shook as cracks of light spread like veins across the arch. The roar of the Abyss rose higher, chains rattling so violently the earth itself seemed to scream. Then — with a blinding explosion — the gate shattered.
The shockwave threw them all back. Dust and ash rained from the ruins. The world fell silent.
Maxwell coughed violently, dragging himself to his knees. The gate was gone, nothing left but scorched stone. For a heartbeat, he thought he had closed it. Sealed it forever.
Then he heard it.
Chains dragging. Heavy footsteps. A shadow spilling from the air itself.
From the wound where the gate had been, a figure stepped forth. Towering, radiant once, but broken. Wings torn, feathers blackened, face scarred by fire. His eyes, once pure, now glowed faintly red.
Maxwell's heart stopped. His sword clattered to the ground.
"Father…" he whispered.
The fallen seraph raised his head, chains still coiled around his wrists, dragging like anchors. His voice rumbled, broken yet terrible.
"Maxwell… my son."
And in the shadows beyond him, Samael's laughter echoed louder than ever.