The abyss did not settle after the Fractured Challenger's fall.
If anything, it grew restless—like an ocean with a storm swelling beneath the surface.
Vemy's shards orbited him in slow, ragged arcs, each one dim with exhaustion yet still alive, still bound to his will. His breathing was heavy, every inhale sharp enough to draw blood into his lungs. Still, he forced himself to stand.
Because in front of him—
A door appeared.
Not carved from stone. Not forged from light or flame. It was… wrong. A frame of reality itself, edges stitched together by threads of voidstuff that hissed and recoiled as if they didn't want to exist. It stood in the center of the abyss like a scar, radiating pressure that made his bones ache.
Akiar landed beside him, storm-wracked but breathing. His lightning flickered, pale and hesitant. Even he looked uneasy.
"…That's not supposed to be here," he muttered, voice low.
Vemy wiped blood from his mouth, eyes locked on the impossible door. "So what is it?"
"The throne's seal," Akiar said, almost a whisper. "But broken. Someone—or something—has forced it open from the other side."
The abyss groaned as if in agreement. Fissures widened across the void, bleeding half-light, half-shadow. The door pulsed with each crack, a heartbeat that wasn't a heartbeat.
Then came the voice.
Not the fractured whisper of a challenger. Not the booming authority of the Ring God.
This one was… older. Too vast to belong anywhere.
"Finally."
The sound pushed Vemy to his knees. His shards rattled violently, orbit collapsing into chaos. His system screamed warnings across his vision:
[Unstable Authority Detected.]
[Origin Signature: Undefined.]
Akiar's storm roared back in desperation, shielding them from the pull. His face twisted in something Vemy had never seen before. Fear.
"Vemy…" he said tightly. "If you open that door, there's no going back. Not for you. Not for me. Not for this entire abyss."
The door pulsed again, louder, hungrier.
Vemy's grip on his spear tightened. His blood sang with Prismarine fire, shards vibrating in tune with the impossible heartbeat. He had bled, burned, and broken to get this far. And still—this door called to him.
The abyss cracked once more, and from the gap in the frame spilled a sliver of light.
Not divine.
Not abyssal.
Something else.
Something that had no place in this world.
And it whispered, directly to him:
"Break the system."
Vemy's wings of fire flared wide, shards screaming in resonance. His teeth bared in a ragged grin.
"…Then I guess I'll knock."
He stepped forward.
And the door began to open.
🔥 Cliffhanger- The battle wasn't the end—it was the beginning. Vemy has reached the impossible door, a sealed threshold broken open from the other side, and something older than the Ring God is waiting.