The windless plains stretched before them, horizon bleeding into violet twilight. The six Revenants moved in tandem, voids pulsing subtly around each, but the energy surrounding Lucien was… different. Denser, purer, and almost impossible to read.
The narrator's voice cut through the silence, calm yet grave:
"Lucien Dreamveil… the first of his kind in this generation. The Sole Exception. Not merely a title, not a role assigned by fate… but a deviation, a singularity. While the other Revenants are born of fragments of the source, manifestations bound to laws and kinship, Lucien is the anomaly itself. He is the source's will made flesh, unbound by the cycles, unconfined by the rules. The White is not simply a void… it is judgment, it is choice, it is a power older than the world, and it chose him."
Lucien walked, cloak fluttering in an imaginary wind, unaware of the subtle threads tracing his connection to the source. Kairo glanced at him, brow furrowed.
"You alright?" Kairo asked, sensing something Lucien himself hadn't yet fully understood.
Lucien shook his head slightly, pale eyes narrowing. "I… feel it. Something beyond even the White. A pull. A direction. But it's not clear… not yet."
Ashveil's shadow coiled around him, sensing the unease. "I've seen you fight… but this… this is different. Your presence alone bends the world."
Zarynth tilted his head, violet void flickering with curiosity. "Never thought I'd see someone break the rules without even trying. He doesn't just move through chaos… he defines it."
Caelthorn's voice rang out, calm but heavy. "And soon, you will understand why the source chose him. The other five are powerful, yes, but they are fragments. Lucien… he is the whole. That is why the Outer Beings fear him—why they move even now to observe."
The air shimmered subtly, and the ground beneath them vibrated faintly. Then, without warning, a massive void rift tore open on the horizon. Its edges glimmered with impossible colors, spiraling like galaxies collapsing into themselves.
Veythar's eyes widened. "That energy… it's older than anything I've sensed. Even the six combined—"
Before he could finish, the rift pulsed violently, and from it emerged shapes that made the earth itself tremble. Massive, armored beings, each exuding voids twisted and corrupted, unlike anything the six had seen. They radiated presence, intent, and intelligence.
Lucien stepped forward, White glowing, instincts screaming. The other five moved into formation, but their energy trembled—not from fear, but from recognition. These beings… they were aware of Lucien.
The narrator's voice returned, low and resonant:
"The Outer Beings have sensed him. Not just the power of the void… but the anomaly. The one who is outside all law, the one who can rewrite existence. Lucien Dreamveil is not merely a warrior… he is the fulcrum upon which the universe will balance. And now… the Outer Beings move to test him."
The rift pulsed again, and a colossal silhouette emerged, taller than mountains, void energy radiating in fractured waves. Its voice, deep and mechanical yet alive, echoed across the plains:
"Lucien Dreamveil… the anomaly. Step forward, or be erased."
Lucien's White flickered, bending the air around him, but even he paused—sensing not just threat, but recognition.
Zarynth muttered, voice low, almost awed: "Well… that escalated quickly."
Ashveil's shadows tightened. "No retreat. This is what we trained for."
Caelthorn extended a hand, silver-black void threading around them all. "Remember… together, you are unstoppable. But he—he is the key. The Sole Exception. And the world… the universe itself… has noticed him."
The rift trembled violently, and then, in a flash of blinding void energy, it swallowed part of the plateau, leaving the Revenants staring into a chasm of pure distortion.
Lucien's pale eyes glowed white. "So… this is the beginning."
And far beyond the rift, a silent figure watched—its face hidden, but its void energy unmistakable. It whispered, barely audible:
"Finally… he has arrived. And the cycle must end… or begin."
The plains were silent. The six Revenants stood together, voids coiling, powers humming—but the scale of what waited in that rift made even them pause.
The world had shifted. And Lucien, the Sole Exception, had just been noticed.