The plateau groaned under its own weight as the rift spread wider, its edges spilling impossible light across the barren land. What had been silence only moments ago was now thunder, a chorus of grinding stone and breaking sky.
The six Revenants stood as one—Lucien at the center, cloak trembling though no wind stirred. His pale eyes narrowed, the White coiling tighter, bending the ground beneath his boots.
From the rift, three colossal figures stepped forth, each shaped like man and beast interwoven. Their skin gleamed like obsidian fractured with rivers of void light. Every step they took sent shockwaves through the land.
The largest of them, with a crown of jagged horns, pointed directly at Lucien.
"The anomaly." The word cut through the air like a blade. "We have come to measure you."
Veythar spat to the ground, Bloodsteel flaring red in his veins. "Measure this."
Zarynth laughed under his breath, chaos void flickering around him like violet sparks. "Always straight to the threats. No introductions, no style. Pathetic."
Kairo tilted his head, golden eyes flashing as time bent subtly around him. "They don't move like mortals. They're… rehearsed. Like they've done this before."
Caelthorn's voice was steady, calm amidst the tremors. "They have. They've culled anomalies in ages past. But this time… their quarry is different."
Lucien said nothing, White pulsing faintly around him. The moment the rift had opened, he'd felt it—recognition. The beings weren't here for the six. They were here for him.
Ashveil's shadow tendrils spread at his feet, stretching outward like hunting dogs. He gave a sharp grin. "Then let's give them a reason to regret stepping through."
The first giant moved, faster than its size allowed. Its arm swung down like a falling tower, the shockwave splitting stone. But before it landed, Lucien blurred—gravity folding in a blink—and appeared atop the creature's arm. His pale hand pressed down. The White pulsed.
The arm bent inward with a crack that echoed like thunder. The giant staggered.
"Now," Lucien said quietly.
Kairo stepped forward, time rippling as he accelerated Veythar and Ashveil. In a blink, shadows struck from below, crimson blades pierced joints, and chaos tore trajectories apart. The Revenants moved in perfect rhythm, their synergy honed over six months of brutal training.
The second giant roared and swung wildly, but Zarynth redirected the strike midair, chaos bending the path so the arm crashed into its ally instead. Ashveil's shadows darted up the exposed flank, striking deep, while Veythar carved crimson arcs that hissed as they met corrupted void flesh.
Yet the giants didn't fall. They adapted. Their wounds knitted with impossible speed, blackened void-light filling the gaps.
Caelthorn's abyssal energy surged outward, stabilizing the battlefield itself. "Stay sharp. They're not just testing us—they're learning us."
Lucien landed lightly on the ground, eyes glowing. "Then we make them learn fear."
The third giant crouched low, its chest glowing with unstable void light. A beam of annihilation erupted, wide enough to swallow them all.
For a heartbeat, time froze.
Kairo's temporal void stretched thin, slowing the beam's advance. Shadows rose into a wall, chaos bent its edges, Bloodsteel forged a barrier, and Caelthorn's abyss anchored their defense. But even combined, the energy pressed hard, cracks spiderwebbing through their shield.
Lucien stepped forward, hand outstretched. The White shimmered, folding gravity, bending the annihilation inward until it collapsed on itself. The explosion ripped across the land, leaving silence and a smoking crater.
The giants didn't retreat. They only paused… then began to laugh.
"Good," the horned one rumbled. "You resist. You struggle. Perhaps you are worthy after all, anomaly."
Lucien exhaled slowly, eyes never leaving the rift. This isn't their full strength, he realized. They're still holding back.
The ground trembled again as something stirred deep within the rift. Larger. Older. Watching.
And then a voice—not of the giants, but of something far beyond them—whispered across the battlefield, heavy as eternity itself:
"Lucien Dreamveil… the Sole Exception. You are not what we expected. But you are… exactly what we need."
The rift pulsed violently, and for the first time, Lucien felt it—something on the other side pulling at him, not to destroy… but to claim.
The others felt it too.
Ashveil's shadows trembled. "What the hell was that…?"
Zarynth's grin faded, replaced by unease. "Not testing anymore. That was an invitation."
Lucien's pale eyes glowed brighter, his voice low. "Then we're in deeper trouble than we thought."
The rift widened, the sky above fracturing like glass. And from within, an arm the size of mountains began to emerge.