1. The Beginning of the Decision
The hall still trembled under the roar of the manifested entity.
Green fire coiled around the collapsed pillars, forming swords of flame suspended in the air.
Frank clenched the stone with all his strength, his veins almost bursting from its pulse.
Dan raised his black dagger, his eyes gleaming as though he smiled at death.
Ricard, the shadow returned from the past, stretched out his trembling hand as if asking for forgiveness before touching the light.
The entity's voice thundered like an irrevocable judgment:
> "The blood of the brothers together… that is what seals the Balance. One soul alone will not suffice."
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2. The Last Struggle
Barnila cried out, trying to rise despite her wounds:
> "Stop! The three of you… if you fall, who will be left for the kingdom?!"
But their voices drowned hers:
Frank: "Take me… they have nothing to do with what Father did."
Dan: "I am the guilty one… only the blood of the traitor can close the gate."
Ricard: "I am dead already… let it take me once more!"
The green fire blazed higher, and the colossal throne raised its hand as if to settle the matter with a single strike.
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3. The Intervention of the Luminous Woman
The luminous woman lifted her staff, blue light like the sky splitting the storm:
> "Wait, Judge! If there must be the blood of brothers… then let the Balance choose for itself. No one sacrifices unless the light calls them."
A moment of silence fell, then the stone in Frank's hand split into three glowing shards.
Each shard flew toward a brother, embedding into their chests.
They screamed together.
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4. The Shared Vision
In an instant, the brothers found themselves standing on white ground without a sky.
No fire, no throne—only a circle of light in a void eternal.
From the circle came another voice, calmer than the entity's roar yet deeper:
> "You are sons of broken blood… the Balance does not demand your death, but your union.
Blood alone cannot close the gate… only a single will."
Frank looked at Ricard: "Twenty years of hatred… and you're still by my side."
Ricard closed his eyes: "I hated you because I was weak… but I never stopped seeing you as my brother."
Dan smiled a trembling smile: "And I, the one who betrayed you both… only ever wanted to sit with you at the end."
They stretched out their hands to each other, and the light engulfed them.
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5. Return to the Hall
In the hall, their bodies ignited with radiance.
The three shards merged into one stone of white light veiled in a green aura.
The colossal entity stepped back, its voice wavering for the first time:
> "This… was not written in the Balance!"
But the luminous woman cried out:
> "The covenant has changed! As long as the brothers are united, the old judgment falls!"
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6. The Great Explosion
The brothers raised their arms together, and the shared stone unleashed a beam piercing the palace ceiling.
The green fire began to recede, screaming like a dying beast.
The burning villages suddenly fell silent, as though the storm was extinguished from within.
But the entity did not yield; its massive body split in two, and from its mouth came a roar:
> "If the blood unites… then I shall tear the kingdom from its roots!"
And it hurled itself at the brothers.
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7. The Final Scene
At the last moment, Frank raised the stone, Dan drove his dagger into it, and Ricard wrapped them both in his shadowed body.
An overwhelming force erupted, unlike anything before.
The hall was drowned in pure white, and the green fire turned into fading smoke.
When the light subsided…
The throne was gone.
But at the center of the hall, only three kneeling shadows remained, their heads bowed, their bodies bleeding slowly.
Barnila gasped and rushed toward them.
The luminous woman whispered, her voice breaking:
> "They paid the price… but are they still alive?"
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Curtain Close – Chapter Sixteen
The Balance had not asked for their deaths… but for their union.
Yet the union of blood brought with it a new curse, still unrevealed.