The sun had barely risen when Elian, Lyra, and Kael left the academy walls behind.
The road stretched out before them — quiet, empty, and heavy with the weight of what had just happened.
For hours, no one spoke. The silence felt safer than words.
Finally, Kael broke it. "So what now? We just… run forever?"
Elian's eyes stayed fixed ahead. "Not forever. Just until I find the place my mother sealed my father."
Lyra frowned. "You think that will fix all this?"
"No," Elian said softly. "But it might explain why heaven fears me."
That night, they camped near a river, its water glowing faintly under the moonlight.
Elian sat apart from the others, his reflection trembling in the water.
He lifted his hand, staring at the faint mark that pulsed on his wrist — the Eclipsera Seal.
He remembered what the shrine had told him:
> "Your mother bound the Abyss not with chains… but with your soul. The seal will remain unbroken — until your heart stops beating."
That was the truth. His demon half — the Abyssal energy — wasn't sleeping. It was trapped inside his life itself.
If he ever died, even for a moment, the seal would shatter — and the full power of the Abyss would return to the world.
He whispered, "So they weren't wrong to fear me. My death could end everything."
Lyra approached quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That's not your fault, Elian."
He gave a weak smile. "Maybe not. But it's my burden now."
Unseen from the trees beyond the firelight, a figure watched them — cloaked in crimson, his eyes glowing faintly.
A whisper passed through the air: "The heir has left the academy. The seal is still intact."
He pressed a black crystal to his lips.
> "Then keep it that way," a cold voice replied from the crystal. "If the boy dies, the Abyss returns. Protect him… until we're ready."
The figure nodded and vanished into the mist.
As dawn broke again, the trio began their journey deeper into the outer realms — the lands untouched by the academies and unseen by angels.
The air here felt different. Old. Heavy.
Kael walked beside Elian, his voice hesitant. "So… if your demon power can only wake when you die…"
"Then I can't die," Elian said quietly. "Ever."
Lyra's expression darkened. "That's not fair."
"Nothing about this is," he said. "My life is the lock that keeps the world safe — and my death is the key that would destroy it."
For a long time, they walked without speaking again.
But deep down, Elian could feel something stirring — faint, desperate, as though the sealed darkness within him was aware of their journey.
And somewhere, beyond the veil of the living world, a shadow whispered back.
> "You cannot run from what you are, my son. Even the seal will break… when the heart chooses to stop beating."