The shrine cracked apart like a breaking star.
Pillars of light and darkness collided, filling the air with screams of power — the sound of reality tearing itself open.
Elian stood at the center, cloak whipping violently in the storm of magic.
The shadow before him — massive, shapeless, crowned with horns of voidlight — took a step forward.
> "You bear the same scent as her,"
the King of the Abyss growled.
"The woman who defied the cycle."
Elian's voice trembled, but his eyes didn't.
"Then you know who I am."
> "You are the seal. The cage. The sacrifice."
And with that, the shadow moved.
Kael barely had time to raise his weapon before the ground split.
Lyra threw up a shield — light shattered instantly.
Elian met the blow with his own — summoning dark-light wings from his back, streaked with silver veins of divine energy.
Their collision sent shockwaves through the mountain, vaporizing stone into dust.
> BOOM!
The echo of the impact traveled for miles.
Elian slid backward, blood dripping from his lips.
The seal on his wrist blazed, symbols burning his skin.
> "You can't hold me forever," the King's voice thundered.
"Your body cracks. The gate calls."
"I'm not your gate." Elian raised his hand. "I'm your end."
He unleashed a burst of radiant black fire — Aetherflame, the forbidden magic of mixed divine essence.
It struck the King dead center, tearing half his form apart — but he reformed instantly, laughing.
> "You burn with both Heaven and Hell… yet belong to neither."
> "Then I'll build my own kingdom," Elian spat, eyes blazing.
The King's laughter shook the heavens.
"Then bleed, false god."
The shadow lunged again, claws of darkness reaching for his heart—
Far above the mortal sky, in the floating spires of Celestara, the angels felt the tremor.
The Grand Bell of Balance — silent for centuries — began to ring.
Archangel Vael gripped the balcony railing, wings flaring.
"No… impossible. The Abyss Seal can't be fracturing—"
A younger angel ran into the chamber.
"High One, the Seal's energy signature is collapsing. It's coming from the mortal realm — coordinates match Serenvale."
The hall fell silent.
The Celestara Council gathered — halos dimmed in dread.
Vael whispered, "So the son has found the mother's grave…"
Another angel hissed, "Then the prophecy is true. If the Seal breaks, the child becomes the vessel. The Abyss rises again."
A third voice, cold and resolute — Seraph Astraea, the Blade of Judgment — said,
> "Then we cannot wait. If the boy loses control, we end him before the Abyss consumes both realms."
The council bells tolled again — a sound that meant divine execution orders were being prepared.
Elian collapsed to one knee, coughing up blood.
The King towered over him, half-real, half-nightmare.
> "Your soul fractures. Let me in, child of light and dark. You were made to break."
Elian's voice broke, a whisper of rage and pain.
"You think… I was made by you? You're wrong."
His seal glowed bright enough to blind — silver cracks spreading up his arm, across his chest, his eyes now burning with mirrored light.
Kael shouted, "Elian! Stop, it'll tear you apart!"
Elian stood, trembling.
> "Then I'll tear myself apart… before I let you free."
He raised both hands — one of divine flame, one of shadow — and slammed them together.
> ECLIPSE BURST.
The explosion devoured the shrine.
For miles, the night turned to day — then darkness swallowed everything.
When the dust settled, the mountain was gone.
Only a crater remained, glowing faintly blue from residual energy.
Kael and Lyra lay unconscious beside what was left of the altar.
At the center stood Elian — barely standing, his body cracked like glass.
The King's voice echoed faintly, still alive, whispering through the wind:
> "The gate… still breathes…"
Elian looked at his reflection in the shattered crystal.
A faint black flame burned inside his heart.
He whispered, "I didn't win. I only delayed it."