The ruins trembled beneath their feet.
Kael'Rath stood in the mist, his molten armor pulsing like a living furnace. The black spear in his hand dripped with embers that hissed against the stone. Each breath he took warped the air, bending it with heat and despair.
Riku gripped Eclipsera tightly, sweat tracing down his face.
The sword's silver glow flickered — almost afraid.
"Stay behind me," he told Mina and Arin.
Ren scoffed. "Don't be stupid. We either fight together, or we die together."
Kael'Rath tilted his head slightly, his voice echoing like an ancient bell.
"Together… you will fall together."
He slammed his spear into the ground. The shockwave cracked the earth, and dozens of shadowed souls screamed out from below — grabbing at their legs, pulling them toward the abyss.
Riku cut one down with a swing of Eclipsera, the energy burning through the ghostly hands. "Mina, light them up!"
Mina raised her staff, chanting. Golden light burst from her fingertips, searing the shadows. For a heartbeat, the souls recoiled — and the group could breathe again.
Kael'Rath's eyes glowed crimson.
"A light wielder… how nostalgic."
Arin fired an arrow at him — the bolt shattering midair against his aura.
The Keeper didn't even flinch.
Ren rushed in, blades drawn, slashing furiously. Sparks flew with every strike, but Kael'Rath's armor barely scratched.
He backhanded Ren with a blow that sent him flying across the ruins.
"REN!" Mina screamed, racing toward him.
Riku charged in, his sword igniting with spectral light. "You're not touching them!"
Their blades met — Kael'Rath's spear against Riku's soulbound sword. The impact sent shockwaves through the city, scattering dust and debris.
Riku gritted his teeth, forcing the clash. The heat burned through his gloves, his skin blistering.
"Impressive," the Keeper said calmly. "You wield one of the Lost Relics… yet you do not understand it."
Riku's eyes widened. "You know about Eclipsera?"
Kael'Rath stepped forward, pushing him back effortlessly.
"I forged it."
Riku stumbled back, shocked. "You what—"
The Keeper drove his spear down again, and the ground split open. From the crack, dark flames erupted — spectral fire that burned without smoke.
Mina shouted, "Riku, move!"
He rolled aside just as the flames devoured where he stood. The air reeked of ash and sorrow.
⸻
The Relic of Wrath
Kael'Rath raised his spear — the molten core pulsing brighter. "You seek the Fountain of Return," he said, voice resonating with power. "But the path you walk was built on the sins of those who came before you. I hold their punishment in my hands."
Riku's gaze flicked to his weapon — that strange pulse of power.
"That's… another relic," he whispered.
Kael'Rath nodded slowly. "The Relic of Wrath. One of the Ten. It binds my soul — and devours all who oppose it."
Arin gritted her teeth. "Then why hold back? Why not end this?"
The Keeper's molten eyes fixed on her.
"Because your deaths must have meaning."
He vanished. One heartbeat — he was gone.
Then he appeared behind Arin, faster than lightning. His spear arced toward her —
CLANG!
Riku blocked it at the last second, sparks exploding from the collision. The sheer force drove him to his knees.
Eclipsera screamed in his hands — the blade vibrating wildly as if it recognized its creator's energy.
"Damn it!" Riku growled, pushing back with everything he had. "You're not taking anyone!"
Mina's staff flared again, the golden light forming protective sigils around them. But Kael'Rath raised his free hand — and the sigils shattered like glass.
"Light cannot exist without shadow," he murmured. "Do not forget that, little mage."
He thrust his spear into the air — the relic humming, energy flaring from its core.
But something flickered — for a brief instant, the molten glow dimmed.
Riku's eyes caught it.
He felt it — a pulse of weakness. A rhythm off-beat.
Without thinking, he dashed forward, Eclipsera slashing through the air. He aimed not at Kael'Rath's chest — but at the relic's spear.
Eclipsera struck the spear's shaft — light and fire collided, screaming through the ruins in a blinding explosion.
Kael'Rath staggered back — his armor cracking slightly.
A fragment of the relic — small, burning like a piece of living ember — flew from the spear and landed near Riku's feet.
The relic shard pulsed once.
And then, as if recognizing him, it fused into Eclipsera.
A shock ran through Riku's body — pure, uncontrollable power. His eyes glowed white, and his sword ignited with both light and flame.
Mina gasped. "Riku—your aura!"
Kael'Rath stared, his tone darkly amused.
"So… it chooses you."
Riku raised his blade, now wreathed in dual energy. "Then let's see how it feels to be on the other side."
He charged — his blade cutting through the air, slicing Kael'Rath's molten armor. The Keeper grunted — the first sound of pain he'd made.
But Riku's body trembled — the energy was too much. Every swing burned his veins, every strike threatened to consume him.
Mina saw it — his skin glowing faintly red, his breath ragged.
"Riku, stop!" she shouted. "It's too much for you to handle!"
He didn't stop.
Couldn't stop.
Kael'Rath caught his next strike barehanded — flames bursting between their locked weapons.
"You've stolen from wrath itself," the Keeper said, voice rumbling. "Now feel what it means to carry it."
The relic's energy exploded outward — knocking Riku flying into a wall of shattered stone.
Mina screamed his name. Her grief turned into light — a desperate surge that lit the ruins like a sunrise.
The golden fire around her flared, and wings of light briefly formed behind her — radiant, divine, but unstable.
Arin looked at her, astonished. "Mina… what are you—"
Mina raised her staff high, tears in her eyes. "I won't let you hurt him!"
She unleashed a wave of purifying energy that engulfed Kael'Rath. The explosion shook the entire city — even the fog retreated from the light.
When the dust cleared, Kael'Rath still stood. His armor burned, but his eyes glowed fiercer than ever.
"Futile," he rumbled. "But… promising."
He stepped forward again — slower now, but far from defeated.
Mina collapsed to her knees, drained, her wings fading to dust. Riku struggled to rise, Eclipsera dimming but still pulsing with the relic shard's heat.
Kael'Rath raised his spear once more.
"You are not ready to wield what you seek."
The ground trembled as his aura flared again — molten energy cracking the stones beneath him.
The battle wasn't over.
It had just begun.