The chamber trembled as the remnant of the mastermind came alive. Shards of molten crystal spun around the dark sphere like blades, and waves of energy pulsed through the air with bone-rattling force. Kael steadied himself, the light from his staff blazing against the storm of darkness.
Elyra shielded her face as the wind howled. "Kael, the entire core is destabilizing! If it collapses, the whole star will implode!"
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then we end it before that happens!"
The Marauder spread its tendrils, their obsidian glow cutting through the chaos. "It's feeding on the fractures. Every time we strike it directly, it grows stronger. We need to isolate its energy first."
Kael closed his eyes, feeling the flow of power through the star. His mind reached beyond sight, into the rhythm of the cosmos itself. He could sense it now—the remnant's heartbeat, its echo twisting against the pulse of creation. "There!" he shouted. "At the junction where the light turns inward. That's its anchor!"
Elyra's fingers flew across the controls of her wrist module, channeling data streams into the ship's remaining energy reserves. "If we focus the ship's core emitters through your staff, we might be able to overload the remnant's connection!"
Kael nodded. "Do it."
The Marauder shifted beside him. "And if it consumes you instead?"
Kael met its gaze. "Then you pull me out. No hesitation."
The Marauder paused, then rumbled softly. "Understood."
Elyra activated the sequence. Blue light surged from the Seraphine's Echo, flowing through Kael's staff in a storm of radiance. He lifted it toward the remnant, shouting words of power that vibrated through every atom in the chamber.
The remnant screamed. The sound wasn't physical—it was thought turned to fury, reverberating through the fabric of space. Its tendrils of shadow lashed out, striking Kael's barrier and tearing through the air like lightning.
Kael felt his strength falter. His vision dimmed at the edges as the power threatened to consume him. "Elyra—more output!" he gasped.
Elyra slammed her palm onto the console. "It's at maximum! Any more and the core will—"
"DO IT!" Kael roared.
The ship's engines howled. The light from Kael's staff flared into a blinding column, piercing through the remnant's heart. For a moment, the darkness split—and Kael saw it.
Inside the remnant was not a monster, but a reflection: a vision of himself, older, colder, filled with unrestrained ambition.
It whispered in his mind. "You cannot destroy me. I am what you were meant to become."
Kael's grip tightened. "Then I'll rewrite destiny myself."
With a final cry, he thrust the staff forward. The column of light erupted, consuming both the remnant and himself in pure brilliance. The entire chamber shook as the Fractured Star screamed and began to collapse inward.
Elyra reached out. "Kael!"
Then there was silence—only the fading pulse of starlight and the echo of a wizard's final spell.