The ruins of Halion had fallen silent after Lyra vanished. Only the wind moved now, whistling through broken arches like a dirge for the dead. The light that had once crowned the city had faded, replaced by a low hum rising from beneath the ground. It was rhythmic, steady—like the pulse of something enormous buried deep below.
Rai stood on a shattered platform, staring into the fissures that snaked through the marble streets. Every tremor beneath his boots carried the same dreadful cadence: thump… thump… thump. The sound of a heart too vast to belong to any mortal.
Kael wiped the ash from his visor. "That sound—it's coming from under the main altar. Whatever's left of the gods… It's not dead."
Rai didn't answer immediately. He could feel it through his seal, each beat syncing with his pulse, his veins burning black. "It's reacting to me. To what's inside me."
Kael placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then maybe we shouldn't go any deeper."
Rai turned to him with a grim smile. "If we don't, someone else will. You've seen the world. Cults are reviving the old faiths; the fragments are moving on their own. Whatever's beneath us—it's the source."
Kael sighed, sheathing his sword. "Fine. But if that thing wakes, we might not get a second chance."
Together, they descended through the ruins, entering the catacombs beneath Halion. The air grew colder, the walls lined with murals—depictions of the gods' descent, the wars of old, and a final image of a man standing against the heavens, halo cracked above his head.
Rai stopped, tracing the carving with his fingers. His face was carved into the stone. Not as a savior, but as a monster.
"They called you the Eclipse," Kael murmured. "Even back then."
"They called me worse," Rai replied. "And maybe they were right."
They moved deeper, until the air began to shimmer with gold and black motes of energy. The heartbeat was deafening now. The tunnel opened into a massive chamber—a cathedral turned inside out. At its center, suspended by chains of pure light, floated a colossal heart. It glowed with divine brilliance, yet every pulse sent cracks of shadow across its surface.
Kael stared in disbelief. "That's a god's heart…"
Rai stepped closer, eyes locked on it. "No. It's the Heart. The first one. The core of all divine creation."
As he approached, whispers filled the chamber. Countless voices layered over one another—pleading, laughing, screaming. The sound pressed against his skull until he staggered. Kael reached out to steady him, but the seal on Rai's arm blazed black and red.
Then the heart spoke.
"My vessel returns."
The voice was both male and female, both tender and cruel. The air thickened until even breathing felt sacrilegious.
Rai clenched his fists. "I'm not your vessel. Not anymore."
The heart pulsed violently, the chains groaning as divine blood spilled onto the floor. Each drop hit the stone and grew into a human shape—figures with hollow eyes and radiant skin. Divine echoes.
Kael unsheathed his sword. "Rai!"
"I know!" Rai shouted. His sword ignited with dark flame, runes spiraling up the blade. He cut through the first wave, but for each figure that fell, two more formed from the blood.
The heart pulsed again. "You sealed us within yourself, little king. You thought you could bear divinity alone. But gods cannot be bound—they only wait."
A surge of energy threw Rai backward, slamming him against the wall. The seal on his chest split open, light and shadow spilling from the wound. His scream echoed through the chamber.
Kael ran to him. "Rai! Hold on!"
But Rai's voice was distant, layered with something else—something ancient. "Kael… run."
The heart's voice laughed softly. "No. Let him watch."
The chains around the heart snapped one by one, divine energy flooding the catacombs. The murals on the walls began to move, replaying scenes of war and betrayal. Rai saw himself standing over mountains of corpses, Lyra at his side, both crowned in blood.
His mind fractured. The truth began to surface.
He wasn't just the man who ended the divine war. He was its origin.
The heart pulsed one final time, and a golden tear fell from it—landing on Rai's chest, merging into his seal. The light consumed him.
Kael shouted his name, reaching out—And the world broke.
When Rai opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the catacombs. He stood in a vast, starless void, surrounded by fragments of memory floating like shattered glass. And before him stood a figure with his own face—smiling coldly.
"Welcome back," the reflection said. "It's time you remembered who you really are."