Then… he screamed.A burst of chaotic energy surged from him, throwing back friend and foe alike. Obsidian sentries crumbled. Clara shielded her eyes from the shockwave.Brown was blown to his knees—but he smiled.Because he saw what the others didn’t.Valric wasn’t attacking.Valric was fighting himself.The darkness around him began to fracture, like a shell cracking under pressure. Veins of light seeped through.“Get out of my head!” Valric roared, clawing at his temple. “You don’t own me!”The woman in bone recoiled, eyes narrowing.“You… ungrateful wretch—”Valric turned toward her, panting. “Stay… out… of this.”And then—He dropped.Not in defeat.But in choice.Valric descended to the ground, landing hard, knees crashing into dust and stone.His blade clattered beside him.Brown rushed forward—not with sword, but with open arms.“Valric!”But before they could reach each other—The sky ripped open.A new force had arrived.A third player, drawn by the war and the shattering bo

Valric raised both hands, and from the depths of his chest, the Rift roared.A vortex opened above him — not as wild as before, but focused. Controlled. He reached inside it, drew power, and hurled a spear of pure shadowlight at the Echo’s center.The creature screamed — its thousand eyes turning inward in agony — as the spear tore through its shifting form, pinning it to the charred earth.Brown was on it in a heartbeat. With a cry that sounded like both fury and release, he drove his sword deep into the core of the creature, flames erupting in all directions.The Echo convulsed. It tried to retreat — splitting itself into a thousand smaller shapes — but Clara was already weaving her final spell.A seal of radiant light circled the battlefield. Ancient, divine — it pulsed with the will of the world itself.“By flame and oath,” Clara whispered, “you are banished.”The seal collapsed inward.The Echo gave one final shriek — a sound of endless hunger denied — and vanished in a blink of