The ground trembled beneath the training grounds as yet another pulse of uncontrolled energy surged into the sky. Cracks formed in the hardened soil, glowing faintly with an eerie blue light. Around the perimeter, makeshift barriers flickered with protective runes—barely holding.Joey stood on a platform overlooking the chaos below. His expression was grim. “They’re getting stronger,” he muttered, “but not safer.”Dozens of veterans below were sparring, meditating, or simply trying not to lose control. The Awakening Light Samuel had released days ago had done more than awaken potential. It had shattered limits—both physical and spiritual. One woman hovered ten feet above the ground, her body flickering in and out of visibility. Another man, hands covered in crackling red flame, wept uncontrollably as he tried not to set the earth alight beneath him.“They’re scared of themselves,” said Marie, approaching him. She wore dark leathers now, her silver blade always strapped to her back. “An

The darkness was not just around Samuel—it was inside him.He jolted awake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, heart pounding like war drums. The bed beneath him felt like ice, though the room was warm. His breath came out in short, visible gasps, as if the air itself had thickened. Moonlight crept through the broken blinds, casting shadows that didn’t match the shape of the objects in his room.He had dreamt of fire, of blood-soaked ruins, and a voice calling his name from within a spiraling chasm.But the worst part? The voice had felt… familiar.Samuel rose to a sitting position, pressing his palms against his temples. “Not again,” he muttered. “Not now.”A movement in the corner of the room froze him. His reflection in the cracked mirror twitched—a second too late. It smiled when he didn’t.Then the shadows shifted.From the corner, darkness gathered unnaturally, drawing itself up into a humanoid form. It didn’t walk. It slithered. A man-shaped silhouette with no featur

The narrow corridor beneath the ruined chapel groaned as Joey pushed open the rusted door. Marie followed close behind, her hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of her blade, eyes sharp in the dim greenish glow of her visor. Beneath the church was the hidden facility—rumored to be a forgotten data vault of the Archive. Until now, it had only been a myth.“This place gives me the creeps,” Marie muttered, running her fingers over the ancient stone walls. “You sure this is where they kept information on Veil?”Joey scanned the corridor. The energy here was strange—dense and heavy, like the air itself didn’t want them to breathe. “If we’re right,” he said, “this is where Samuel’s fracture began.”At the end of the corridor, a metallic door stood, embossed with the Archive’s sigil—a serpent coiled around a fractured sun. Joey placed his hand on the panel. Nothing happened.Marie stepped forward, activated a sigil circuit on her glove, and channeled a surge of etherlight. The panel lit up.

The battlefield still smoldered from Veil’s latest onslaught. Black ash covered the ground like snowfall, and the sky, ever dimmer, felt like a curtain closing too soon. Survivors gathered in the remnants of the central hall, eyes hollow, hearts heavier than steel. Samuel sat quietly on the stone steps, his breathing shallow, aura flickering—light pulsing from his skin like an old lantern, unsteady and dim.Then the air changed.A sharp breeze twisted through the scorched trees, and with it came a sudden hush, as if the world paused to listen.Out of the shadows walked a figure draped in robes stitched from starlight and ash. His face was obscured by a hood, but his presence radiated raw, ancient power—older than the Veil itself. The wind seemed to bow before him.“Who—” Joey stood, fists clenched. “Who the hell are you?”The figure lifted his hand slowly, palm glowing with swirling runes. “Call me Eron,” he said, voice like echoing thunder in a cave. “I’ve come to offer you a chance—

The night was unnaturally quiet. Clouds, black as ink, churned over the hills, casting flickers of violet lightning that never reached the ground. At the heart of the ruins, the ritual circle pulsed with an eerie light—five rings inscribed with ancient sigils, glowing in turns: red, gold, blue, silver, and finally... pure void-black.Samuel stood in the center, bare feet on sacred stone. His shirt was discarded, revealing the intricate lattice of Lightrun scars across his chest and back—some glowed faintly, others throbbed as if alive. Around the circle, Joey, Marie, and the surviving elders formed a protective triangle, each holding a relic carved from obsidian and silverroot.“Are you sure about this?” Joey asked, voice tight. “There’s still time to choose someone else. Someone who—”“I am the bridge, Joey,” Samuel said without flinching. “I don’t think I was meant to survive this long. This power, these visions… They weren’t meant for peace. But maybe they can end this war.”Marie