The air was thick with the smell of burning ruins, and the world seemed to be holding its breath, poised on the very brink of annihilation.The Heart of the Veil had shattered, leaving nothing but a swirling vortex of dark energy that stretched across the sky, like the open mouth of a hungry beast.Alex's body shuddered, not only at the shockwaves of pain running through him but also at the raw sensation of chaos unfolding in front of him. Beside him, Helena strained to sit up, her sword still clutched tightly in her fist, but the shadows around them grew heavy, closing in from every angle. Her breathing was difficult, her body bruised from the skirmish, but there was something new in her eyes something hard, fierce. "Alex, we have to finish this," Helena said, her voice rough but steady. He turned to look at her, his heart swelling with a mixture of fear and admiration. There was no one else he'd rather face this hell with. She was his anchor, his reason for fighting, even as the w

The silence was deafening.Alex's body was suspended in mid-air, but the cold, unyielding void surrounding him made him realize he wasn't floating he was falling. His stomach churned as the darkness seemed to stretch on forever, the weight of his own failure settling over him like a crushing burden. Every muscle in his body screamed in agony, as though the last of his energy had been sucked dry.He tried to move, to push himself out of the abyss, but his limbs were sluggish powerless. The very essence of what made him Alex Mercer, the man who had defied death itself, seemed to be slipping away. The Veil's gift, the fire, the shadows they all felt distant, like forgotten memories. He had nothing left.But then, through the crushing void, there was a flicker.A spark of warmth.His name."Alex."It was a faint, far-off sound, unmistakable nonetheless. Helena's voice. That voice had always been his anchor, his tether to the world he fought to protect. But this time, it wasn't enough.The

The air was filled with the smell of burning sulfur as the rift pulsed with dark energy, sending ripples through the ground. Alex could feel the raw power of the force that was now emerging an unnatural force that seemed to twist reality itself.He could hardly catch his breath, his body battered and broken from the previous onslaught. Yet, his gaze never wavered from the new presence that had emerged from the depths of the rift.This was no creature, no animal. No, not this. It was as if it actually were the darkness itself, its form rippling and flowing like liquid shadow. Its eyes shone like an otherworldly glow of a sickly green color through the night.Alex's heart went racing, his mind trying to come to terms with what he saw. "What the hell is that?" he croaked, his voice barely audible."It is him," Helena breathed, though she still had her sword locked in her arms, but all her energy had run out of her. "The one who commands the end.The voice of the creature was a growl, a d

The scream went out into the air like a death knell, echoing in the rift and seeming to give life to shadows. Alex's heart skipped a beat, and his pulse thudded in his ears.He spun around, and Helena fell, her face set in horror as a monstrous figure emerged from the shadows. It was vast, its shape fluid, as if it was liquid night, and eyes shone bright and piercing through the blackness."Helena!" Alex screamed, but her words were muffled by the horrific growling of the beast.He didn't wait but summoned each and every power he had and shoved his hand into the air. A wave of hellfire poured out of his palm. It shot forward through the air, only for the creature to just take the heat. Its form contorted and changed, like a living nightmare.He laughed then, a sound that chilled him down to the bone."You think you can stop me?" the creature hissed, its voice dripping with malice. "I am the rift's keeper. I am the darkness that will swallow everything."Alex's blood ran cold. The rift

The tear pulsed around Alex like the steady beat of a heart cold, unyielding, and relentless. He could feel its pressure closing in on him, the very walls of this void pressing against his chest. His limbs were heavy, like they were shackled to the ground, but his mind was alive, burning with the need to find Helena, to save her before the darkness swallowed her whole."Helena!" His voice boomed, lost in the void. He was gasping for air, fighting to take it in with each breath, the weight of the rift's energy crushing him.She had to be here. The whispers of her voice, faint and distant, were his only guide in this overwhelming darkness. But the rift seemed to warp reality itself distorting time and space. The closer he got to her voice, the farther away she seemed.He lurched forward, his entire body shaking from exhaustion. But he could still feel the hellfire in him weak and flickering but it was still there. The only thing that kept him up.Behind him, the air crackled with malevo