The room was drowned in complete darkness—
only the twin golden-black glow of Asher's eyes floated in the air.
The Void Herald leaned toward him,
his presence so heavy that even the air began to tremble.
Asher felt something breaking.
But not outside…
Inside.
Suddenly—
a sharp, ripping pain surged through Asher's chest.
As if someone had split his very soul into two.
His knees wanted to collapse, but his body remained standing, trembling violently—
as if two wills inside him were fighting for dominance.
A golden flame rose from his right shoulder—pure, ancient, roaring.
On the other side, a blue-black Void shadow settled over his left shoulder—cold, slow, and overflowing with hunger.
The two forces pushed against each other, and an invisible crack spread through his chest.
Crack… Crack…
The pain was so unbearable that Asher couldn't even scream.
Only a broken gasp escaped his throat.
The Herald whispered softly—
"Now this… is the true trial.
The Primordial Flame wants to claim you as its vessel…
and the Void wants you as its birthplace."
Nova screamed when she saw Asher's condition—
"His body… it's splitting open!"
Shimmering cracks began appearing along Asher's skin, fine and bright—
as if his body was about to burst from within.
Hearing Nova's terrified cry, Elder Ratan turned, saw the glowing cracks, and shouted in fear—
"No… if that fracture spreads, Asher will become a Void Gate!"
The Herald smiled faintly.
"Yes. Exactly.
And then the boundaries of worlds will no longer restrain him."
Asher trembled, forcing the words out—
"No… I… won't break…"
But the two forces racing inside him were so fierce that his body grew heavier with each second.
One side pulling with fire—
the other consuming him with void.
Both whispered—
"Choose me."
"Surrender to me."
Asher felt he was moments away from being torn in half.
At that very instant—
the defense formation of the Juyal Mansion awakened.
---
The earth trembled.
Ancient sigils on the walls blazed to life.
Talismans that had slept for centuries shivered awake.
Ratan spoke, voice grim—
"The Spirit Cage… forged by Maharshi Juyal."
THA-RAANG!
From the mansion's foundation erupted golden chains of energy—
not metal, but sculpted from spirits themselves.
The chains circled Asher slowly, as if studying him…
and then—
THRANG!
With a flash like lightning, they tightened around him.
The Herald stepped back, whispering—
"So this house still recognizes his power…
Fascinating. The Juyal bloodline truly is something."
A massive spherical cage of energy formed around Asher—
the Spirit Cage.
An ancient circle…
capable of tearing apart or stitching together unstable spiritual power.
Ratan roared—
"Spirit Cage—
separate the Primordial Flame and the Void!"
The chains glowed—
their golden and silver light bathing Asher's body.
For a moment—
the fire and the void recoiled, suppressed under the cage's power.
Asher felt—
maybe he wouldn't break.
But the Herald spoke softly—
"Fools…
you do not understand."
His eyes narrowed coldly.
"The Spirit Cage doesn't control power.
It awakens it."
Ratan's face drained of color.
"No… this shouldn't be happening…"
But it was already too late.
As soon as the chains fully activated—
both the Flame and the Void roared inside Asher at once.
FWOOOOOMMMM!
A golden-black shockwave burst outward.
The Spirit Cage shattered…
walls cracked…
relics shattered into dust…
and the Herald's shadow was thrown back—
In the center of the broken chains stood Asher.
His eyes were no longer golden…
nor black…
but a new color—a mixture of both.
Something that had never existed in this world.
A half-awakened ancient existence…
a new form…
a consciousness binding two opposite forces together.
The Herald stared in stunned disbelief.
He whispered—
"So this is…
The Hybrid Awakening."
Asher inhaled, and every flame in the room shifted with him.
"What will you do now, Asher Juyal?" the Herald asked.
Asher lifted his head—
his voice echoed in two tones:
one human…
one ancient.
"First… I choose myself."
---
The Spirit Archive Chamber was utterly destroyed—
walls broken, talismans shattered, blue fire trembling like dying ash.
Asher stood still.
Too still.
Unnaturally calm.
But the air around him was heavy…
as if the world waited for his existence to decide its next direction.
The Herald let out a soft, excited laugh—
"So the Primordial Flame and Void Shade touched you at the same time."
Asher opened his fists.
Golden light streamed through his veins—
while blue-black vapor pulsed from the edges of his shadow.
"I am no longer a slave to either power," Asher said.
His voice carried two layers—
one human, one ancient.
The Herald's eyes gleamed.
"Good. Then show me… what a Hybrid can do."
Without warning, the Herald vanished—
FWOOOSH!
Asher's heart skipped—
but his body moved on its own.
The golden sigil on his hand flared, and heat filled his right arm.
CRACK!!
The Herald descended like falling fire—
green flames spiraling with wind—
but Asher raised his hand instinctively, and a golden shield burst forth.
BOOOM!
The shockwave ripped through the room.
The Herald stepped back, smiling.
"Remarkable. Defense of the Primordial… reaction of the Void.
You are becoming a perfect war-entity."
Asher's eyes glowed; his shadow trailing smoke.
The Herald shot forward again—
this time not with flame,
but with cold, dark Void.
Just an inch before touching Asher's chest—
Asher whispered,
"Stop."
Void energy surged around him—
the same power that had tamed the Void Shade.
The Herald's fingers slowed—
as if time itself had thickened and turned sticky.
His eyes widened.
"This… Hybrid Suppression?
You learned it this fast…?"
Asher raised his right hand — Primordial gold exploding from his palm.
The Herald whispered weakly,
"That is… a divine strike—"
Asher unleashed it.
WHOOOOSH—!!
BOOOOM!!
The Herald was thrown into the wall—
stone exploding around him—
yet he still smiled.
"Yes… this is what I wanted."
He rose slowly, wounds healing as the Void devoured them.
"Asher," he said, "do you want to see what Hybrid power truly looks like?"
Asher steadied his breath.
Energy swirled around him.
Then suddenly—
the world slowed.
Air, sparks, heartbeat—everything dulled.
The Herald's eyes narrowed.
"This… Primordial Time Drift?"
Golden light flared on Asher's right shoulder,
void-shadow on his left.
Both expanded—
like wings of smoke and light.
Not fully flame…
not fully shadow…
Hybrid Wings.
The room filled with waves of merged radiance and darkness.
For the first time, fear tightened the Herald's face.
"Asher… even gods struggle to control this form.
But you—"
Asher opened his fingers, focusing both powers into a single point.
He whispered—
"The control is mine."
The entire chamber trembled.
As Asher awakened the Hybrid form, the ground quaked beneath them.
The Herald glanced down in shock—
ancient lines on the floor were glowing.
Lines untouched even by the Spirit Cage.
Ratan's eyes widened in terror.
"No… this should not wake…"
Nova asked,
"What is that?"
Ratan whispered—
"The oldest secret of the Juyal Mansion…
The Resonance Gate."
The Herald's expression hardened.
"So this is where it was hidden…"
Asher's Hybrid energy hit the sigils—
and the floor split apart.
KRRAAAACK!
A deep, dark staircase appeared beneath—
descending into an entirely different realm.
The Herald whispered—
"So that was why the Void Shade came here."
Ratan's voice trembled.
"Asher… child… do not go down there.
That place must never be reached."
Asher looked at the Gate—
Hybrid light reflecting in his eyes.
"Maybe… my answer is down there."
The Herald smiled.
"Then come, Hybrid Flamebearer…
let's descend."
As their footsteps hit the stairs, a distant heartbeat echoed—
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
The heartbeat of the Primordial Flame.
The breath of the Void.
And something else—
something calling to both.
---