The moon hung low that night — swollen, red, and dripping light like liquid blood.
Aarav stood alone at the edge of the northern frost plains, hands clasped behind his back. His cloak fluttered softly, the cold unable to touch him. After leaving the Ashen Pavilion, the world felt… heavier. As if someone had shifted an invisible weight onto the very fabric of existence.
The Seal of Equilibrium on his chest pulsed faintly.Not in warning — in anticipation.
"Balance trembles," Aarav murmured. "Which means something is preparing to break it."
The frost wind answered, swirling gently behind him.
Lunaris appeared.
Not walking — drifting, as if the snow carried her.
Her pale hair fluttered like a banner of moonlight. Her blue eyes held a mixture of shyness and alertness. Ever since Aarav stabilized the Frost Seal, Lunaris had been quietly, constantly near him.
Tonight, however, her steps were sharp.Almost… agitated.
"You met someone," she said softly.
Aarav raised an eyebrow. "You sense that?"
She nodded, cheeks puffing the faintest bit — a tiny, icy pout.
"You carry new… warmth," she muttered. "Different from before."
Aarav chuckled inwardly.Lunaris was jealous.Softly.Quietly.Adorably.
But he didn't answer her directly.
Instead, he asked, "What did you feel from the frost tonight?"
Her expression darkened instantly.
"Disturbance," she whispered. "Something is moving beneath the southern leyline. Something angry… with purpose."
Aarav's calm expression sharpened.
"The Blood Cult."
Lunaris shivered — not from cold, but from dread.
"They shouldn't be able to enter the frostlands," she murmured. "The seal repels them. But—"
"But someone powerful is pushing against the natural order," Aarav finished."Someone whose aura can bend rules."
The frost trembled.
Aarav turned south.
"Stay close," he said softly, stepping forward.
Lunaris followed instantly — too quickly — and nearly collided with him.He caught her arm.
She froze, cheeks flushing.
"Y-You walk too fast," she muttered.
"You follow too close."
She glared."…That is because someone else is getting too close."
Aarav smiled faintly but said nothing.
They continued through the frost until the plains gave way to a jagged valley. A crimson mist leaked from cracks in the frozen earth.
Aarav's Spirit Sense stretched—
—and hit a wall.
Not a natural wall.
A barrier of corrupted qi.
A whisper formed in the mist.
A voice not fully human.Not fully alive.And dripping with hatred.
"Balance Walker… we meet at last."
Lunaris hid behind Aarav instinctively.
"What is that?" she whispered.
Aarav stepped forward.The mist recoiled.
The Infinite Comprehension System flickered.
[Blood Crescent Envoy Detected][Rank: High Cultist Projection][Authority: Direct servant of the Crimson Prophet][Hostility Level: Absolute]
Aarav's eyes narrowed."So the Blood Cult sends a projection rather than a person."
The mist coalesced, forming a tall figure cloaked in flowing scarlet robes. His face was hidden behind a jagged bone mask shaped like a twisted crescent moon.
When he spoke, blood vapor swirled from his mouth.
"We warned you, traveler between eras," the envoy hissed. "Interfering with the frost was a mistake."
Aarav's voice remained calm."And yet your attempts keep failing."
The figure's aura flared, cracking the ground.
"You have broken our rituals. Purified our corruption. Taken servants meant for us. And now—"his gaze turned toward Lunaris,"—you touch the seal that the Crimson Prophet has waited millennia to claim."
Lunaris stiffened, fury flashing in her eyes.
"You have no right to the frost!" she snapped.
Aarav lifted a hand slightly — stopping her.
His gaze locked onto the envoy.
"I'll give you one chance," Aarav said softly."Leave."
The envoy laughed — a freezing, jagged sound.
"You misunderstand your role, Balance Walker."He pointed a claw-like finger at Aarav."It is you who will leave. This world is shifting. The Demon's Heart stirs. The ancient seals weaken. And—"
He raised his other hand.
The blood mist condensed.
Shaped.
Solidified.
Into a crown.
A crown made of bleeding bone.
Aarav's heart stilled.That symbol.
[System Warning][Artifact Identified: The Crown of the First Demonspawn][Origin: Fragment of the Heavenly Demon's corrupted will][Purpose: Summoning conduit][Threat Level: Cataclysmic]
The envoy lifted the crown high.
"With this," he hissed, "we call forth a slumbering piece of the Heavenly Demon's ancient rage."
Aarav's aura instantly flared — golden and black spirals rising like a silent storm.
"Stop."
Lunaris dropped to her knees, clutching her chest.
"The frost—!! It's screaming—!!"
The envoy slammed the crown against the ground.
The earth burst open.Crimson veins shot across the valley.Screams of ancient spirits tore through the air.
Aarav moved instantly.
Equilibrium State.His aura exploded outward.
Golden light to stabilize.Black light to swallow corruption.
But—
This time—
Something pushed back.
Something old.Something violent.Something born from a battlefield where gods once tore the sky apart.
A deep roar erupted beneath the earth.
A heartbeat shook the valley.Thud.Thud.THUD.
Lunaris backed away, trembling."I-It's waking—!!"
Aarav's expression turned razor-sharp.
"It's not fully formed yet. It's a fragment."
The envoy laughed.
"Enough to kill you."
A massive shadow rose from the cracked earth — not a monster, not a spirit, but a limb.A colossal hand made of shadow and blood, dripping rage from every fingertip.
A fragment of the Heavenly Demon's ancient will.
Aarav stepped forward.Calm.Steady.
He lifted his hand.
And whispered:
"Heavenly Divine Demon Technique — Third Form: Heart of Equilibrium."
Silence.
Then—
BOOM.
Light burst outward — not blinding, but absolute.Balanced.Pure.Resolute.
The colossal shadow hand froze mid-air.Cracks formed along its palm.Light and darkness intertwined along its veins.
The envoy's voice trembled."Impossible—!! That form was lost—!! Only two beings ever—!!"
Aarav stepped closer, palm glowing with spiraling harmony.
"I have walked both their paths," Aarav said softly."And surpassed their limits."
He pushed his hand forward.
Light tore through shadow.Shadow swallowed corruption.Balance ended chaos.
The colossal demon-hand shattered into a million silent sparks.
The envoy staggered, shrieking as the equilibrium backfired.
"YOU—CAN'T—DEFY—THE—PROPHET—!!"
Aarav's voice was calm.Almost gentle.
"I don't defy him."He stepped closer."I outgrow him."
The envoy dissolved, howling.
The blood mist evaporated.The valley calmed.The frost exhaled.
And silence returned.
Aftermath
Lunaris rushed toward Aarav, her eyes wide with fear.
"Aarav… that power—what was—?"
He turned, brushing a strand of frost hair from her cheek.
"The Third Form," he said softly. "A balance between creation and destruction."
She swallowed, trembling.
"You fought a fragment of a god's rage… and you didn't hesitate."
Aarav smiled faintly.
"Balance requires courage."
"But—"Lunaris clenched his sleeve tightly, voice trembling with fear and something else"—you could've died."
Aarav placed a hand gently on her head.
"I won't die. I still have too much to learn."
She looked up at him — cheeks red, eyes softening.
"…Then I will stay by your side. No matter what wakes next."
The frost wind wrapped them warmly.
Far away, deep within a forbidden sanctuary, a voice whispered:
"The Balance Walker has taken the third step.Prepare the Crown of Nine Moons.The awakening begins."