The floor kept shaking.
Cracks spider-webbed beneath everyone's feet as the dragon's roar vibrated through the Academy like a living earthquake.
Aren clutched his head, dropping to one knee as the void surged violently inside him.
He could barely breathe.
Kane knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders.
"Aren! Stay conscious—stay with me!"
But Aren wasn't hearing Kane anymore.
He was hearing it.
"The last chain breaks…"
Aren screamed as another surge of void pulsed through his skull.
The hole in the floor widened with a deafening BOOOOOM, swallowing debris and shattered stone as a swirling column of violet energy shot upward.
Students and soldiers retreated, panic exploding through the hall.
Kale backed away, aura flaring wildly.
"What—WHAT IS THAT?!"
Rellin shouted:
"Everyone OUT! Do not get near that vortex!"
But Aren was dragged toward it—
not physically—
but mentally, spiritually, like an invisible grip had wrapped around his core.
He grabbed the floor desperately, fingers digging into broken stone.
"No—NO—STOP!"
Kane held him tightly.
"Aren—LISTEN TO ME—"
Aren barely managed to choke out:
"It wants… me…"
Kane's expression twisted with fear and anger.
"Then it can go through me first."
Another quake rippled through the ground.
A deeper voice rose from the vortex—
Low.
Powerful.
Ancient.
"COME."
Aren felt the command like a blow to the chest.
"No—NO—!"
The void markings on his arms lit up violently, racing across his skin like burning constellations.
Students gasped and backed away.
Kale stared, horrified.
"He's—he's transforming…"
He wasn't.
The void was awakening.
A fourth voice whispered faintly—
the rival entity—
"Resist… or he will claim you…"
Aren grit his teeth so hard they almost cracked.
"Stop… STOP… I'm not your heir!"
The dragon's voice deepened into a rumble that shook dust from the ceiling.
"You cannot deny what you are."
Aren felt something snap inside him—
like a mental barrier cracking open.
He screamed again.
The vortex expanded.
The final chain shattered.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The ground beneath the Academy collapsed.
Not a small section—
an entire wing fell into an abyss as stone, marble, and mana crystal plunged downward.
People scrambled to escape.
Kane dragged Aren back with everything he had.
"Move! MOVE!"
But the void vortex surged again—
and this time, it formed a shape.
A colossal, spectral claw erupted from the darkness.
Kale staggered back.
"What—WHAT IS THAT THING?!"
Rellin paled.
"That's not its true body…
That's a projection through the breach…"
The claw slammed into a stone pillar—
CRAAAAAASH—
The pillar shattered like glass.
Aren felt himself slipping.
Not physically.
His mind.
His connection.
He saw flashes—
The dragon's true form.
The cavern of chains.
The ancient ruins.
A throne of obsidian.
A violet sun.
A world drowned in void.
Its future.
Its promise.
Its hunger.
Aren's eyes widened.
"No…
No…
NO!"
He pushed against the void inside him with everything he had—
But the void pushed harder.
Kane's voice broke through the chaos.
"Aren! Focus on MY voice! Not his!"
Kane pulled Aren into his chest, yelling over the roar:
"You are NOT his heir!
You are Aren!
You choose who you become—NOT HIM!"
Aren clenched his fists.
The markings on his arms flickered—
Bright—
Then dim—
Then bright again—
unsettled, struggling.
The vortex widened further.
The spectral claw reached toward Aren—
And struck Kane instead.
WHAM—!!
Kane flew across the hall and crashed through a stone wall.
Aren's heart dropped.
"KANE!!"
He tried to run toward him—
But the dragon's voice boomed again, shaking the entire building:
"COME TO ME."
Aren's vision warped.
His knees hit the floor.
The vortex surged around him.
His consciousness slipped—
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
He was back in the void realm.
Floating stone.
Black sky.
Violet cracks.
And before him—
The dragon.
Fully manifested.
Towering.
Wings chained by the last glowing rune.
Eyes blazing with hunger, pride, and ownership.
It lowered its head.
"Aren."
Aren backed away, trembling.
"No—stay away—"
"You are mine."
"STOP!"
"I chose you before you were born."
Aren froze.
"What…?"
The dragon smiled.
A slow, terrifying smile.
"You think your awakening was chance?
Your 'Limitless Evolution'?
Your 'Void Archer' profession?"
The dragon's voice deepened.
"I made them."
Aren's breath vanished.
"Your power is my design."
The realm shook.
The dragon leaned closer—
So close Aren could feel its breath like a storm.
"And now…"
Chains snapped one by one in blinding flashes of violet light.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The dragon roared—
"I AM FREE."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Back in the real world—
The vortex exploded.
Stone ruptured.
Students screamed.
Rellin threw up the strongest barrier of her life.
Kale shielded two unconscious students.
And Aren—
Aren collapsed as the void markings flared across his entire body.
His eyes glowed pure violet.
The dragon's final whisper echoed inside him:
"Rise, my heir."