The phantom shattered—
—but the war wasn't over.
The broken projection dissolved into spirals of violet fog that whipped across the hall like a living storm, clawing at barriers and gnawing at the edges of reality.
Rellin slammed her hands together.
"FORMATION ONE! HOLD THE BREACH!"
Instructors formed a tri-circle array, their mana flaring into a defensive cage around the crack in the floor.
But every second, the barrier hissed as the void tried to erode it.
Kale staggered up, bleeding from the mouth.
"That… thing… isn't stopping."
Kane stepped into position beside him, sword glowing with faint gold.
"It won't. Not as long as the void king wants Aren."
Everyone turned toward Aren.
He stood at the rear of the hall, gripping his bow, breath ragged.
Void flickered across his arms, but weaker now—more controlled.
He had pushed the dragon back.
But at a cost.
His body trembled under the strain.
Aren steadied himself against the wall.
I won… for now… but he's still coming.
Another quake ripped through the Academy's foundation.
BOOOOOM—
Rellin shouted over the noise:
"BREACHFALL IS IN EFFECT!
All non-combatants evacuate immediately!
All combat units—prepare for a SECOND emergence!"
The ground fissured again, glowing violets spreading like veins through the stone.
Students were rushed out through emergency channels.
But Aren didn't move.
He couldn't.
Because the breach whispered—
"Aren… Aren… Aren…"
Not the dragon.
Not the rival entity.
Thousands of little voices.
Fragments.
Echoes.
Souls?
Memories?
Aren's head pounded.
"Kane… I'm hearing them again."
Kane stepped beside him, tightening his grip on Aren's shoulder.
"Focus on my voice. The void's trying to drag your mind back in."
Aren nodded shakily.
But then—
The breach screamed.
A second projection began forming.
This time, not a claw.
Not a piece.
A head.
A massive, fractured dragon skull pushed through the dimensional crack, eyes blazing with violet flame.
Rellin went pale.
"That's not possible… You just severed the phantom—how can it form again so soon?!"
Kane cursed.
"It's forcing its way through the crack. We don't have much time."
Kale snarled, stepping forward.
"Then we hit it again!"
He leapt, fist blazing—
WHAM—
The phantom head didn't budge.
A rippling shockwave blasted Kale across the hall and into a stone column.
Kale collapsed, coughing blood.
Kane gritted his teeth.
"He's too reckless… Stay back, Kale!"
Kale groaned.
"Shut up… not taking orders…"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The phantom head pushed further through the breach, widening it dangerously.
Chunks of mangled stone fell into the abyss below.
Rellin's voice cracked with urgency.
"If that projection enters fully, it'll open a direct line to the void king's real form. The city won't survive."
Instructors poured mana into the sealing array.
"Hold the line—HOLD!"
The barrier flickered.
Failed.
Collapsed.
The phantom roared—
KRRRAAAAAAAA—!
Students screamed from the corridors.
Kane steadied his stance.
"Aren!
You're the only one who can sever it again!"
Aren gasped.
"I—I barely managed it the first time…"
Kane shouted:
"You don't need MORE power—
you need MORE WILL!"
Aren staggered forward.
The floor pulsed violet beneath him, reacting to his presence.
The dragon's voice thundered:
"COME TO ME."
Aren snarled through clenched teeth.
"NO."
He lifted his bow.
Void gathered—
—but the bowstring snapped violently.
Aren stumbled.
He had no weapon.
Just his hands.
Kane stepped beside him.
"Aren. You don't need the bow. You ARE the void."
Aren looked at his trembling fists.
Could he do it bare-handed?
The phantom widened the breach—
chunks of ceiling fell—
instructors screamed—
the city's mana barrier flickered in the distance—
Aren exhaled.
And stepped forward.
Void roared through his veins in answer.
He lifted his hand toward the phantom.
The void king's voice rumbled:
"YES… COME…"
Aren whispered:
"…No."
He clenched his fist.
Void erupted around his hand—
—but this time,
it didn't spiral out of control.
It didn't consume him.
It obeyed.
Aren dragged his hand through the air like tearing fabric—
Void Sever (C–) → Void Sever (C)
Skill Rank Up.
A slicing line of pure violet rift energy blasted forward—
And struck the phantom's skull head-on.
The phantom froze.
Cracked.
Split.
Then—
SHATTERED.
The breach shrieked as the dragon projection dissolved into a rain of violet sparks.
A shockwave blew through the hall.
Aren collapsed to one knee, panting hard.
Kane caught him.
"You did it."
But Rellin shook her head grimly.
"No. That was only the projection. The real threat remains."
A second quake ripped through the earth.
Aren's blood chilled.
Kane whispered:
"…He's still coming."
The entire Academy—
the city above—
the people screaming outside—
all trembled as a deeper roar answered.
"AREN."
The void king was no longer trying to pull him.
He was crawling upward.