Aren hit the stone floor hard.
His palms scraped against ancient dust as he coughed violently, violet sparks leaking from his fingertips. Every breath felt like it dragged a storm through his lungs.
The operatives rushed toward him—
"Aren!"
"Don't move, kid, stay with us—!"
But the Remnant blocked them with a single limb.
"Do not touch him."
The older operative snapped back,
"He's dying!"
The Remnant shook its massive head.
"He is changing."
Aren's vision swirled.
Fragments of symbols flashed across his sight—
fractured runes, broken chains, shattered glyphs—
all dissolving as quickly as they appeared.
He gasped again as another pulse of violet flame tore through his ribs.
The Remnant leaned closer.
"Voidscar bearer.
Report."
Aren forced the words out.
"…It… tried to bind me."
"Yes."
"It failed."
"Yes."
Aren groaned, clutching his chest.
"It hurt."
"Yes."
Aren glared weakly.
"You're really helpful, you know that?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Violet lines cracked across Aren's arms.
Like lightning trapped beneath his skin.
The female operative covered her mouth.
"What's happening to him? He looks like he's going to explode—"
The Remnant's eyes dimmed.
"He is undergoing shardbreak."
The older operative frowned.
"Shard what?"
"Shardbreak:
When a rejected chain attempts to reconnect but is severed by the host's will."
Aren grimaced.
"So this is… normal?"
"No."
Aren nearly face-planted.
"…Of course it isn't."
The Remnant continued:
"Shardbreak happens only once.
You have done it twice."
Aren sucked in a slow breath.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your evolution…
has no precedent."
Aren blinked.
"No precedent…
as in…?"
"As in not even the king foresaw this."
A chill ran through Aren's bones.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A sudden surge of power ignited inside him—
WHUM—!!
The entire cavern shook.
Loose stones tumbled from the ceiling.
Runes along the broken pillars flared.
The echo-door behind them flickered violently.
The operatives stumbled back.
The Remnant planted its limbs to remain grounded.
Aren clenched his fists as energy spiraled around him.
"W-what's happening?!"
The Remnant answered:
"Your Voidscar is consuming the chain shard."
Aren's eyes widened.
"Consuming…? I'm absorbing it?!"
"Not absorbing."
A pause.
"Assimilating."
Aren exhaled sharply.
"That sounds worse."
"It is."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
His body convulsed.
Another wave of pain ripped through him—but this time it wasn't destructive.
It was awakening.
The violet cracks across his arms reshaped themselves—
no longer jagged and chaotic, but forming cleaner lines.
Structured.
Ordered.
Like someone was rewriting the rules within him.
Aren panted.
"The Voidscar… it feels different."
The Remnant nodded.
"Your power has begun to define itself."
Aren's heartbeat echoed through the cavern, synchronized with the pulses beneath his skin.
"What does that mean, exactly?"
"It means your evolution is no longer bound to instinct."
Aren frowned.
"So what is it bound to?"
"Your will."
The Remnant stepped back.
"And that makes you dangerous."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The last crack of energy burst outward—
BOOOOM—!!
Dust exploded.
Fog recoiled.
The altar shattered behind them.
Pieces of chain-rune disintegrated into violet sparks.
Aren collapsed to one knee, then forced himself upright slowly.
His breathing steadied.
His vision cleared.
The Voidscar's glow softened into a steady pulse—
not unstable,
not chaotic,
not flickering.
Alive.
Aren opened his hand.
Violet motes gathered instinctively into an arrow shape.
He didn't force it.
He didn't command it.
He simply willed it—
and the void obeyed without resistance.
Aren whispered:
"…It listens."
The Remnant bowed its head.
"Your evolution is no longer void-driven."
Aren blinked.
"Then what drives it now?"
The Remnant answered with a low rumble:
"Identity."
Aren stared.
"My identity…?"
"Your evolution grows not with power…
but with who you choose to become."
Silence filled the cavern.
Aren felt the weight of the words.
The Void King had shaped what he wanted Aren to be.
But now…
Aren shaped himself.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The female operative stepped forward slowly.
"Aren… are you okay?"
Aren nodded.
"I think so.
I feel… stronger. Clearer. More grounded."
The older operative let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought you were going to tear in half."
Aren gave a tired smile.
"So did I."
The Remnant interrupted:
"This place is no longer stable."
Cracks began forming along the walls.
The ground trembled.
The echo-door flickered violently, twisting reality around it.
Aren steadied himself.
"We should go."
The Remnant nodded.
"Yes.
Your shardbreak has awakened the ruin."
A distant howl echoed from deeper inside.
Aren froze.
"What was that—?"
The Remnant turned sharply.
"Something that was sealed."
A chill ran down Aren's spine.
The Remnant's voice lowered:
"Your choice has consequences."
Aren swallowed.
"So what now?"
The Remnant stepped forward, towering like a living fortress.
"Now…
you survive the consequence."
The howl echoed again.
Closer.
Aren gripped the Voidscar Bow tightly.
His new power pulsed in sync with his heart.
He had chosen his own path.
Now he had to survive what it awakened.