The Astral Expanse screamed.
Not with sound—but with distortion. Layers of reality folded inward as a rift of absolute darkness tore through the inner layer, void energy spilling out like blood from a ruptured vein.
Kael felt it in his bones.
Aerin stepped through.
He looked… familiar.
And completely wrong.
His body was intact, human—but shadows clung to him like a second skin, moving independently, whispering in a language that hurt to hear. His eyes burned with a deep violet glow, fractured with veins of black light. Where Kael's power aligned and stabilized, Aerin's consumed.
Yet he smiled.
"Kael," Aerin said warmly, as if greeting an old friend. "So this is where you ran."
Lysara drew her blade instantly. "You know him?"
Kael didn't look away. "Yeah."
Elder Thorne's voice shook. "Void-Ascendant… He forced entry without trial."
Aerin chuckled. "Trials are for those who ask permission."
The Wardens appeared instantly, forming a barrier of starlight between the two.
"VOID-ASCENDANT. ENTRY VIOLATION.WITHDRAW OR BE ERASED."
Aerin tilted his head. "Erase me?"
Void surged.
One Warden vanished—not destroyed, but overwritten, its starlines unraveling into nothingness.
The remaining Wardens recoiled.
Kael stepped forward. "Enough."
The barrier lowered.
Lysara grabbed his arm. "Kael—"
"I have to," he said quietly. "This place won't survive both of us avoiding it."
Aerin's eyes lit up. "Good. I was hoping you'd say that."
They moved at the same time.
Kael vanished in a flash of aligned starlight.Aerin dissolved into shadow.
Their first collision split the platform in half.
Starfire and void detonated, tearing open a pocket of nothingness that instantly tried to swallow them both. Kael twisted mid-air, stabilizing the space with the Interstice Path, forcing reality to decide again.
Aerin laughed as he slammed a fist into Kael's ribs, void energy phasing through defenses and detonating inside his body.
Kael grunted, skidding backward, blood floating from his mouth in slow-motion droplets.
"You're holding back," Aerin taunted. "Why?"
Kael wiped the blood away, eyes steady. "Because if I don't… everything breaks."
Aerin's smile faded.
"See, that's the difference between us."
He raised both hands.
"Void Ascension Art: Devouring Horizon."
The Expanse darkened as a massive wave of void spread outward, consuming floating ruins, erasing pathways, eating the system itself.
The Wardens cried out in unison.
"BALANCE CRITICAL."
Kael closed his eyes.
The Interstice Path opened fully—not flooding him with power, but connecting him to every stable layer of the Expanse at once.
"Interstice Art—First Manifestation."
Silver lines erupted across his body, extending outward like a web.
"Stellar Reconciliation."
Kael stepped into the Devouring Horizon.
The void didn't vanish.
It stopped.
Starfire and darkness locked in place, frozen at the edge of annihilation. Kael's body trembled violently, veins glowing silver as he held the line by sheer alignment.
Aerin stared—genuine shock crossing his face.
"You're not stronger," he whispered. "You're… correcting it."
Kael met his gaze. "Someone has to."
Aerin screamed—not in pain, but fury—and forced more void into the clash.
Cracks raced across Kael's skin.
Lysara shouted his name.
Elder Thorne raised his staff, desperate. "Kael, you'll tear yourself apart!"
Kael pushed once more.
The Devouring Horizon collapsed inward—exploding backward and throwing Aerin across the Expanse. He crashed into a distant floating structure, shattering it completely.
Silence fell.
Kael dropped to one knee, breathing hard, silver light flickering erratically.
Aerin rose slowly from the wreckage.
Laughing.
Blood streamed from his face—but he looked thrilled.
"Oh," Aerin said softly. "Now I see it."
He spread his arms as void energy surged around him, reshaping his wounds, reinforcing his form.
"You're the lock."
Kael forced himself to stand.
"And you," Aerin continued, eyes blazing, "are standing in front of a door I will open."
The Astral Expanse shuddered violently.
The Wardens moved in panic.
"INTERVENTION REQUIRED.FORCED SEPARATION INITIATED."
Reality tore itself apart between them.
Aerin was pulled backward into the void rift, still smiling.
"This isn't over, Kael!" he called. "Next time—I won't test you."
The rift slammed shut.
The Expanse stabilized—but barely.
Kael collapsed fully this time, the silver threads dimming as exhaustion consumed him.
Lysara caught him, holding him tight. "You won."
Kael shook his head weakly.
"No," he whispered. "I delayed him."
Above them, the Astral Expanse dimmed—its systems strained, its laws rewritten but not healed.
And somewhere beyond it, Aerin was growing stronger.
Two paths.
Two futures.
Only one world.