The council chamber floated above the celestial ocean, like a fragment of marble torn from the sky.
It had no walls. Only white columns opening into the infinite void, maps suspended in the air, and an obsidian table so polished it reflected faces as if it were judging them.
Beneath everything, the sea of luminous clouds stretched endlessly. It was not water. It was condensed light, moving like a living world.
Amon stood.
He never sat when reports arrived.
In front of him, a lesser god — a priest-scribe — trembled while holding a scroll sealed three times. The transmission runes still crackled, unstable, as if the message resisted being read.
—Speak —said Amon.
The scribe swallowed.
—The troops are advancing… but it is not yet confirmed whether the human who carries the divinity of Kheris is weakened.
Pause.
—Nor do we know if the fallen god left any other trap.
Silence.
In the chamber, the gods did not react immediately.
They only looked at each other.
Annoyance.
Caution.
And, in some cases… poorly hidden urgency.
Especially among those who had only a few years of existence left.
The plan continued.
—We will descend using the heroes as vessels —one of the gods said—. That way there will be no risk.
A murmur spread through the chamber.
The idea was not new.
But it was desperate.
Amon did not respond immediately.
He only observed the void beneath the obsidian table, as if everything was already happening there.
—Proceed —he finally ordered.
In the mountain, Aurelius hurried the advance.
The terrain was becoming increasingly unstable, but he did not stop.
—Faster! —he ordered without looking back.
Only one thought sustained him.
Finish the mission.
A little more.
Lusian was waiting for them.
Another battle.
Another death.
Another trial.
—They don't get tired… —one of the Chosen murmured.
Aurelius did not respond.
He only clenched his teeth.
—Proceed —said Amon.
At that very instant, in the mountain…
the heroes began to convulse.
One fell to his knees without understanding what was happening.
Another grabbed his head, screaming without sound.
The divine light inside their bodies flickered like a suffocating flame.
—What… what is this? —Selene whispered, trembling.
The ground vibrated.
Not like an earthquake.
As if something beneath the world was waking up.
The skies changed color.
And for the first time since the war began…
no one knew whether what was coming was a descent.
or a judgment.
At the exact moment Amon gave the order…
in the mountain, something broke.
It was not a physical sound.
It was inside them.
The heroes bent at the same time.
As if an invisible hand had closed inside them and squeezed.
—AH! —one of the Chosen screamed, falling to his knees.
The pain did not come from the body.
It came from the soul.
Selene fell forward, her hands pressed into the ground.
—No… no… no… —she whispered, but her voice broke—. NO, NO, NO!
Her divine light flickered inside her, as if it were being torn out.
Caelum screamed uncontrollably, clutching his chest as if he could stop something from escaping.
—IT'S… IT'S BREAKING ME…!
Voren struck the ground once, then again.
As if strength alone could resist the impossible.
But his body did not obey.
It bent anyway.
—This… is not… magic… —he spat through his teeth.
It was deeper.
As if something was rewriting what they were.
Destroying them from within.
One by one.
Icarus fell onto his back, trembling.
—No… no… I don't want it again…
Thalessa clenched her teeth.
The water around her grew unstable, violent, as if it too was being strangled.
—Aaah…!
Balthazar dropped his book.
The pages opened on their own, fluttering, as if trying to escape.
—No… this is not how it was written…
Elias screamed.
Not because of the enemy.
But because of memory.
Fear. The tiger. Death.
But now it was worse.
Because there was nothing in front of him.
Only emptiness.
Only internal destruction.
Kaelen fell to his knees, laughing through the pain.
—Ha… hahaha… this… this is new…
The fire in his body flickered out in bursts.
Morgana crawled backward, as if she could escape something without form.
—DON'T TOUCH ME…! DON'T TOUCH ME…!
Her voice broke.
Except one.
Berenia.
And then, amid the screams…
the divine light inside all of them contracted at the same time.
As if the sky had decided to drag them downward.
Lusian felt something was wrong.
Very wrong.
He did not see it at first.
He felt it.
Like pressure in the air.
As if the world had shifted rhythm without warning.
—Retreat —he ordered.
His voice came out steady, but he did not take his eyes off the front.
Something inside him vibrated.
The divinity.
Not as power.
As an alarm.
As a warning that required no explanation.
Around him, the field was still moving, but he was no longer following it.
—…this is not normal —he murmured.
His hand slowly closed around Dainslein.
A cold sweat ran down his back.
Berenia lifted her head.
But it was no longer just Berenia.
Inside her, something had fully awakened.
Nyxara.
The Goddess of Darkness.
A faint smile formed on her face, calm, as if all the pain in the world had only been the price of reaching this moment.
She turned her face slightly.
And looked toward the mountain.
Toward Lusian.
— I will reclaim what is mine by divine right — she whispered.