The impact of Clevatess's return sent a shockwave of Absolute Zero through the plaza, instantly freezing the Void-Tear's suction. But this wasn't the graceful frost of a craftsman; it was jagged, black ice that spiked out of the ground like dragon's teeth. The chains wrapped around the King's torso hissed as they dragged across the stone, each link etched with runes that glowed a violent, bruised indigo.
Clevatess didn't speak. He looked up at the bleeding sky, his violet eyes replaced by two swirling vortices of storm-grey. He gripped the spear-sized needle with both hands, the metal groaning under his strength.
"He's using the chains to hold himself together," the mad Architect whispered from the ground, shielding his eyes. "The Grave-Sea didn't just change him—it tried to dissolve him. He's forged his own soul into a weapon just to stay anchored in this world!"
One of the black ribbons of the Void lashed down like a whip, striking Clevatess across the shoulder. Instead of flinching, the King leaned into the blow. The chains on his arm unspooled with a deafening metallic roar, flying upward and hooking into the edges of the Sky-Fray.
With a guttural growl that sounded like grinding tectonic plates, Clevatess pulled.
He wasn't trying to sew the sky shut anymore. He was trying to rip the Void into the physical realm where he could kill it. The Citadel shook to its foundations as the King played a tug-of-war with the vacuum of the universe. Alicia watched in horror and awe as the black sky began to tear further, revealing a glimpse of what lay beyond—a sea of eyes that blinked in unison.
"You wanted a shadow," Clevatess's voice boomed, no longer a whisper but a resonant, distorted growl. "Now, you will drown in it.