The silence in the monastery was suffocating. Smoke curled from cracked stone pillars, and the last embers of battle flickered like dying stars. The cultists had fled, their chants replaced with the echo of their terrified footsteps.
But Noah stood frozen, eyes locked on the shard.
It pulsed with a rhythm too steady, too deliberate, like the beat of a heart. Each throb resonated with his chest, as if his own body sought to match its tempo.
Power, the whisper coiled through his mind again. Claim it. End the pain. Become what you were meant to be.
Noah tightened his grip on his sword. His heart screamed with grief, Kael's death still raw, yet something inside him was drawn to that shard like a moth to flame.
Eira's voice cut through the haze. "Noah… don't."
He flinched, as though waking from a trance. Her emerald eyes were sharp, but there was a tremor beneath her calm. She had seen this before—Guardians tempted by relics of shadow.
"Step away from it," she pleaded. "That's no ordinary fragment. It's the Heart of Umbra, born from the very abyss we fight against."
Noah's jaw clenched. "Then why does it feel like it knows me?"
Eira froze. "…What?"
The shard pulsed brighter, its voice deepening. Because I do. We share the same wound. The same rage. You are not a Guardian of light. You are the void they fear.
Noah staggered, pressing a hand against his temple. His vision swirled—flashes of Kael's laughter, their training, their rivalry—and then Kael's lifeless body sprawled on the cold stone. Rage flooded his veins until the world blurred red.
"Don't listen to it!" Eira shouted, her voice cracking as she grabbed his arm. "Kael's death wasn't your fault. If you give in now, you'll lose yourself!"
Her touch was an anchor, but the whispers pressed harder. She doesn't understand. She never will. You could save her, protect everyone—if you had more power.
Noah's blade shook. The urge to seize the shard burned hotter than any flame, his Eclipse Aura surging unbidden. Silver light clashed with shadow tendrils, twisting the air into a storm.
Eira held firm, refusing to let go. "You're stronger than this, Noah. Stronger than Kael ever was… because you still have a choice!"
The words struck him deeper than the shard's call. Kael's memory wasn't just of their rivalry—it was of their bond. His rival had died fighting, not falling. To claim the shard would cheapen that sacrifice.
Noah roared, swinging his sword down—not at the shard, but into the stone beside it.
CRACK!
The monastery floor split, and the shard tumbled into the crevice. Its whispers turned into a howl before the gap sealed shut with a burst of Noah's aura, entombing it beneath the earth.
Silence returned.
Noah collapsed to his knees, chest heaving. His aura dimmed, leaving him trembling with exhaustion.
Eira knelt beside him, relief softening her expression. "You did it."
Noah's voice was hoarse. "No. I only delayed it." He stared at the cracked floor where the shard had vanished. "That thing… it wanted me. And part of me wanted it back."
Eira placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then we make sure it never finds you again."
But deep inside, Noah knew the truth. The connection had been forged. The shard wasn't gone—it was waiting.
And when it called again, he wasn't certain he could resist.
✨ End of Chapter 45 ✨