The Fourth Gate was not meant to be opened this way. Not alone. Not while injured. Not while the Void pressed in from all sides like a hungering sea.
And yet…
Raiquen turned to her.
"Eliryn," he said, his voice layered not just human, but threaded with Shinrei resonance. "Stay back."
She stepped forward instead, the scythe gleaming in response.
"No."
She met his blazing gaze with her storm-touched calm.
"If you're going to burn yourself to stop this, I'll burn too."
Raiquen's mouth twitched at the corner, a ghost of a smile. There was no time to argue.
From the left, a screech erupted as a larger Voidborn one with four bone-like wings and a split jaw descended toward them. Its tendrils writhed with acidic black ichor, and its presence dimmed even the twilight sky.
Khael skidded back, parrying a strike with a snarl. "Tsk. Too many of them!"
