Kaelen's body convulsed as the Heart's power surged through him, ripping apart every shred of resistance. Memories of countless souls—guardians who had failed before—merged into one unending storm within his mind.
His vision turned crimson, and the cathedral walls seemed to breathe with a living darkness. The Heart pulsed faster, syncing with his heartbeat, until the two were indistinguishable.
> "You are mine now," whispered the crystal.
"The true Keeper of the Abyss."
Kaelen's scream echoed—half agony, half ecstasy—as his form shifted. Shadows poured from his flesh, reshaping him into something both human and something else. His eyes glowed a fierce violet, and black tendrils wrapped around his limbs like living armor.
But with the transformation came clarity.
He saw the Abyss not as a prison or a curse… but as a source of endless power.
A new voice spoke inside him—cold, commanding, ancient:
> "Rule, or be ruled."
Kaelen stood, towering now. The Heart's light flared outward, sending shockwaves through the Rift.
Outside the abyssal cathedral, Liora's voice echoed faintly in his mind, a distant plea:
> "Kaelen, come back to us…"
But the Keeper's answer was silence.
He was no longer just Kaelen.
He was the Abyss incarnate.
And his reign had only begun.
---