The moment they crossed the arch, the world unraveled.
Eris felt his body stretch and collapse all at once, like he was being pulled apart into threads of light. The silver glow within him was no longer inside—it was him, every thought and breath scattered across a river of stars.
Jonas cursed somewhere nearby, his voice breaking into shards, as though echoing across a canyon of mirrors.
"—not—supposed—to—feel—like—this!"
Mara gritted her teeth, trying to hold onto her form. Her blades flickered in and out of existence, as though they weren't sure whether they were part of her or part of the current dragging them forward.
Selene kept her eyes shut tight, lips moving in silent chants. Her staff dissolved into light, reforming with each pulse of the current. "Stay together!" she cried, though her voice was swallowed by the vast hum of the void.
Liora reached for Eris's hand, but her fingers passed through his like mist. Panic flashed across her face before she steeled herself, forcing her will into the motion. Their hands met—not flesh to flesh, but light to light—and the current bent around them.
For a heartbeat, they were anchored.
Then the current surged again.
Ahead, shapes drifted in the void. Not stars—faces. Countless faces, carved from light and shadow, whispering silently as they floated past. Warriors. Kings. Children. Demons. All staring as the group was swept deeper into the stream.
Eris felt their whispers scrape across his mind. "Descendant… Sovereign… Breaker… Chosen…" Each name carried weight, pressing against his thoughts until he nearly drowned in them.
Jonas's voice cut through, ragged but defiant: "If this is some kind of soul highway, I want off!"
The current twisted sharply, pulling them downward. A horizon of black stone appeared below, glowing with rivers of molten essence. The faces vanished, replaced by a blinding flare of light.
Eris's chest burned. The silver within him screamed for release. He couldn't hold it—
—and then the world slammed back together.
The group crashed onto solid ground, gasping, coughing, retching. The air was heavy, metallic, and hot. Above them stretched a sky of burning crimson, streaked with black lightning. Towers of stone rose like broken teeth, and in the distance loomed a structure too vast to comprehend—an inverted mountain of obsidian, suspended in the air by chains of fire.
Jonas rolled onto his back, groaning. "Well. Not Mars."
Selene's voice was hoarse but steady. "No. This… is the true Heart."
Eris pushed himself up, still glowing faintly, and stared at the black fortress in the distance. His pulse matched the rhythm of the chains. Whatever it was, it was waiting for him.