The first Abject didn't even get close.
Finn beheaded it in the air, the sword cutting clean, and was already spinning to the next before the body fell. There was no waste. No hesitation. Just fluid movement transformed into efficient death.
But there were *many*.
Dozens of them running from all directions — from the platforms above, from side tunnels, emerging from shadows like nightmares made solid. The double mouths drooled, the human eyes trapped inside watching with horror what their bodies did.
Dagon advanced from the right, the sword describing precise arcs. An Abject jumped from above. He dodged minimally, letting the creature pass, and cut its legs in the air. He landed, spun, and pierced the heart before it touched the ground.
— Fog! — he shouted. — Barrier!
The mage was already moving.
He struck his hands on the ground with force.
— **Earth Wall!**
The ground exploded between them and the horde coming from the left. An irregular wall of stone and compacted earth rose with a deep creak, temporarily blocking half the enemies.
But only temporarily.
They could already hear claws scraping on the other side, opening a path through the barrier.
Jelím floated above everything, arms extended, controlling the battlefield like a conductor leading an orchestra of death.
Three Abjects ran toward Keara.
Jelím didn't even look directly at them.
Just curved her fingers.
The three stopped instantly, as if they had hit an invisible wall. Their bodies trembled. Their heads turned violently.
Then they turned and attacked each other.
Claws tore throats. Teeth ripped chunks of flesh. In seconds, all three were dead on the ground, destroyed by themselves.
Steve watched everything while backing away, the sword trembling in his hands.
*They're so strong.*
*So coordinated.*
*And I...*
An Abject emerged from the shadow to his right.
Steve turned too late.
The creature was centimeters away, double mouth open, ready to—
A spear of light pierced through its skull.
The Abject fell dead before touching Steve.
Keara lowered her glowing hand, eyes hard.
— Pay attention! — she shouted, without gentleness now.
Steve nodded quickly, heart racing.
*Useless. I'm still useless here.*
That's when the ground trembled.
---
It wasn't a small tremor.
It was *impact*.
As if something gigantic had fallen from the ceiling.
Everyone looked up instinctively.
The platforms where the crowd was seated began to crack.
Ancient stone, supported for centuries, finally yielding under the weight and constant vibration of battle.
— SHIT! — Fog shouted. — They're going to—
The first platform collapsed.
Dozens of people — women who had been chanting in trance moments before — fell screaming. Some tried to grab the edges. Others simply plummeted, bodies hitting the ground with wet and horrible sounds.
Then the second platform.
Men falling. Screaming. Some breaking upon hitting the ground. Others falling directly into the fire pit, screams cutting off abruptly when the flames swallowed them.
The third platform — the children's — began to crack.
— NO! — Keara screamed, running toward them.
But she was too far.
Jelím reacted first.
She raised both hands with visible effort, sweat dripping down her mask.
The platform *stopped* falling.
Suspended in the air by pure willpower, trembling violently, but held.
The children cried, clinging to each other, finally waking from the trance.
— Go! — Jelím shouted, voice tense with effort. — Get them out of there! I can't hold it much longer!
Dagon and Finn moved immediately, running toward the edges of the floating platform, helping the children descend.
That's when Kairo acted.
---
He snapped his fingers.
The sound echoed through the chamber unnaturally — not just echo, but *multiplication*. As if ten Kairos had snapped at the same time.
The ground under Finn exploded.
Not literally — but *conceptually*.
Symbols carved in the stone began to glow with sickly red light. Lines connecting to each other, forming patterns that made eyes hurt.
Translucent energy walls appeared from nowhere.
Not physical, but solid enough.
In seconds, the battlefield had been *divided*.
Finn was isolated near the prisoners, surrounded by five Abjects and with no way back.
Dagon was on the other side of the barrier, punching it uselessly.
— FINN!
Fog and Keara were together in a smaller section, defending themselves from three Abjects surrounding them.
Jelím still floated, but now had to concentrate on both holding the children's platform and defending herself from two Abjects climbing the walls toward her.
And Steve...
Steve was isolated.
Completely alone.
In a small section near the prisoners, but separated from everyone else by glowing energy walls.
And three Abjects were already turning toward him.
---
Fear returned like a suffocating wave.
Steve backed away until hitting the energy wall behind him. He tried to pass through — felt solid resistance, vibrating unpleasantly against his skin.
The three Abjects advanced slowly now.
Not running. Not hurried.
*Savoring*.
Steve gripped the sword with both hands, fingers slipping on the sweaty handle.
*Not like this.*
*Please, not like this.*
The HUD blinked in front of his eyes:
> ERROR
> User: Not Identified
> Level: 0
> Recommendation: FLEE
— Thanks for the help — Steve murmured sarcastically, backing away more.
The Abjects separated, surrounding him in a semicircle. Strategy. Working together.
*Think. Think!*
He looked around desperately.
The energy wall behind him.
A cracked column to the left.
The fire pit in the distance.
And directly to the right...
The prisoners.
Tied up. Defenseless.
And among them, the girl with black-and-gray hair.
The Nessira.
The green eyes met his through the distance.
And something *clicked*.
---
It wasn't gradual.
It was instantaneous.
As if a switch had been flipped inside Steve's brain — something that had always been there, just waiting for the right moment.
The HUD exploded.
Not in error messages.
In *light*.
White. Pure. Blinding.
> **SYNCHRONIZATION DETECTED**
> **COMPATIBLE ENTITY LOCATED**
> **EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: ACTIVE**
> **RELEASING [FRAGMENT_001]**
> **WARNING: IRREVERSIBLE PROCESS**
Pain exploded behind Steve's eyes.
It wasn't like the other times — it wasn't a sharp stab.
It was *invasion*.
As if something was being forced inside him — memories, knowledge, *existence* that weren't his.
He fell to his knees, screaming, the sword escaping from his hands.
He saw flashes:
*Forest on fire. Trees collapsing. Red sky.*
*A woman with completely white hair, screaming words in a language he didn't know but UNDERSTOOD.*
*Seal being broken. Light exploding. Something being freed.*
*And those green eyes. Always those green eyes. Watching through eras.*
*"Find me."*
*"When time breaks."*
*"Find me."*
The vision cut as abruptly as it began.
Steve gasped, returning to reality.
The three Abjects were *on the ground*.
Dead.
Not just dead — *shattered*.
As if something had exploded from inside out. Blood covered the surrounding walls in a radial pattern, emanating from the bodies.
Steve looked at his own hands.
They were covered in blood up to the elbows.
*Did I... did I do this?*
He didn't remember.
Didn't remember moving. Attacking. *Killing*.
There was just... void.
A blank space in memory where something terrible had happened.
The HUD blinked again, calmer now:
> **FRAGMENT INTEGRATED**
> **LEVEL: ???**
> **WARNING: INSTABILITY DETECTED**
> **NEXT SYNCHRONIZATION: 34% CHANCE OF COMPLETE FRAGMENTATION**
Steve felt bile rise.
*What's happening to me?*
That's when he heard the voice.
---
— Impressive.
Kairo was on the other side of the chamber, watching him with genuine interest.
The deformed smile widened.
— You're not an ordinary player, are you? — he continued, tilting his head. — There's something *wrong* with you. Something... **out of place**.
Steve didn't respond. He couldn't.
On the other side of the energy barriers, he saw Finn fighting desperately against the five Abjects surrounding him. Perfect technique began to fail. Strikes became wilder. Less precise.
Because he could see Diana.
Tied up. Crying. So close but impossible to reach.
— DIANA! — Finn shouted, voice breaking.
An Abject took advantage of the distraction.
Claws tore Finn's arm. Blood gushed. He staggered, almost falling.
— FINN! — Dagon punched the barrier from the other side, powerless.
That's when Finn completely lost control.
The sword fell from his hands.
He advanced with bare hands.
Grabbed the nearest Abject by the throat and began to *squeeze*. Not with technique. Just brute force and absolute rage.
The Abject struggled, claws tearing Finn's chest, but he didn't let go.
Didn't feel pain.
Felt nothing but fury.
The Abject's throat gave with a wet crack.
Finn threw it aside and advanced to the next, screaming — not a war cry, but of *pain*.
— SON OF A BITCH! — he roared. — I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!
Dagon watched, horrified.
*He's going to die like this.*
Kairo just laughed.
— Beautiful! — he shouted, applauding. — Pain makes everything more *authentic*!
Then his expression changed.
Became serious. Almost... reverent.
He turned to the figure on the red throne.
— We've waited long enough — he said, low but clear. — Every prison needs a key. And every key...
He pulled a dagger from his waist.
The blade was black. Didn't reflect light. Seemed to absorb everything around it.
— ...needs the guardian's blood.
And drove it into his own chest.
---
Silence fell instantly.
Even the Abjects stopped moving, like marionettes with cut strings.
Kairo remained standing for a long moment, the dagger buried to the hilt.
Then he smiled.
— Finally... — blood flowed from the deformed mouth — ...free.
He fell to his knees.
The blood flowing from him wasn't ordinary red.
It was *black*. Thick. Alive.
It touched the ground.
And the symbols carved in the stone began to *glow*.
Not soft light.
*Pulsing* light. Like heartbeat. Like something waking after impossible sleep.
The energy walls dividing the field disappeared instantly.
But no one moved.
Because everyone felt it.
Something was *changing*.
The figure on the throne — motionless the whole time, silent, just oppressive presence — began to move.
First it was just a finger.
Curving slowly.
The entire floor trembled with that minimal movement.
Then the head.
Tilting to the side, like someone waking from deep sleep and trying to remember where they are.
Steve felt the system *screaming* inside his head:
> **CRITICAL ALERT**
> **PRIMORDIAL ENTITY DETECTED**
> **CLASSIFICATION: EXISTENTIAL THREAT**
> **RECOMMENDATION: EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY**
And then the figure spoke.
It wasn't a voice.
It was *presence*.
Words that weren't spoken but *imposed* directly into the minds of everyone in the chamber.
**"How... long?"**
Kairo, still on his knees, bleeding, smiled.
— Centuries, my lady. But now... now you're free.
The figure rose from the throne.
The red cloak fell, revealing what was underneath.
Steve wished he hadn't looked.
---
It wasn't a woman.
It wasn't human.
It was the *idea* of a woman made flesh in the wrong way.
The skin was too white — not color, but *absence* of color. Like empty space where skin should be.
The eyes...
There were no eyes.
Just deep holes where eyes should be. And inside those holes, one saw... *something else*. Another place. Another time.
When she breathed, the air around visibly distorted.
— Run... — Dagon murmured, voice trembling for the first time. — Run NOW!
But no one could move.
That's when the Nessira reacted.
---
She had been motionless during the entire battle.
Just watching with those impossible green eyes.
Waiting.
When Kairo's blood touched the ground and the symbols began to glow, she slowly closed her eyes.
And when she opened them...
They were no longer green.
They were *white*. Completely white. Glowing with their own light that didn't hurt the eyes but *burned* the soul.
The ropes binding her began to smoke.
Not with fire.
With pure light.
In seconds, they turned to ash that floated in the air before disappearing.
The Nessira stood up.
Her hair — before black-and-gray — now undulated as if underwater, moving on its own.
Her voice echoed.
It wasn't a voice.
It was a *choir*.
A thousand voices singing in impossible unison.
**"Finally..."**
She took a step forward.
The ground where she stepped glowed briefly, symbols appearing and disappearing under her feet.
**"...free."**
The eyeless figure turned to her instantly.
And for the first time, something that could be called *emotion* crossed that presence.
**"You."**
The Nessira smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile.
**"Hello, sister."**
The world seemed to stop breathing.
Steve felt the system entering complete collapse:
> **ERROR ERROR ERROR**
> **TWO PRIMORDIAL ENTITIES DETECTED**
> **PROTOCOL UNKNOWN**
> **SYSTEM ENTERING EMERGENCY MODE**
> **RECOMMENDATION: [DATA CORRUPTED]**
Dagon grabbed Steve by the arm with brutal force.
— GET OUT! — he shouted. — EVERYONE! NOW!
He began dragging Steve toward the stairs.
Finn finally reacted, running toward Diana, cutting her ropes with frantic movements.
Fog created a passage through the rubble, Keara beside him healing the wounded who could walk.
Jelím finally released the children's platform — which fell but with Fog creating an earth cushion at the last second.
But Steve couldn't look away.
From the two figures facing each other in the chamber's center.
The eyeless one, radiating presence that made the air hurt.
And the Nessira, glowing with light that seemed to come from another world.
**"You shouldn't be here,"** said the eyeless figure.
**"And you shouldn't be free,"** the Nessira responded.
The smile widened.
**"But here we are."**
The entire chamber began to shake.
Stones fell from the ceiling. Cracks spread through the walls.
Dagon pulled Steve harder.
— IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE, RUN!
And then everyone ran.
Up the stairs. Through the corridor. Fleeing as if hell itself pursued them.
Because, in a way, it did.
Behind them, they heard when the two entities collided.
The sound wasn't an explosion.
It was *silence*.
As if a piece of reality had been ripped away.
And then everything collapsed.