The air at Zenith's Reach was thin, biting, and electric.
Kael's boots landed hard against the floating stone platform, barely holding back a flinch as the pressure of the region settled on his shoulders. Aura didn't just exist here—it screamed. Every breath was infused with energy so dense it prickled against the skin like glass shards.
"Okay…" Drayke cracked his neck, his beast flame aura flaring briefly to ward off the pressure. "This place is alive."
Lyra touched her relic, Sunveil Feather, shielding herself in a soft shimmer of golden light. "No wonder most hunters never come up here. How can anyone live in this pressure?"
"They don't," Zera said, stepping forward without a hint of struggle. "They survive. And even then, only those who've bent their aura to obey the winds."
Before them rose Skyburn Citadel—a labyrinthine fortress carved into a mountain peak that defied gravity. It hovered miles above sea level, held in place by ancient relic anchors and aura engines long forgotten by the rest of the world.
The gates opened as they approached, not with welcome—but warning.
A dozen armored figures stepped out, each adorned in sleek, lightweight armor designed for aerial combat. Their helms bore a single crest: a downward blade crossed by wings.
At their center stood a man with jagged silver hair, half his face wrapped in ancient cloth etched with runes.
"State your purpose," he said coldly, voice reverberating through the wind like thunder.
Kael didn't flinch. "I'm here for the next Echo Trial."
The man's eye narrowed. "You are the Ashen one… the one who stood against an Eternal."
Kael nodded once.
The guards moved as if to block the path, but the silver-haired leader raised a hand. "Let him in. Veyl Solane will want to see him."
Inside Skyburn
The architecture was unlike anything they'd seen. Instead of corridors, there were aura bridges suspended over endless drops, chambers that shifted mid-step, and glyphs that glowed in response to one's aura rank. The deeper they walked, the more Kael could feel it—
Something ancient was watching.
They arrived in a vast hall surrounded by stained-glass windows that shimmered with moving light. At its center stood a woman clad in white and steel, her aura radiant but caged.
"Kael Arclight," she said without turning. "You're not what I expected."
"Veyl Solane," Zera whispered. "Leader of Skyburn. Sunspire's equal. Maybe stronger."
Veyl turned, her gaze piercing. "You're walking the Echo path. That makes you either a fool... or our last hope."
Kael's voice was steady. "I don't need hope. I need power."
Veyl's lips twitched into a slight smile. "Spoken like someone who's tasted loss." She stepped closer. "The trial is sealed behind the Storm Vault. No outsider has ever entered. But you're not just anyone."
She extended a hand, revealing a shard of crystal—pulsing with familiar energy.
"Take this. A fragment of the Sky Wyrm, the guardian of the vault. You'll need it to even get near the gate."
Kael took it. The shard pulsed against his palm, and for a brief second—he saw it.
A massive draconic form bound in lightning and cloud, chained to the peak like a weapon never meant to be unleashed.
[New Trial: Vault of the Sky Wyrm]
Objective: Survive the storm. Awaken the beast. Claim its power.
Warning: Aura overload expected. Team fatalities likely. Proceed at your own risk.
Later that night, the group prepared outside the Vault.
Zera stood alone, watching the skies. "Something doesn't feel right."
Lyra glanced up. "The trial?"
"No." Her eyes narrowed. "The sky. It's trembling."
And then it happened.
A ripple across the clouds.
A tear in the sky.
And descending through it—wrapped in shadow and lightning—came a figure cloaked in jagged silver and ancient wings.
Kael felt his blood turn to ice.
"That's not the Sky Wyrm…"
Drayke bared his teeth. "No. That's a Herald."
The figure landed with a soundless quake, its face covered by a shifting mask of shattered stars. It raised a hand—and the Vault door behind them shattered before they even reached it.
"Who dares…" the being said, its voice like a broken choir. "…to challenge the sky?"
Kael stepped forward, grip tightening around his blade.
"Haaah… what a strong aura."