Etherion burned.
Flames licked at the edges of the sky as the Revenants poured through the rifts—shadow-wrought beings that moved like liquid night, their jagged forms immune to ordinary weapons. Screams echoed through the once-pristine halls of the Celestial Citadel as defenders fought desperately to hold the line.
Jin Long stood at the heart of the chaos, the Genesis Core glowing from his chest like a newborn star. Every beat of his heart sent waves of energy rippling through the battlefield. Yue Lan was at his side, her eyes shining with divine light, each movement she made summoning barriers, storms, and strikes of radiant energy.
"Push them back!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the roar of combat.
Veyr's blade cleaved through two Revenants, and he leapt to Jin Long's side, bloodied but alive. "This isn't a raid," he said grimly. "It's a coordinated invasion. They're not just attacking—they're searching."
Jin Long's gaze sharpened. "For the map. For the next seal."
They knew. The Hollow King wasn't waiting anymore. He was moving first.
The Revenants converged toward the Vault Chamber, the beacon map still suspended in the air. Jin Long turned toward it, then back to Yue Lan. "We can't hold them forever. We have to protect the map."
"No," Yue Lan said, her voice resolute. "We have to move it."
She channeled her energy, and golden light enveloped the beacon. With a cry, she compressed it into a shimmering crystal shard, then pressed it into Jin Long's hand.
"Take it. Find the next Seal. We'll hold them off."
He hesitated. "Yue Lan—"
She stepped closer, her forehead touching his. "You carry the Core. And with it, the only hope for this world. Go."
For a moment, time stood still between them.
Then, with a final nod, Jin Long turned and leapt into the air, wings of light bursting from his back—an ability granted by the Genesis Core in its awakened state. He soared out through the shattered dome of the Citadel, blasting past enemy ranks, racing toward the stars.
Below, Yue Lan turned, her eyes fierce. "You will not pass."
She raised her hands to the sky.
The heavens cracked—and an aurora of divine fire rained down.
—
Far away, in the Vault of Whispers
The Hollow King stared into the void, sensing Jin Long's departure.
"So... you flee to the stars," he murmured. "Then I shall greet you there."
His skeletal hand moved across the surface of a dark mirror, showing a planet unlike any other—ancient, forgotten, buried beneath cosmic dust.
Where the Third Seal awaited.