The sealed door loomed ahead like a forgotten god's final breath—tall, curved, and fused with ivory bone and seething flame. Its heat wasn't just physical; it whispered, clawing at the mind, dragging up regrets and doubts like it knew how to unmake you.
Even Lyra flinched just standing near it.
Kael didn't flinch.
His aura simmered low but dense, like embers compressed into a star.
He raised his hand.
The gate responded—runes igniting one by one, each pulse syncing with his heartbeat. The final rune pulsed thrice before melting into the door.
A hiss.
A screech.
Then silence.
Then it opened.
A violent, roaring wind burst out, laced with screams that didn't belong in this world. It nearly knocked Lyra off her feet. Drayke leaned into it, teeth bared like a wolf tasting storm air. Zera narrowed her eyes, already stepping into the dark beyond the threshold.
Kael followed.
And the dungeon changed forever.
[Zone: Hollow Depths – Eternal Ruin Chamber]
They were inside a coliseum—massive, circular, and drowned in black mist. The floor was etched with ancient battle scars, some still glowing faint red, like the fights that happened here had never really stopped.
Floating in the center of the coliseum was a chained figure.
Ten arms.
Six wings.
Its eyes stitched shut.
And yet… it saw everything.
Zera whispered, "Eternal Noctherion… the Mist Tyrant."
Kael's aura flared instinctively.
Lyra's grip tightened on her staff. "That's an Eternal?"
"No," Zera said softly. "That's a sleeping Eternal."
Kael stepped forward—and it moved.
The chains around Noctherion rattled. A mist claw unfurled, inches long but heavy with power. Its wings cracked slightly open.
From all around the coliseum, monstrous howls echoed. Doors burst open.
Creatures spilled out—twisted echoes of fallen hunters.
Aura-corrupted revenants. Crawlers made of stitched-together parts. Forgotten guild members that had been consumed, then reanimated by Noctherion's curse.
They didn't hesitate.
They charged.
Battle Commence: Mistborn Trial
Kael surged forward.
Ash Step—he blinked past three revenants, his blade already cleaving through aura armor.
Echo Rend activated on contact, delayed cuts erupting across their torsos seconds after the first strike.
Lyra shouted, "Sanctum Shield!"—a radiant dome of light forming around her and Zera as a wave of crawlers surged their way.
Drayke didn't wait. "Come to daddy."
He erupted in flames, the Infernal Gauntlets roaring as he punched clean through two hulking mistbeasts. Their cores shattered from the shockwave alone.
Zera chanted under her breath, the Wraith Bell tolling once.
Souls wailed from her relic, spiraling around her like protective phantoms, slicing into enemies that got too close.
But Kael… wasn't just fighting.
He was studying.
Every enemy held a piece of the Eternal's curse. And with each strike, his Ashen Aura reacted.
Absorbing. Adapting. Growing.
Kael Arclight – Adaptive Aura Sync: Mist Variant Unlocked
Skill: Shroud Vein – Can weave shadows into his blade for phased attacks that bypass armor
Trait: Fogblood – Immune to mist-based illusions and debuffs
Passive: Eternal Pulse – Can sense the true location of an Eternal within 100 meters
But the real danger hadn't even begun.
As the last crawler fell, silence returned.
The chained Eternal opened its stitched eyes.
And then it spoke.
Not with a voice—but directly into Kael's soul.
"You have tasted grief. But not despair."
The coliseum trembled.
One by one, the chains broke.
And the Eternal began to descend.
"Everyone fall back!" Zera shouted. "Now!"
Kael didn't move.
He stared straight into Noctherion's unraveling form.
Black wings unfurled.
Mists thickened.
And a throne of bones rose beneath the Eternal's feet.
Kael gripped his blade.
His aura surged, twisting around him in a spiral of ash and silver.
He whispered his line—not to intimidate, not even to declare.
But because he meant it.
"Haaah… what a strong aura."