Location: The Second Gate – Realm of Leth Avalas
The Gate opened like an eye, not a door.
No rumbling. No great surge of energy. Just… an unfolding.
A bloom of impossible space—petals of starlight, threads of memory, and a silence so loud it pressed into every heartbeat.
Brent stepped through first.
And instantly, he vanished.
Not disappeared. Not teleported.
Just—erased from the senses of Rae and Lysa.
Brent – Unknown Location
He was not falling. Not standing.
He was becoming.
System Alert
Core Phase Shift Detected
Welcome to Leth Avalas – The Starless Domain
Initiating Flame-Shadow Dual Synchronization…
Caution: This realm feeds on internal conflict. Soul Fracture risk: 32%
Brent tried to move but realized… he had no form. He was flame and memory and shadow and pain—all burning in a formless tide. The Gate hadn't simply opened to another world. It had opened to another truth.
And it wasn't done yet.
Out of the nothingness stepped Her. Not the fragment he'd met before. Not the younger memory.
The full Entity.
Now he understood.
She wasn't just the guardian of the Gates.
She was the First Soul that ever crossed them.
And the architect of this trial.
"You weren't supposed to awaken this fast," she said softly, circling the floating pieces of his consciousness. "But there's no stopping the bloom now. It chose you."
"Why me?" Brent's voice echoed in her mind.
"Because you have the only core I've seen strong enough to survive Leth Avalas without becoming something else."
Then, she opened her hand—and Brent saw a vision.
Vision – The Bloom Beyond
A world of floating cities shattered in an endless war of souls. Warriors cloaked in flame and frost. A woman bearing a mask of moons. A throne made of crystal shadows, and behind it… a child.
Kalen.
But twisted. Not possessed—reborn in the upper realm. A dark prince with Vaelrick's echoes whispering behind his eyes.
He had lived. And more—he ruled part of this world now.
Back to Rae and Lysa – The Divide
Rae stood at the edge of the threshold. Brent had vanished.
She should have waited.
But something—no, someone—called her name.
Not Brent. Not Lysa.
Her sister.
"Rae…"
The voice came from within the Gate.
"I'm not dead," it whispered, soft as ash. "They lied. Come find me."
Rae's hand trembled. Her soul core burned. And then she stepped forward—dragging Lysa with her.
They fell. Together. But not into the same place.
The Gate scattered them.
Meanwhile – Brent's Form Restored
Pain brought him back.
He gasped—air suddenly real, lungs heaving.
He stood in the center of a cratered valley, flame still trailing from his body. His armor had changed again—simplified, sharper. His twin blades had fused into a greatsword burning with both shadow and gold.
Core Fusion Upgrade: Complete
You have entered the first domain of the Starless Realm: The Blooming Crucible
New Ability: Ashen Resurgence – Upon reaching near-death, resurrect once per day with full power for 60 seconds
Passive Gained: Hollowfire Heart – Damage taken strengthens your next attack or heal by 25%, stacks up to 4x
Level: 15 → Level 17
The valley pulsed.
And from the distance, shadows rose—warriors not of this world, cloaked in royal obsidian and bearing the insignia of the Starborne Crown.
The crest of Kalen.
End Reveal: Kalen's Ascension
Far across the plane, seated beneath a skyless moon, Kalen opened his eyes.
They were no longer his.
They shimmered with the same starless fire as the Gate.
Vaelrick, or what remained of him—little more than a shriveled phantom in chains—whispered behind him.
"You know he's come."
"I do," Kalen said. "And I've waited. The Bloom needs a hero."
He smirked.
"I plan to kill one."