The wind howled through the Ashen Peaks.
Valerian stood on a jagged cliff overlooking the war-scarred valley below. Lightning raked across the sky in forked veins of crimson, and the air was heavy with mana—dense, volatile, unstable.
The aftermath of the third seal's false awakening had left a scar in the land. The Tomb of the Hollow Stars had collapsed into itself, now nothing more than a hollow crater that bled purple mist into the clouds above. But the real danger wasn't behind them.
It was coming.
> [System Notice: Countdown to Final Convergence – 17 Days Remaining.]
[Next Catalyst Location – The Ruins of Skyfall Citadel.]
[Warning: Presence of Exiled Archons Detected.]
Valerian lowered the system panel, fingers tightening around the edge of his obsidian-cloaked gauntlet.
They'd bought time—but not peace.
Behind him, the others were gathering.
Umbra stood sentinel near the campfire, its flames reflecting off the war-wyrm's glowing violet eyes. He hadn't spoken since they left the tomb, only watched Valerian as though calculating something.
Lira was patching her shoulder wound, the fabric of her cloak darkened with dried blood. She caught Valerian's glance and nodded silently. They hadn't spoken much either—not since she'd pulled him from the brink of the system's psychological trap.
Selene was perched on a rock above the rest, her silver-blonde hair trailing behind her like moonlight in a storm. She was cleaning her twin daggers with methodical precision. Her gaze never left Valerian for more than a second.
And Seraphine knelt beside a ritual circle, her fingers tracing glowing glyphs in the dirt. Her brow furrowed, her lips moving silently in ancient tongue. Her magic was the only reason they hadn't been followed—yet.
"Four seals," Valerian muttered. "That's what the system told me before. But Alex—he said there is no fourth. Not in the way we think."
Umbra stirred for the first time. "The seals aren't power, master. They are locks. Not to keep you in—but to keep something else out."
Lira straightened, eyes narrowing. "What does that mean?"
Umbra's gaze turned toward the storming horizon. "The system is not purely a gift. It is a chain. And each seal you break loosens the gate that holds back the original soul—Alex. But the fourth? That is where he hid the key."
Valerian felt a shiver run down his spine.
"If Alex orchestrated all of this," Selene said, standing, "then he was never erased. He fractured himself. Left pieces behind, like breadcrumbs."
Seraphine looked up from the ritual. "And the next piece is waiting in Skyfall Citadel."
Valerian turned. "What do we know about it?"
Seraphine's expression turned grim. "Skyfall was once the seat of the Archons—half-divine mages who ruled during the First Age. It fell during the War of Shattered Suns. No one has claimed it since. Not even the Empire dares."
"Why not?" asked Lira.
Seraphine met her eyes. "Because something still lives there."
> [System Update: Secondary Quest Activated – "Echoes of the Archon War"]
[Objective: Reach the Heart of Skyfall. Survive the Trial. Unlock the Fourth Truth.]
Valerian turned to the group. "We leave at first light."
---
They traveled in silence.
The terrain changed rapidly—rolling hills giving way to broken stone bridges, fallen watchtowers, and rivers choked with ash and bone. The deeper they moved toward Skyfall, the more time seemed to twist. The sun would stall for hours, then plummet in seconds.
By nightfall, the citadel finally came into view.
It stood on a plateau that split the clouds—a crumbling monolith of floating towers, chained to the ground by massive obsidian links. Arcane runes floated in the air like glowing runes of denial, each humming with locked power. The whole place pulsed with sealed energy—as though the mountain itself was trying to hold the fortress down.
And something was resisting.
Selene drew her daggers. "I feel it. The presence. It's… ancient."
Seraphine stepped forward and pulled a sphere of light from her satchel. "This will buy us five minutes of silence from magical detection. After that, we're visible to everything."
Valerian nodded. "Then let's not waste time."
They moved quickly.
Past the broken gates, the interior of the citadel was worse. Hallways bent at impossible angles. Statues moved when no one looked. Sometimes, the group would blink—and a room would be completely different. Skyfall was broken reality stitched together with ancient arrogance.
At the central spire, they reached the throne room.
There, on the throne of sunstone and midnight steel, sat a man.
Or something like one.
He wore robes of shattered starlight and gold. His eyes were hollow voids. And his voice, when it spoke, was a thousand whispers in unison.
"I see you've come for the key."
Valerian stepped forward, summoning his blade. "You're not real."
The being tilted its head. "And yet you bleed."
> [System Alert: Encounter – Echo of Archon Veritus the Mind-Sundered]
[Warning: Level ??? – Causality-Based Combat Detected.]
The walls exploded.
Chains of thought wrapped around Valerian's skull—actual thoughts, slicing through mental defenses like blades. He screamed as memories warped, as images of his companions dying flashed before him, over and over.
But Lira dove in, her aura exploding outward in a barrier of raw determination.
Selene flickered into smoke, appearing behind the Archon's echo and stabbing for the back of its neck.
Seraphine unleashed fire glyphs that distorted space, pinning the creature in multiple timelines at once.
Valerian, gritting his teeth, tore free from the mental chains and roared, "Umbra—now!"
The draconic war-wyrm burst through the outer wall like a cannonball, obsidian fangs flashing, claws glowing with antimagic sigils. It slammed into the echo, forcing the creature back toward the throne.
"You dare bring dragons into my sanctum?" the echo screamed.
Valerian rushed in, his blade glowing with all the energy he had left.
"You're not a god," he spat, "you're a fossil."
And he drove the blade into the echo's core.
---
The explosion lit the entire citadel.
When the dust settled, all that remained was a fragment—a glowing prism of glass etched with stars.
> [System Alert: Fourth Seal Fragment Acquired – The Astral Prism]
[Fragment of Self: Integration Pending]
[Warning: Final Countdown Resumes – 12 Days Remaining.]
Valerian picked it up slowly. The moment his fingers touched the glass, he heard Alex's voice again—distant but clear.
"Almost there."
He clenched it in his hand, eyes burning.
"Not if I get there first."