Chapter 81: When the Stars Begin to Bleed
The first sign was not thunder or fire—but silence.
Over the western sea, a red moon rose. Then cracked.
Not a shatter of stone or sound, but a clean, impossible split—down its middle, like a wound that bled light instead of blood. Stars dimmed in response. The sky itself recoiled, as if realizing something ancient had stirred from slumber.
And across the world, emissaries—those who had survived the Dragon War—began to vanish.
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Luther Citadel
Jean stared into the night sky, her aura flickering erratically.
> "Solstice hums," she whispered, clutching the blade of light.
The weapon—a gift from Celeste herself—now pulsed like a living heartbeat. And beside it, Eclipsion, the black blade of Martin, shimmered with violet edges. Together, they vibrated with something she couldn't name. Something old.
Whitney growled. This time not at danger—
—but at emptiness.
> "Karen is gone," whispered Erin Magus, emerging from the shadows.
Jean's head whipped around. "What do you mean gone?"
> "Her soulmark disappeared. Vanished from the weave of magic itself. And Raigen—the Stormhawk—is circling the skies like he's lost her completely."
Jean clenched her fists. "Another emissary?"
Erin nodded. "Two more. Illyana Veyr, the Emissary of Ice. And Toras Vehl, the Emissary of Stone. Both vanished in their sleep."
Jean inhaled sharply. "What's doing this?"
Erin turned her gaze to the fractured moon. "Something that remembers our gods… as children."
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The Shadow Beneath the Sea
Beneath the ocean's floor, deeper than any dragon or man had ever reached, it stirred.
Not a creature.
Not a god.
Not even a mind.
A concept given birth before fire, before time.
What Antares feared. What Martin had glimpsed only once when he struck the Dragon Lord a thousand years ago—and never dared speak of again.
It now turned its gaze to the surface.
And saw Jean Luther.
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The Vaults of the Magistery
Ryan Magus stood before the False Codex, locked in twelve containment spells and surrounded by null-runes.
He whispered the Words of Unmaking again—and this time, the pages laughed.
> "You think you're using us," it hissed.
> "But your kind are already written. And the ending... has been edited."
A blinding scream echoed through the Vault. Sages collapsed. And Ryan fell to his knees, blood running from his ears.
Then the lights died.
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Divine Realm – The River of Echoes
Jean knelt once more by the river.
> "Martin," she said. "Why didn't you warn us?"
He appeared. But this time, older. Tired.
> "Because I thought I ended it."
> "You didn't."
> "I know that now."
Jean looked down at her swords. Light and shadow. Life and death.
> "If this thing kills gods—then it's not a war we can win."
Martin nodded solemnly. "No, Jean. Not a war. This is a rewrite."
> "Then I'll write louder," she said.
And she stood.
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