They emerged from the crypt at dusk. Lightning flared on the horizon, outlining the silhouette of a massive figure in the distance: the masked villain, standing atop a ridge crowned by a stone arch — a gate of the Shrine itself.
"I waited for you," the villain called, voice calm and terrible. "I wanted to see if you'd come this far."
Shadow wolves prowled from behind him. The air froze as Caelum stepped forward, katana humming with icy power. Selka took up a stance at their side, daggers flashing.
The villain lifted his hand — and a vortex of darkness erupted, swallowing the wolves and hurtling toward Caelum. They slashed upward, a wave of freezing wind blasting the shadows apart.
The clash shook the mountain, winds shrieking around them. Frost met darkness, each strike of Caelum's katana sending arcs of ice that carved into the ridge. But the villain was faster, his cloak blurring like shifting smoke. He seized Caelum by the throat, eyes blazing beneath the mask.
"You think you understand sorrow?" he hissed. "You know nothing of what I lost."
A burst of raw cold exploded from Caelum, knocking the villain back. Gasping, they stood, katana raised. "I don't care what you lost," they said hoarsely. "I won't let you destroy anyone else."
Lightning split the sky, revealing the Shrine's stone arch behind the villain — ancient, waiting, and alive.