Mikhael left the room without needing to place a seal. With a flawless smile of triumph, he pulled up his robe and returned to his chamber. He rested his head against the armchair's headboard, then recalled what had happened… and kept smiling—like a little boy who had finally gotten the toy he longed for.
"I have her in my hands."
Meanwhile, the mental world where Arisha was trapped began to fracture, like glass under an invisible storm. The mist that once surrounded her was now tinged with a red-violet hue—like blood mixed with fire.
The green-eyed child—an echo of her past—was fading slowly, replaced by a figure identical to Arisha, but with hollow eyes and a crooked smile. Her mocking voice carried Mikhael's cadence.
"You think you have a will of your own, but you're only the reflection of what others expect of you," the figure whispered. "Do you remember when you began lying to yourself? There's only one person left at your side. Me, Mikhael."
She covered her ears with both hands, and in front of her, the cracked mirror bled. From its surface, living images surged:Kai, wrapped in broken chains aflame.Lessa, standing before a chasm of black fire.And Baco… with eyes rolled back, devouring a memory that wasn't his.
Arisha stepped back as the mirror began to pulse. Her name vibrated in the air—not from her mind, but from beyond the veil. A force dragged her toward the sealed door. The hooded figure waited there, faceless… but with the voice of her mother—or Sariel.
"Blood calls to blood. And you… were marked before you were even born."
Arisha extended her hand, hesitated.
"Losing your memory isn't always a curse. Just take the first step."
Then, she crossed.
—
In the real world, Baco stood inside a subterranean chamber covered in ashes. The ground was made of bones, and the air was as thick as molten lava. A titanic figure made of shadows and embers rose before him, its face shifting between the familiar and the unknown.
The voices in his mind pushed him to the edge.One said, "She is the anchor."Another whispered, "You are the echo. The bearer of what's broken."
"What am I?" Baco roared, his hands bleeding. "A curse… or the key?"
The fire lit in his chest. It wasn't pain. It was direction.Arisha.
—
Far away, Lessa knelt before the Book of Blood. Her arm had crystallized in black, the pain long gone—along with her soul. Only her will remained.
"Do it for him… do it for her…" she murmured, as her body disintegrated into dark particles.
In Kai's chest, something awakened. His mark glowed like a ruined star.One heartbeat.Two.His body convulsed.His silent scream echoed Lessa's sacrifice.
He was now partially free… but the latent rage threatened to consume him.
—
In the ritual tower, Mikhael observed from the balcony as the moon turned a faint purple. Beside him, the creature wrapped in white fire—the Voice of the Incubator—spoke with sacred calm.
"The balance has been broken. Her blood will open the path to the legacy of the Primordial Seal. But you must act before the Key fully awakens."
"I will," Mikhael replied without emotion. "As promised, she must survive."
But for a fleeting moment, doubt passed through his eyes.
He remembered Sariel.He remembered the betrayal.
And then, the darkness roared behind him.
A crack opened on the altar.A figure emerged.
It was not human.
It was the Guardian of the Broken Cycle.And it had come to claim what was sealed centuries ago.