Chapter 24 – The Final Spell and the Last Flame
Amari's body trembled.
She sat in a small ritual chamber within the Vermielle family home.
Stone walls around her held the echo of ancient magic.
After meeting Lumina, her strength had rapidly faded—
as if something inside her had begun to unravel.
Serdyn stood behind her. His face was pale.
His eyes couldn't hide the fear he'd long buried beneath logic and status.
He knew—his wife was running out of time.
"Amari..." he called softly.
Amari didn't turn.
Her hands were busy arranging seals, aged blood-ink, and thread woven with spells.
"I can no longer protect her with lies," she whispered.
"And I'm far too weak now to face the Archon with bare hands.
So this spell... is the only way."
Serdyn stepped closer.
He sat beside her, gently touching her now-cold fingers.
Amari looked into her husband's face.
Her vision blurred—but her heart remained sharp.
"What the Archon said was true," she murmured.
"I never truly intended to kill her.
That's why all our attempts failed."
Serdyn stayed silent, his gaze deep.
He recalled—every moment, every attempt he and Amari had made to erase Lumina, their own daughter.
Each second haunted them with a guilt that no death could cleanse.
"How can a mother kill her child?" she continued.
"She can't.
So this time... I'll try a different way.
A clean way.
And if I fail again—let this be my final failure."
She handed him two spell scrolls.
One for her. One for Serdyn.
Serdyn didn't fully understand what Amari planned—
but he believed that whatever it was, it came from a mother's heart.
"I'll follow you," Serdyn said.
"No matter what happens, I'll be by your side.
I won't let you fall alone, even if we're heading to the end."
They held each other.
No tears.
Only heavy breaths—
and the murmurs of a spell that would shatter their family's bloodline… for the last time.
---
In the Astral Realm…
The sky burned a deep red.
The ground surged like the chest of someone holding in centuries of rage.
Enver stood at the edge of a protective circle.
Before him, a tall figure cloaked in dense mist floated without feet.
Yes—Maxcen.
"Give me the Sacred Card," Maxcen said.
"The one you took from Huria's dragon soul.
It doesn't belong to you.
You should know your place, Hellseer."
Enver didn't flinch.
"This card wasn't created to destroy," he replied.
"It was meant to seal the fracture that will open the Ilior path."
Maxcen let out a low, cruel laugh.
His voice sounded not like a human's—
but like two dimensions colliding in conflict.
"You think you can hold back what was born from blood-betrayal?
I am its rightful master."
From within his foggy form, Maxcen raised his hand.
A black blaze surged forth, forming a dragon's hissing head.
Enver immediately activated three protective cards.
White light circled around him—
but Maxcen's attack pierced one layer,
scorching the left side of Enver's body.
Still, Enver didn't retreat.
He raised his hand high.
The Sacred Card of Huria appeared—
shining like a fractured sun-flame.
"This card belongs to no one.
But now—it can only be wielded by those ready to be burned by it."
He threw the card into the sky.
The explosion split the astral heavens.
A shockwave flung Maxcen back,
shattering fragments of his mist-body.
Maxcen paused his attack.
A glimpse of his face surfaced—
scarred by wounds of the past, never healed.
"So, you defy fate?" he asked, stepping back.
"I'm only delaying destruction," Enver said, blood dripping from his brow.
"Until Lumina chooses her own path."
Maxcen pulled back his misty form, smirking.
"Then stay on the edge of the line.
But your time is short."
He vanished into a spiral of black fire.
Enver collapsed to one knee—
but his eyes remained open.
"No matter what… I'll never defeat him.
Because he is…"
---
Behind the Council Hall…
Kavdrin and Miredan stood before the Archon.
The chamber was empty—
save for the heartbeat of a crystal
dangling from the ceiling.
"Are you certain this method will work?" Kavdrin asked.
"Lumina is the center point," Archon replied.
"If she isn't controlled, the spirit of Ilior will consume her from within.
And that means… our world will collapse."
Miredan crossed his arms.
"So much fear—
it has made our steps small."
Archon stepped closer.
"It's not fear. It's strategy.
All players are moving now.
Amari, Enver, even Maxcen.
Each has their hope.
So we must have one ending.
One death.
To return everything to stillness."
Kavdrin nodded.
"But if all else fails—
whose blood will redeem us?"
Miredan asked.
Archon did not answer.
He only stared at his own shadow.