Darkness didn't wait long to find him again.
Days after the Resonance Test, strange things began happening around the Academy. Students heard whispers in their dreams. Doors opened on their own. And every time Auron passed, the candles flickered as if bowing to him.
Professor Aldric ordered tighter wards, but nothing helped.
At midnight, Auron stood on the academy balcony, staring at the sky. The moon was split in two, like a scar that refused to heal.
Seria joined him quietly. "You haven't slept in days," she said.
"I can't," he replied. "Every time I close my eyes, I see something crawling behind the stars."
She frowned. "You're scaring me."
Auron turned to her, the mark on his chest glowing faintly. "Good. Then you'll believe me when I say something's coming."
Before she could answer, the ground trembled. Alarms blared through the Academy. Students screamed as magic barriers shattered.
A black rift opened in the sky—larger than before, spilling tendrils of shadow that fell like rain.
Aldric's voice thundered, amplified by spell runes. "All students to defense formation! The Void is breaching the barrier!"
Auron's heartbeat roared in his ears. His vision blurred. The world tilted sideways as the mark on his chest blazed to life.
"The Gate remembers its child."
Flames of black and gold erupted from his body. The sky cracked apart, revealing the same figure he'd seen in his vision—the man of stars and shadow.
"You…" Auron gasped. "Who are you?"
The figure smiled, eyes burning like twin eclipses.
"I am what your world tried to erase. I am the end that your blood remembers."
Auron's knees hit the ground. The world around him disintegrated into darkness. In his mind, he saw flashes of a war that once burned across the heavens—thousands of souls consumed, one throne standing above the ashes.
And at the center of it all, himself, standing as a god wrapped in fire.
Seria screamed his name as reality shattered. "AURON!"
He looked up, but his eyes were no longer human—they glowed like dying stars.
The shadow figure raised its hand. "Awaken, my vessel."
"No." Auron's voice trembled. "Not yet."
He slammed his palm against the ground. A burst of shadowfire exploded outward, wiping away the invading beasts, sealing the rift halfway.
The flames roared around him, forming wings of darkness.
"If destiny demands my chains," he growled, "then I'll break destiny itself."
The shockwave blew through the Academy, shattering glass, uprooting stone. When the smoke cleared, Auron stood in the center of the crater—alive, barely breathing, his aura flickering between life and death.
The rift closed… but only halfway. From within, a faint whisper echoed—
"You can't fight forever, Auron Vale. You are me."
He fell to his knees, the flames fading, leaving only silence and fear in the air. Seria rushed to him, shaking his shoulders, crying his name again and again.
He opened his eyes weakly. "Seria…"
She held his hand tightly. "Don't you dare leave me."
He smiled faintly, blood on his lips. "I'm not leaving… I'm just… remembering."
And as he passed out, far above them, the rift pulsed once more—this time whispering a promise that chilled even the stars.
"The Voidborn has awakened."