Rafe staggered under the weight of the corridor's blast, his knees buckling as the energy crawled under his skin. Heat flooded his left side, cold invaded his right — both clawing toward the center of his chest, scraping for dominance.
Light.Shadow.
Two forces that had once nearly ripped him apart.
Now the ruin pushed them both.
Hard.
Rafe squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to stand.
"I… said… I'm not breaking."
The ruin's voice answered immediately, emotionless and ancient:
"Resistance acknowledged.""Increase pressure."
"What—wait—NO—!"
A second pulse crashed into him like a blade of raw mana. This one was sharper, more focused — stabbing straight through his core.
Rafe screamed silently, collapsed, and braced himself on the cold stone floor.
His vision blurred.His heartbeat stuttered.His breath came in short, shallow bursts.
He tried to control the dual forces inside him, but they weren't listening. They swirled wildly, like storms colliding, boiling through his veins with enough force to tear him apart.
"STOP—!"
Cold mist slid through the corridor.
The ruin whispered again:
"Core integrity unstable.""Apply counter-force."
A blast of cold shadow hit him.
Then a blast of hot light.
Then both at once.
Rafe's scream echoed through the stone.
He forced himself onto his elbows, teeth clenched so hard he tasted blood.
"I said—STOP—!"
But the ruin didn't stop.
It accelerated.
Runes flared across the walls — spiraling, rotating, shifting with impossible geometry. They pushed force through him in alternating waves:
Heat.Cold.Light.Shadow.Heat.Cold.
Over and over.
Trying to fuse them.
Trying to correct him.
The ruin spoke again:
"Unbalanced fusion detected.""Intent required."
Rafe gasped, chest heaving.
"I—I already chose…"
"Choice must be repeated."
Rafe slammed his fist into the floor.
"WHY?!"
"Because intent fades."
The ruin pushed harder.
The forces inside Rafe collided like two hurricanes clashing. His vision pulsed black and white, black and white, until he couldn't tell which part of him was burning and which part was freezing.
He fell forward, both palms on the ground, body shaking violently.
"I… want… to protect them…"
The ruin didn't answer.
Another pulse hit.
Rafe roared in pain.
"I'm doing this… for Mara… for Lyn… for Selene—!"
The ruin's voice reverberated through stone and bone alike:
"Not enough."
Rafe's breath was crushed from his lungs.
"What do you mean 'not enough'?!"
"Intent for others is unstable."
"What—?!"
"Intent for self creates permanence."
Rafe froze.
"What are you saying…?"
"You do not know what you want for yourself."
The words hit him harder than the mana blasts.
Rafe stared at the pulsing floor beneath him, heart trembling.
He had always acted for others.
Mara.Lyn.Selene.The Shadow's last wish.
But what did he want?
Another pulse hit him.
He didn't even scream this time — he just absorbed it, trembling violently.
"Then I'll decide now…"
His voice cracked.
"I want—"
But he couldn't finish.
The pain surged again, stealing the breath from his lungs.
The ruin whispered:
"State your intent."
Rafe clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
"I want—!"
The dual energies surged at the same time—
His entire body glowed—Left side white—Right side black—
The ruin intensified the pressure.
He felt something deep inside him fracturing—
A warning—
A threat—
A possibility—
That he might actually die here.
Rafe threw his head back and screamed with everything he had left—
"I WANT TO LIVE FOR MYSELF!"
White and black light burst out of him at once.
The corridor exploded with brilliance.
The ruin froze.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then—
Softly.
Almost gently.
The ruin whispered:
"Intent acknowledged.""Begin stabilization."
The next pulse wasn't painful.
It was warm.
The conflicting energies inside Rafe began to slow.To soften.To weave.
His breathing steadied.
His heartbeat slowed.
His muscles stopped trembling.
And the light inside him… aligned.
Not perfectly.Not fully.
But it wasn't tearing him apart.
The ruin spoke again:
"Proceed to next chamber."
Rafe forced himself onto his feet, sweat dripping down his temples.
He wiped his mouth, tasting iron.
"…Okay."
He took a shaky step forward.
"And if this is only the first chamber…"
He exhaled.
"…I need to survive the rest."
The corridor ahead lit up.
Cold.Dim.Waiting.
Rafe walked toward it—
Determined.Bruised.Shaking.Alive.