The court's silence shattered into screams when the air itself changed.
The golden chandeliers flickered one by one, their flames turning black. Cold wind clawed through the throne hall, bending banners, snuffing torches, and drowning light.
The Emperor staggered back toward his throne. I stepped in front of him, unsheathing the Snowfire Blade, its twin glow of red and blue bursting to life.
Arina's voice filled my head, sharp and urgent.
"Host—prepare yourself! The Dark System has formed a direct link here. That presence isn't shadow—it's its will!"
From the farthest corner of the hall, darkness collected into a shape—smoke twisting like oil into a humanoid silhouette. Its voice was neither male nor female, just a whisper that hit the ears like poison.
"Equinox bearer…" it murmured, my name curling within the echoes. "You awaken balance—so balance shall be tested."
Lian Xueyin stepped forward beside me. The ice aura around her flared, freezing the marble tiles underfoot.
"Stay close," she whispered. "Whatever this thing is, it's not mortal."
I nodded once. My blade pulsed warm, and I could feel Arina connecting to it, her power wrapping around my arms like unseen threads.
"Remember," she said calmly. "Light breaks shadow—but the shadow reflects truth. Attack with heart, not fear."
The shadow lunged before she finished.
The ground cracked as black tendrils erupted, slicing through pillars and floor alike. I swung the Snowfire Blade in a defensive arc, releasing Crimson Frost Flow. A flash of heat and cold collided, vaporising the first few streaks of darkness.
Lian moved next to me, sweeping her hand. Ice shards formed in the air, spiralling outward into spears that struck the phantom shape. The creature hissed, its voice raspy like wind scraping over stone.
Zhao Tian, half-conscious after collapsing under the oppressive energy, looked up weakly. "What… what is that thing?"
"Something you called unknowingly," I said without looking back.
He tried to rise but couldn't. I didn't have time to care.
The shadow reformed near the throne, taller and denser now, its smoky body glinting with faint red eyes. The Emperor trembled, still standing, his hands gripping the armrests.
"Father, behind me!" I shouted, and then I leapt. Flame and frost streamed behind me like twin comet tails. My blade met the shadow head-on in a burst that ripped apart the air around us.
For a second, white light drowned everything.
But when the glare faded, I saw it smiling—or at least something like a smile, hollow and wrong.
"So brave," it whispered. "So blind."
It thrust out an arm of pure darkness. The impact hit me square in the chest, sending me crashing back into the marble floor. Pain flared; blood filled my mouth. Lian cried out my name and rushed forward, freezing the shadow's arm solid.
"Get up, Mukul!" she yelled.
I pushed to my feet, struggling for balance. Arina's voice was tense.
"Host, your equilibrium is collapsing. Use the Heavenlight Resonance. Combine your energy with hers. Only together can you purify this manifestation!"
I met Lian's eyes—and she understood instantly.
As our energies merged, a cyclone of frost and flame spun around us, rising high and shredding the smoke that tried to close in. My mind emptied. I felt only her heartbeat syncing with mine, steady and fearless.
I swung the Snowfire Blade again, the blades of light and frost merging into pure white radiance. Lian mirrored the motion with her own frost sword. Together, we unleashed Heavenlight Resonance.
The air screamed. The shockwave tore through the hall, shattering every window. Darkness howled like a dying storm—and then silence fell.
When it cleared, the shadow was gone. Only wisps of black mist curled upward and faded.
The Emperor slowly sat back down, trembling but alive. Guards rushed in through the doors, too shaken to speak.
Zhao Tian was lying unconscious near the steps, his once-elegant clothes burned and torn.
Arina's voice softened. "The manifestation has withdrawn… for now."
But her next words chilled me. "It left a fragment behind. The mark of the Dark System has bonded with Zhao Tian. He is its chosen vessel now."
I looked at him—his hands twitched even as he slept, faint lines of dark energy pulsing beneath his skin. For a brief moment, I saw a shadow flicker behind him—something massive, waiting.
"Can it be stopped?" I asked quietly.
"Not yet," Arina replied. "Light cannot destroy darkness forever. It must be balanced. But the darkness now has a master."
The Emperor raised his eyes to me, voice trembling. "Mukul… your brother…"
"I know," I said. "He's lost to it."
Lian sheathed her frost blade and knelt beside me, her face pale under the flickering lights. "Then what do we do?"
I looked at the scattered hall around us—pillars cracked, walls blackened, the scent of burnt air still lingering. The once-proud court had turned into a field of ash and silence.
"We prepare," I said quietly. "This wasn't war. It was the first warning."
The emperor closed his eyes, grief carving deeper lines in his face. "The empire will demand answers. They will not understand what truly happened."
"I'll make them understand through what comes next," I said.
Arina's voice returned, gentler this time. "Mukul, the balance within you has stabilised further from this battle. Your cultivation has risen to Golden Soul Realm—Peak Stage. You have also unlocked a new ability: Celestial Veil Vision. It allows you to see souls trapped between reality and shadow."
I could sense the truth in her words immediately. The air around me shimmered faintly—and for the first time, I saw traces of thin, dark energy still swirling behind Zhao Tian's unconscious form like living smoke.
"He's not gone," I whispered. "Not yet."
Lian touched my arm gently. "Then we save him—or stop him before it consumes everything."
Her eyes held frost, but there was fire too—the same calm resolve that had once scared me and comforted me all the same.
Outside the shattered windows, dawn rose faintly, painting the palace ruins in pale light. The city below stirred, unaware that gods had whispered inside its walls that night.
Arina's final words lingered as the first sunlight touched the throne:
"The Dark System has awakened. And it knows your name."