Lyrium didn't move. Neither did Ren.
The figure's words didn't just echo, they reverberated, coiling around their spines like invisible tendrils.
Awaken… or run.
The ultimatum lingered in the space between them like a loaded weapon.
Lyrium took a step forward, shadows flickering around his heels, drawn unnaturally to him now.
His voice came out low, taut as a pulled bowstring.
"You speak of awakening as if I've merely been asleep. But I've seen beyond the walls, felt something older than mana, older than any circle or sigil. I tore through layers they told me were absolute, and what I found wasn't chaos… it was clarity."
The figure tilted its head again.
A gesture too calm to be human.
"Clarity is dangerous when filtered through youth and pride. Many glimpsed the same truths. Few returned intact."
Ren narrowed his eyes.
"You're not denying it. This 'Void Energy', or whatever name you bastards gave it, is real. And you've been hiding it."
