The figure stood unmoving—his silhouette framed by the rising aura mist that now bled from the cracked earth beneath the fortress. Dark armor shaped like fossilized flame wrapped around his body, almost pulsing with each breath he took.
Kael's grip tightened on the Graveblade, its weight unfamiliar but alive. It hummed in his hand, as if anticipating something. Or someone.
"You're not Vaerix," Kael said quietly.
The being nodded once. "No. But I am the echo he left. The embodiment of his final will—his vengeance forged into form."
Zera's voice trembled, a rare fracture in her composed tone. "A Wraithbound. An Eternal's last hatred given shape."
"You're not supposed to exist," Lyra whispered.
"And yet here I stand," the Wraithbound replied. "To judge the one who dares claim the blade of Vaelorn."
Without warning, he moved.
A blur of shadows. A punch of force.
Kael barely raised the Graveblade in time to block the strike. The impact sent him skidding backward, feet grinding against stone. Sparks erupted between blade and fist—flame meeting void.
Drayke lunged in without hesitation, Infernal Gauntlets blazing. "Back off, bone boy!"
He swung hard, fire exploding with each punch. The Wraithbound caught his fist mid-air, aura crackling like thunder between them. Then he twisted, slamming Drayke into a nearby wall, the stone cratering around him.
"Too slow," the Wraithbound said.
Zera's Wraith Bell rang sharply, a cold mist curling around her form. "Bind."
Chains of cursed aura erupted from the air, seeking to tether the Wraithbound, but they burned away the moment they touched him.
He turned to her. "You carry the stench of secrets. Be silent."
A wave of black flame burst from his palm.
Zera barely blinked away, the edge of her cloak catching fire mid-vanish.
Kael growled low in his throat. "Enough."
He launched forward.
Graveblade met the Wraithbound's aura, each strike singing with force. They clashed in a whirlwind of slashes and counterblows, Kael moving faster than he'd ever moved—his Ashen Aura dancing, adapting.
React. Learn. Overwhelm.
But the Wraithbound was relentless. Every parry came with a lesson in brutality. Every dodge only delayed the inevitable.
"You swing that blade like a child wielding history," the Wraithbound mocked, his eyes burning. "Do you even know what that sword has done?"
Kael gritted his teeth. "I know enough."
"Then die knowing."
The Wraithbound's aura surged, the entire fortress vibrating with its pressure. From his hands, a dark corona of cursed fire flared outward—a dome meant to consume.
Ashen Domain: Flicker Veil.
Kael's Aura burst outward, his domain shimmering to life in a pulse of ghostly ash and silver. The Wraithbound's flame halted—slowed.
Time seemed to bend. Just for a breath.
Kael dashed in, blade trailing embers, and for the first time—
He cut the Wraithbound.
A shallow wound across the side.
The Wraithbound staggered back slightly, expression shifting.
"You adapted." For the first time, his voice held a note of curiosity. "Ashen… adaptive resonance. A relic class long thought extinct."
Kael's chest heaved. "I don't care what it's called. I'll use whatever it takes."
The Wraithbound stared at him for a moment longer, then smiled faintly.
"Then perhaps… you're not unworthy."
He raised both arms. The floor beneath them cracked again—this time not from force, but from something underneath trying to escape.
"You're not the only one who evolves."
From the core beneath the fortress, a monstrous scream echoed upward.
Lyra screamed, "Something's rising—!"
Zera's eyes narrowed. "He's triggering a fusion."
"Domain Sync Fusion," the Wraithbound said. "You face not just me—but the will of Vaerix and the Ley Core's power."
Black tendrils of aura coiled around him. Bones reshaped. His form grew larger, more feral. Horns erupted from his helm. Wings made of burnt ash and glass unfolded behind him.
The fortress itself sank as the transformation completed.
Drayke finally rose from the rubble, wiping blood from his lip. "Okay. I hate to admit it... but that's kind of badass."
Kael didn't respond. His Graveblade flared again, reacting to the monster before them.
He felt it deep in his bones.
This wasn't just a test anymore.
This was survival.