Each beat made the air tremble, and the cracks spreading across the warehouse walls widened, leaking unstable violet light.
Ren struggled to breathe.
This wasn’t ordinary fear.
It was recognition.
As if something had finally found him.
Kael remained in front of him, even with his body weakened.
“Ren… if I fall, run.”
“Shut up,” Ren shot back, voice shaking.“We leave together.”
The Fourth Form Nexum stepped back.
Not in pain.
Not in fear.
In reverence.
Something moved beyond the rift.
It had no defined shape.
Only shadows folding into themselves, layers of darkness compressing and unfolding like a thought trying to become real.
Ren’s seal burned again.
It did not release power.
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But it answered.
The Nexum slowly turned its head toward the rift.
And knelt.
Ren felt his stomach twist violently.
“It’s… bowing,” Kael whispered.
Then—
A voice echoed from the Abyss.
It wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
It vibrated through bone and blood.
“The Bearer of Origin has been found.”
Ren’s legs nearly gave out.
The dark seal on his wrist flared, unstable, as if cracking from within.
Kael tried to move.
His body refused.
He dropped to one knee.
“Ren… this isn’t a normal Abyss…”
The shadow inside the rift began to approach.
Slowly.
With intention.
With awareness.
Every inch it advanced, the air fractured further. Space thinned. Sound distorted.
Reality resisted.
And lost.
Then—
Sirens.
From outside the warehouse, the warning bells of Halverin rang violently.
Reinforcements.
Sealers.
The shadow stopped.
It did not retreat in haste.
It paused.
Considering.
The Nexum rose from its kneel.
Before stepping back into the rift, it turned its cracked face toward Ren.
It had no mouth.
Still, it spoke.
“You are not yet permitted to face us.”
The rift began to close.
The violet light collapsed inward.
The cracks sealed.
The pressure vanished.
And silence fell—
Heavy.
Absolute.
Ren’s breathing echoed in the empty warehouse.
But something had changed.
The Abyss had not attacked randomly.
It had confirmed something.
And somewhere beyond sight—
Something ancient had marked him.