A few minutes ago, Nyx and Amyra fought against the many demons attacking them relentlessly as they moved towards Alden.

They could see he was locked in battle against Seles but just as he was about to win, both of them sensed a strange energy exploding out of his body.

The force blasted the demons away from the platform, leaving only Alden, Seles and Cedric before a blood-red barrier formed around them but before the barrier closed completely, Amyra saw a figure descending into it.

She recognised him immediately.

Jeremy Voidforge.

Her heart started pounding instantly as an ominous feeling spread through her body. Her feet moved before her mind could process anything as she sprinted towards the barrier, slaughtering every demon that stood in her way.

Nyx followed close behind, sensing that something was terribly wrong was happening as well but when they finally reached the dome, they couldn’t enter.

No matter what attack they used, the barrier refused to open.

"What is happening inside?"

Amyra muttered, her eyes trembling as she bit her lips in worry.

From everything she had known, nothing like this should have happened at this point in time. Jeremy was supposed to attack one day... but that day wasn’t supposed to be so soon.

It’s all my fault...

It’s all my fault...

I shouldn’t have been so relaxed...

She blamed herself as she clutched her head tightly. Meanwhile Kyun, who had been flying some distance away, rushed toward her in panic.

"What’s happening, Amyra? Why are there so many demons and where is Alden...? I can’t sense him anywhere.."

She asked immediately but Amyra didn’t respond, her thoughts looping in self blame.

It’s going to repeat itself again...

Everything is going to end up the same again...

But just as she was about to spiral even further in her thoughts, a firm voice came from beside her as a small white bird landed on her shoulders.

"Snap out of it, Amyra."

It was Kyun.

"I don’t know what’s going on but it’s not time to be losing yourself like this."

Her voice brought Amyra back to reality as she looked at the barrier with desperation.

Yes... it’s still not too late...

Maybe if we stall Jeremy enough... there could still be some way. Maybe someone will come eventually... maybe my father would have already dispatched the knights.

She slapped her own face before extending a hand forward, her expression turning focused. A black flame materialised above her palm, glowing ominously as it devoured the mana around it while she slowly reached towards the barrier.

But before she could get anywhere near it, a hand grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"Don’t do it, Amyra."

This time, it was Nyx.

Amyra turned toward her immediately.

"What are you talking about, Nyx? Can’t you see Alden is in danger? We need to destroy this barrier and help him." She snapped at Nyx.

But Nyx didn’t get angry and instead, she replied in a calm tone.

"I know you want to help Alden but if you do what you’re planning right now, you will kill him before anything else can."

Her gaze shifted toward the barrier as a strange expression appeared on her face.

"This barrier... It’s not ordinary. It was created using an ancient technique, the Devouring Spectre Technique."

Amyra’s eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about? What technique? And how do you know about it? Did you know this would happen in advance?" She asked, firing the questions one after another as suspicion crossing across her face.

—

Nyx looked back at Amyra calmly and although she didn’t show it outwardly, she was no less worried about Alden than Amyra herself.

But she had been trained to remain calm since childhood and she knew such worry was useless in a situation where action mattered more than panic.

Still, even she couldn’t stop blaming herself for never noticing what Jeremy had been planning. She never trusted him, but she believed he wouldn’t dare do something like this because of the bloodline suppression binding him... and more importantly, she had never imagined he would be capable of using one of the vilest techniques to ever exist in the cosmos.

Her mind drifted to the heroic legends of a particular woman who had once saved a ruined world from a tyrant. The story was especially famous among children. When Nyx’s mother was still alive, she used to tell her that story often and in a life filled with relentless training, it had been one of her only sources of comfort.

Within that legend, a particular technique had been mentioned, an ability the tyrant used to devour his own flesh and blood in exchange for power, abandoning bodies whenever he neared death before taking over another.

Until the Seer of Fate or as she was known in Nyx’s world, Ananke, among her countless names, descended upon that world.

She fought the tyrant before eventually sealing him away, but according to the legend, she hadn’t defeated him through strength alone. Instead, she tricked him into using one of his techniques on himself, trapping him.

If she had destroyed the barrier, the tyrant would have died instantly but instead she cast her magic upon it, ensuring he would suffer within that barrier for eternity without ever being able to die.

The tyrant’s tomb still existed in that world and Nyx had actually seen it once when her father sent her there on a mission a few years ago.

That was the only reason she recognised the barrier immediately.

But what she couldn’t understand was why that ancient technique was in Jeremy’s hands. It was a technique only the tyrant had known and according to the legends, the female warrior had destroyed it after his death.

So how?

But she knew one thing, if the barrier was destroyed, whatever it was feeding on would die as well and currently, the barrier was feeding on Alden.

So destroying it would be nothing more than foolishness.

Nyx turned toward Amyra.

"Now is not the time for questions, Amyra. I can enter the barrier but I need a medium. And if I can somehow teleport Alden out of the barrier in time... then we might still have a chance to save him."

She said in a resolute tone.

"And I promise, once everything is over, I will tell you everything about me but right now, all I ask for is your trust... for Alden’s sake."

Amyra nodded, understanding the situation immediately.

"Alright. But what kind of medium do you need?"

Nyx looked back at the barrier.

"It could be anything made of mana, as long as it’s enough for me to teleport myself inside. And once I’m in, I can use a mark I place on you to return with Alden. But the question is... how do we create a medium?"

But just then, as if guided by the invisible hand of the fate itself, something dark stretched out from the edge of the barrier.

"A shadow?!!"

Both Nyx and Amyra turned toward it at the same time.

"Alden... is that you?"

Amyra asked, her voice filled with desperation.

"Please tell me... it’s you, Alden."