Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 170: The Endgame [11]

[Kyle’s POV]

Rodrick stood on the broken crate. Burned. Bloodied. Barely even upright.

And yet... he was alive.

Still smiling.

That damn smile.

I stared at him. My heart pounding, breath ragged and shallow.

My hands shook. My arms were dead weight. Every nerve screaming from the backlash of the spell I had cast.

[Voidstorm Ascendant]

Everything I had, poured into one final attack.

And he was still there. Laughing like a madman.

I couldn’t believe it.

"Mine... is called [Null Flux]," Rodrick said.

His voice was rough, cracked. But the words cut through the ringing in my ears like glass.

"It lets me nullify any attack spell... as long as the mana behind it doesn’t go beyond what my body can handle, i.e., my maximum mana capacity."

I felt my stomach drop.

He had an ability.

I should’ve seen it coming.

Some Gold-rankers got them... Abilities. Rare gifts. Rewards from the System for passing impossible Trials.

A blessing... or a curse, depending on who you asked.

But they were rare.

Extremely rare.

Less than 1% of awakeners who passed the trial ever got one.

That’s why I didn’t even consider it. I thought... no, I assumed. He was just another powerful awakener.

’Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.’

I clenched my jaw. I should’ve considered that possibility. I should have thought of everything.

I’d been so sure the plan would work. So confident in my calculations...

But now?

Rodrick moved.

One moment he was standing on the crate.

The next, he was charging straight at me.

His fist pulled back. Fire coiled along his arm, flickering violently with each step.

I tried to move. I needed to move.

But my body wouldn’t respond.

I was completely spent. My legs were lead. My arms hung limply at my sides. I could barely breathe, let alone fight.

Rodrick’s fist flew toward me like a meteor.

And then...

A blur.

A flash of black.

Eleanora.

She appeared in front of me without a word. Her shadows wrapping around her body like armor. A living shield.

’No—’

The scream formed in my throat, but no sound came out.

Rodrick didn’t slow down.

His fist slammed into her stomach.

CRACK.

The sound echoed.

Eleanora’s body folded around the impact, her eyes wide for a split second before she was sent flying.

She crashed through the air, spinning like a broken doll. And hit the ground hard. Dust rose from where she landed.

She didn’t move.

I tried to scream her name.

But my voice was gone.

Rodrick didn’t even glance at her. He turned back to me, expression unreadable.

And then—

His hand grabbed my face.

SLAM.

My skull hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

The world spun. My vision filled with white sparks. Pain shot through my head like lightning, sharp and sudden.

I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

Rodrick lifted me again, his grip like iron.

"Why didn’t you come sooner?"

His voice was hoarse. Broken. But angry. Furious.

SLAM.

My head hit the dirt again. Harder.

"Why?"

SLAM.

"WHY?!"

Everything blurred. My ears rang. My teeth felt loose. Blood filled my mouth, thick and coppery.

His voice was warping, like it came from underwater.

"If you had come earlier... she’d still be alive! She would’ve lived!"

’She?’

Who was he talking about?

I didn’t know. I didn’t care.

All I knew was. I had failed.

Again.

Then, out of nowhere. A sharp crack of lightning cut through the air.

Rodrick paused. His head snapped to the side.

Through the haze of blood and static in my head, I heard a voice.

Soft. Faint.

"Leave... him..."

’Serena.’

Rodrick chuckled. Low and hollow.

"As you wish."

And then he threw me aside like I was nothing.

I hit the ground and rolled. My limbs twisted painfully before I finally stopped, half-buried in dirt.

I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t even lift my hand.

"He’ll be dead soon anyway," Rodrick muttered.

I forced my eyes open. Just barely.

I saw him turn.

Serena was on her knees.

Blood trailed from her lip, her glaive lying behind her. Her arms trembled as she struggled to stay upright.

Rodrick didn’t hesitate.

He punched her.

Her head snapped back, and her body flew, slamming into a large rock with a thud. She fell and didn’t move again.

Motionless.

Just like Eleanora.

’Why can’t I defeat him?’

The question echoed in my mind, stabbing through my chest like a blade.

’Why am I so weak?’

I had prepared everything. Every trap. Every attack.

And it still wasn’t enough.

Because of me... they were all going to die.

Eleanora. Serena. Cedric. Cassian.

They had followed me.

Trusted me.

And this was the result.

If only I had waited longer. Trained harder. Pushed them more. Strengthened myself.

Maybe then we wouldn’t be in this nightmare.

But I didn’t.

And now—

Now they were paying the price.

I felt tears sting my eyes. I didn’t want to cry. I hated crying.

But I couldn’t stop it.

The tears burned, mixing with blood and sweat as they slid down my cheeks.

I had given it everything.

And still, it wasn’t enough.

My vision started to darken at the edges. Cold seeped into my bones. My thoughts were fading, fading fast.

But I forced my eyes open.

Just long enough...

To see Rodrick standing over Cedric.

His flaming sword raised.

And then...

Darkness.

———

My eyes snapped open.

Darkness.

Not the kind that comes when you black out. This was something else. Heavier. Thicker. Endless.

I wasn’t lying down. I was standing.

No... floating?

My feet touched something, but I couldn’t say what.

The surface beneath me felt like solid ground. But when I looked down, it was water.

Black, glassy water that stretched out in every direction.

It didn’t reflect anything. Just swallowed light.

Every step I took sent soft ripples outward. But the ripples didn’t go far. They vanished quickly, as if the water was swallowing them too.

’Where... am I?’

The last thing I remembered, Rodrick.

His fist crashing into me like a hammer. The weight of helplessness. The sound of someone screaming.

My friends, broken. Everything spinning.

Then...

A voice.

"So you finally came."

I turned.

She was there, kneeling in the water.

A woman.

Bound in glowing chains. They shimmered with runes... faintly pulsing, like a heartbeat.

Her head was lowered at first. Her long hair falling around her face like a curtain of stormy blue silk.

When she looked up, everything else stopped.

I couldn’t breathe.

Her face was sharp yet soft. Beautiful in a way that didn’t feel human.

Not cold or cruel. Just... otherworldly. Her skin glowed faintly like starlight. But it was her eyes that froze me in place.

Blue. Not just blue, lightning caught mid-strike. Alive. Bright. Dangerous.

I knew those eyes.

Not from memory.

From feeling.

She was the one who saved me in the Zalrielle trial. The one who whispered to me to remember myself.

Her presence was the same now. Heavy. Immense. And yet comforting, like a distant hum of thunder before the rain.

"I was waiting for you, Ethan," she said.

That stopped my heart.

Ethan.

My real name. The one no one in this world should know.

My pulse spiked. ’How?’

I tried to speak. Ask her how she knew, who she was. What this place was. But my voice caught in my throat.

Because deep down... something in me already knew.

She tilted her head. The chains around her wrists rattled softly as she moved.

They looked alive, the runes glowing brighter for a second before settling again.

"Come closer," she said gently.

I didn’t move.

Something inside me screamed this was dangerous. That she was dangerous. That those chains weren’t for show. They were there for a reason.

But my feet didn’t listen.

I walked.

Step by step. The black water rippling beneath each footfall. Until I stood right in front of her.

She looked up at me, her eyes searching. Her face was so close now.

Her lips curved in a soft smile.

"You don’t remember me," she said.

It wasn’t a question.

I swallowed. "Should I?"

She laughed quietly. The sound sent chills down my back. Not in fear.

But something deeper. Something old.

"No. Not yet," she said.

She reached up and touched my face. Just her fingertips, brushing lightly along my jaw.

Electricity sparked where she touched, not painful. But warm. It ran through me like a pulse. A hum in my veins.

"You have grown stronger," she whispered. "But not strong enough."

I clenched my fists. Those words... they cut deeper than they should have.

"Who are you?"

She didn’t answer. Her gaze moved to the chains around her wrists.

"I’m not really here," she said. "This is just a piece of me. A whisper through the blessing I gave you."

’Blessing.’

It was hers.

The Storm Goddess.

Before I could ask anything else, she leaned forward.

Her lips pressed against my forehead.

And everything exploded.

Lightning, ice, wind, water surged behind my eyes. My skin burned with power. Not pain, but light.

My core, my mana. Howled awake. The water around us shook. The very air trembled.

I could feel it.

Something opening.

Something awakening.

"This will stir what has been sleeping," she said softly. Her voice right against my skin. "You weren’t ready before. But I can’t let you die."

The kiss lingered for a second longer.

Then she pulled away.

"I’ll save the rest for when we meet for real," she whispered against my skin, pulling back just enough to smirk at my stunned expression.

Her smile faded. Her voice turned lower. More serious.

"I’ll be with you soon," she said, glancing down at her chains.

"And when I am... no one will ever hurt you again."

There was a weight in her words. A promise. Not one made out of kindness. But something sharper. Possessive.

Dangerous.

I shivered.

Then her eyes locked on mine.

"Wake up, Ethan."

And then...

The world broke apart.

Light and dark shattered like glass. The water disappeared. The chains, the runes, the sky.

All of it cracked into pieces and fell away.

And I...

I fell with them.

———

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