Zane walked along the sandstone ridge, golden dust clinging to his boots as the sun dipped low over the desert horizon. The wind whispered against his cloak, but something else stirred in the silence—unease.
He glanced at the artifacts tucked or bound across his body: the Endblade at his side, the Abyssal Glove flexing at his fingers, rings gleaming with dormant power, the Phantom Chain loosely coiled like a shadowy snake around his shoulder.
Six. He had six now.
"Almost there…" he muttered.
> "Almost at what, exactly?" Link finally spoke up from the grimoire. "You've been collecting them, sure, but you still don't actually know what comes next, do you?"
Zane blinked. "I assumed there'd be a glow, a rift, maybe an ancient door, some fireworks—"
> "No. And thank the stars it's not that easy."
Nyx's voice echoed in his mind now, sharper, more serious than usual.
> "You're not just gathering these for fun. You're restoring fragments of your old self—pieces of a legacy so strong it was erased from the timelines. When all are gathered, the Rite of Unsealing begins."
Zane paused. "Sounds metal. So… I get full power and kick cosmic ass, right?"
> "You might."
"Or," Link cut in, "you release something else entirely. Something worse than you. The ritual is volatile. If done incorrectly… you won't just explode or implode or scream dramatically into the void."
> "The world could burn," Nyx said flatly. "The sky would fracture. The artifacts would scatter again—and the thing that was once sealed with you may awaken."
Zane stopped walking.
"…You couldn't have led with that?" he said, voice dry.
> "You would've done it anyway," Nyx said. "You're… you."
> "Besides," Link added, "the ritual requires the artifacts and your full control over the Void—your power can't be unstable when the Rite begins."
"Wait—my power's unstable?!"
> "Your Void output spikes depending on your mood, your sarcasm, and the volume of your dramatic monologues."
> "And don't get me started on the crown," Nyx muttered.
Zane sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "So if I mess it up, I doom the world. Great. No pressure."
> "On the bright side," Link said helpfully, "you'd likely go out in a dazzling explosion of edgy magnificence. You'd be remembered."
> "If anyone survives," Nyx added dryly.