Chapter 143 – Shrine of Silence, Choir of Storms

The winds howled as Chen and his group descended upon the blighted lands skirting the Veiled Horizon. What had once been erased from existence now stood exposed—a valley shrouded in ashen mists and forgotten sorrow. At its center lay a shrine, impossibly ancient, carved from crystalized starlight and bone. The silence around it pulsed like a heartbeat.

They approached in formation—Chen at the center, flanked by Ye Yue and Lanmei, with Sarina weaving protection sigils around them and Mei covering their rear with shadow-steps. Every instinct told them this was sacred ground. Or cursed.

"This place…" Lanmei whispered, the fire in her veins dimming slightly. "I feel a song. No words, just… mourning."

"It's not just memory," Sarina said softly. "This shrine is alive. A thought lingering after death. An echo."

As Chen stepped through the broken threshold, the feather in his hand began to glow. Softly at first—then fiercely. The space shimmered, revealing walls of mirrored time, frozen scenes of a court long lost. Divine beings kneeling before a woman draped in twilight and flame. Lysaria.

She was sealing something. A shard of Nullarch's core? A memory of rebellion? Or perhaps… an anchor meant for Chen.

Suddenly—across the realms, in the Ember Throne's ruins—the Flame Court stirred.

Crimson light surged through what remained of the once-glorious citadel. High Lady Izel, survivor of the siege, stood before a glowing sphere of condensed divine law. Around her, courtiers and generals whispered, fear in their voices.

"He's awakening what should remain buried."

"He has Lysaria's fragment. And now the Shrine of Silence responds to him."

"He's destabilizing the Realms."

Izel narrowed her eyes. "No… he's replacing the Realms."

At her side, a masked oracle stepped forward. "Then we must awaken the Choir of Storms. If the lost courts return, the surviving ones must unify—or be torn apart."

Back at the shrine, Chen reached toward a hovering prism locked in the center altar. His Soulflame responded instantly.

A pulse rang out.

Not just sound—but meaning.

A call.

The Choir of Storms stirred in the east. The sky rippled. Forgotten voices rose from the winds.

Lanmei turned to Chen, her voice awed and afraid. "You didn't just activate the shrine. You reawakened an entire divine resonance."

Mei spun around, shadows tightening. "We won't be alone here much longer."

Chen clenched his fist, prism crackling in his palm. "Then we move before the courts converge. The next strike must hit harder. We don't just walk the divine paths anymore—we're reshaping them."

Sarina stared toward the distance, eyes glinting with new understanding. "The Spiral, the Vault, the Spire… they were trials. This is no longer just infiltration. This is divine rebirth."

Above, thunder broke the silence.And far, far away, the Flame Court's counter-chants began.