Chapter 23: The Shattered Oath

The Starblade drifted in the shadow of the fractured moon, its hull scarred from the escape through the Elysium blockade. Inside, the ship hummed with flickering emergency power, its systems barely holding together. Li Wei stood in the dim light of the command deck, his hands gripping the edge of the console. The crystalline veins spreading across his arms pulsed in time with his ragged breath.

Kara sat against the bulkhead, a bloodied cloth pressed to her temple. The Jailer's runes along her skin flickered weakly, drained from their desperate use in sealing the Eleventh Core. She met Li Wei's gaze, her voice hoarse. "We bought time. That's all."

He exhaled, the weight of the past battle pressing on his shoulders. "Time is all we need."

Aria's hologram flickered to life beside them, static distorting her form. "That's an optimistic view, considering what we're up against. Elysium's forces have regrouped, and they're hunting us across three systems."

Li Wei clenched his fists. "And the Cores?"

"The seal held, but the backlash wasn't contained. The moment the Eleventh Core was locked, the others… awakened."

A silence fell over the deck. Kara closed her eyes, exhaustion laced in her expression. "So, what are we looking at?"

Aria's image shifted, bringing up a galaxy-wide projection. Eleven points of golden light pulsed across the map—each a Core now reacting to the shift in balance. But at the center, where the Prisoner had once been bound, something darker stirred. A void, growing.

"The Cores were never just prisons," Aria murmured. "They're keystones. And when one is locked, the others realign. But something is interfering. Something is still trying to break free."

Li Wei's fingers brushed against the spear shard at his hip. "Veyra."

Kara frowned. "She was consumed. The black hole—"

"She wasn't alone in there," he cut in. "If even a fragment of her survived, the Prisoner could be using her to finish what it started."

A sudden tremor rattled the Starblade. The ship's alarms blared as the proximity sensors flared red. Kara pushed off the wall, staggering to the controls. "Incoming!"

The viewscreen filled with the sight of a vessel materializing from the void—a twisted fusion of Elysium's warships and something far worse. The hull pulsed with shifting flesh, an amalgamation of machine and void essence. At its heart, a sickly violet glow pulsed in eerie synchrony with the corrupted Cores.

Li Wei's pulse quickened. "It's not just a warship. It's a beacon."

The vessel moved with unnatural grace, its tendrils of void energy latching onto the fabric of space itself. The comms crackled, and a voice, layered with echoes, whispered through the static.

"You cannot stop the inevitable."

The first shot lanced through the darkness, and the battle for the future began anew.

The Starblade shuddered as the first blast tore through the void, its shields flaring under the onslaught. Kara gritted her teeth, fingers flying over the controls as she pulled the ship into an evasive spiral. "Hold on!"

Li Wei braced himself, his core flaring to counteract the inertia. The spear shards embedded in his body vibrated, resonating with the unnatural energy emanating from the enemy ship. He could feel it—something within that vessel pulsed with the same corruption that had tainted him since the Ninth Core's awakening.

"They're not firing to destroy us," he muttered. "They're trying to draw us in."

Aria's voice crackled through the comms. "Then let's not give them the chance."

The ship banked hard, dipping into the debris field of the fractured moon. Chunks of celestial wreckage, remnants of long-forgotten battles, drifted through the void. Kara weaved through them with razor-sharp precision, forcing the pursuing vessel to adjust its trajectory.

But the enemy didn't waver. Instead, it adapted.

The void-infused warship shifted, its hull rippling like liquid darkness. Tendrils of energy lashed outward, anchoring themselves to nearby debris. The ship pulled itself forward, warping space around it in a grotesque imitation of propulsion. Its weapons flared—this time, targeting the surrounding wreckage instead of the Starblade.

The debris field imploded.

Shockwaves cascaded through the void, sending jagged fragments hurtling in all directions. Kara barely had time to react as a massive slab of metal spun toward them.

"Brace!" she yelled.

Li Wei reached out, channeling his hybrid energy. The air around him crackled as he pushed against the incoming wreckage, deflecting it just enough for the Starblade to slip through the gap. But the effort took its toll—his veins darkened, the corruption spreading further.

Kara shot him a quick glance. "That's not sustainable."

He clenched his jaw. "Neither is running."

The enemy ship loomed closer, the violet glow at its core intensifying. From its hull, a pulse of energy erupted—an expanding field of void energy that sent reality distorting in waves.

Aria's voice cut through the chaos. "That's a gravitational snare! If it catches us—"

She didn't need to finish. Kara was already flipping the Starblade into a steep dive, pushing the engines to their limits. But the pull was relentless. The void-ship's influence wrapped around them like unseen chains, slowing their escape.

Li Wei gripped the spear shard tighter. "I can cut through it."

Kara's expression darkened. "Not if it kills you first."

They were running out of time. The enemy ship was no longer just a pursuer—it was a predator, and the trap had already sprung.

Li Wei exhaled, focusing his energy. "Then we break the trap."

He stepped toward the airlock.