Chapter 7: Echoes of the Fallen

The ruins stretched endlessly, fading into the abyss like a graveyard of forgotten wars. Adrian's breath came slow, measured, but his instincts screamed at him.

The abyss wasn't just watching him.

It was testing him.

He felt it in the weight of his sword, the unnatural stillness in the air. And then—

A presence.

Not an enemy. Not a beast lurking in the dark.

Something older. Something left behind.

Then, a pulse—not from within him, but from the Eclipse Blade itself.

And the world shifted.

The abyss fell away.

The ruins vanished.

Suddenly, Adrian stood in a battlefield frozen in time.

The sky was torn, the ground cracked. Shadows and embers drifted like dying stars. Figures lay broken, some torn apart by forces beyond his understanding. This was not his fight. This was something long past.

Yet he was here.

And before him—

A man knelt.

No—a warrior.

His armor was scorched, cracked with abyssal fire, yet his grip on the Eclipse Blade was unwavering. He was wounded, his left arm barely clinging to his body, but his eyes burned with unyielding resolve.

Adrian knew.

This was a past wielder of the Eclipse Blade.

And yet, the man's gaze was not on him.

It was on the approaching figure.

A being that did not belong to this world.

It loomed, its body shifting between solid and spectral, a thing of black fire and empty hunger. Its form was wrapped in abyssal chains, its presence bending reality itself.

And in that moment, Adrian understood.

He wasn't just a spectator.

He was here to finish what was started.

The warrior—his predecessor—exhaled, his voice rough yet unwavering.

"If you can hear this, then the blade has chosen you. If you stand here, then my fight is now yours."

The abyssal being roared.

The battlefield trembled.

The warrior stood—one last time.

And Adrian moved.

---

The Battle of the Forgotten Wielder

The beast struck first.

A wave of abyssal fire consumed the air, devouring light itself.

Adrian's body reacted before his mind could even process it.

He moved with the instinct of the past wielder, his grip on the Eclipse Blade firm. A single step forward—and the sword burned with an unfamiliar power.

The past wielder fought alongside him.

Not in body. Not in form.

But in will.

Every motion, every technique—Adrian wasn't just fighting.

He was reliving a battle already fought.

The beast's claws raked forward—**Adrian sidestepped, blade flashing—**a perfect counter.

It shrieked. The impact sent tremors through the broken battlefield.

The past wielder's voice echoed in his mind.

"Do not fear it. It is nothing but a remnant. It does not think. It only consumes."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

The beast lunged again. This time, he didn't dodge.

He met it head-on.

The Eclipse Blade sang, cutting through the abyssal fire like it was mere smoke. Sparks scattered as Adrian drove the blade through the creature's core.

It howled, its form unraveling.

But Adrian knew this wasn't over.

The past wielder wasn't just showing him this battle.

He was teaching him how to win.

The beast reformed instantly, its chains writhing, its form twisting into something even more monstrous.

The past wielder's voice came once more—calm, certain.

"Strike not at the body. Strike at the binding."

Adrian's eyes flickered to the abyssal chains woven around the creature's limbs.

And in that moment—he understood.

This thing wasn't alive.

It was bound.

The past wielder hadn't failed.

He had sealed it away.

But now, it was Adrian's turn to finish it.

The Eclipse Blade pulsed, responding to his will.

Adrian dashed forward—his speed greater than before, his body lighter, his strikes sharper. He wasn't just fighting alone anymore.

He was fighting with the knowledge of those who came before.

His blade arced.

One strike.

Abyssal chains snapped.

Two strikes.

The beast reeled, its form unraveling.

Final strike.

Adrian drove the Eclipse Blade forward—straight through the last binding.

The beast let out a final, silent scream.

Then, it was gone.

The battlefield flickered.

The past wielder turned, his face unreadable. But there was something in his gaze—a quiet satisfaction.

"You are worthy."

Then—he vanished.

The world collapsed back into darkness.

Adrian gasped, staggering forward. The ruins had returned. The battle was over.

But something was different.

The Eclipse Blade felt lighter.

Stronger.

And as he looked at it, he realized—

It had changed.

Not a full evolution. Not yet.

But it had accepted him.

And in the depths of the abyss, something stirred.

He had passed the test.

But the true battle was still ahead.