Chapter 4:Echoes of the Forsaken.

The rift pulsed like an open wound. Veythar stood at its edge, the Void Core in his chest humming in dissonant harmony with the tear in reality. Below, the abyss yawned—a chasm of swirling shadows and jagged light. Thalion tightened the straps of his gauntlets, his gaze fixed on the darkness.

"Valenor's down there,"

he said, more to himself than to Veythar.

"And so are answers,"

Veythar replied, though the weight of Flicker's absence hung between them.

The Void Beast's remnant—now little more than a wisp of smoke—coiled around his wrist like a shackle.

They descended.

The rift's interior defied logic. Gravity shifted, walls of obsidian stone weeping black fluid that evaporated before hitting the ground. Strange flora glowed faintly, their roots burrowing into fissures that leaked whispers of forgotten realms. Thalion's sword glinted in the eerie light.

"This place… it's alive," he muttered.

"No," Veythar corrected grimly. "It's dying."

A whimper echoed ahead.

[Core Memory: The Beast's Agony]

They found Flicker—or what remained of it—curled beneath a skeletal tree. Its body, once a swirling mass of shadow and embers, was now translucent, veins of corrupted energy spiderwebbing through its form. Veythar knelt, his Core flaring instinctively.

"Don't," Thalion warned. "It's a trap."

But Flicker's eyes—dim, pleading—locked onto Veythar's. A thread of recognition. Help me.

The bond surged before Veythar could resist.

[Unique Mechanic: Memory's Labyrinth]

The Void Core's light engulfed them. Time fractured, reality peeling back to reveal a memory not their own:

A younger Flicker, darting through a crystalline forest. Valenor's hunters cornered it, nets woven with Void-forged chains. The dark hunter himself stepped forward, a blade glowing with stolen Core energy.

"Such potential," Valenor crooned, driving the blade into Flicker's side.

"Pity it's wasted on beasts."

The vision shifted—Flicker trapped in a cage, Valenor's experiments tearing at its essence, siphoning its power to corrupt other Void Beasts. Each scream echoed in Veythar's skull.

When the memory faded, Veythar's hands trembled.

"You survived him," he whispered to Flicker.

"But barely."

[Emotional Peak: The Cost of Salvation]

Thalion watched in silence as Veythar pressed his palm to Flicker's fading form. The Void Core's light seeped into the creature, mending fractures—but only temporarily. With each pulse, Flicker's body solidified… then flickered again, weaker than before.

"Stop," Thalion said finally. "You're killing it."

"I'm saving it," Veythar snapped.

"At what cost?" Thalion gestured to the Core, its light now tinged with sickly gray.

"You're not a god. You can't rewrite fate."

Flicker shuddered, a low whine escaping its throat. Veythar's resolve wavered. The creature's pain mirrored his own—the desperation to matter, to defy annihilation.

"There has to be another way," he muttered.

Thalion's voice softened. "Not here. Not like this."

[Revelation: The Pact Renewed]

A rumble shook the rift. Valenor's laughter echoed, distorted and taunting.

"Come, little thieves," his voice boomed.

"The Core's song grows sweeter by the hour."

Flicker stirred, its claws digging into Veythar's arm. A silent plea: Fight.

Veythar stood, the Core's light flaring defiantly.

"We finish this."

Thalion hesitated, then nodded.

"But we do it smart. No more martyrs."

As they pressed deeper, Flicker's form clung to Veythar's shoulder, its breaths shallow. The creature's time-stasis ability—once a weapon—now faltered, its pauses in battle growing shorter, more erratic.

Yet in those fractured moments, Veythar saw it: a flicker of the beast's former ferocity, a spark refusing to die.

[Cliffhanger: The Heart of the Rift]

The rift's core loomed ahead—a pulsating orb of corrupted Void energy, its surface scarred with Valenor's sigils. Dozens of caged Void Beasts surrounded it, their anguished cries merging into a chorus of despair.

Valenor stood at the center, a blade of pure Void essence in hand.

"Ah," he purred.

"You brought me a gift." His gaze fixed on Flicker.

"How… nostalgic."

Flicker snarled, its remaining strength surging. Veythar's Core burned cold.

"This ends now," Thalion growled, raising his sword.

Valenor smiled. "No. It's only beginning."