Chapter 13:The Titan's Gambit.

The air in the Hunter's Guild hall reeked of charred stone and desperation. Violet lightning crackled through the shattered windows, casting jagged shadows across the panicked faces of the hunters scrambling to barricade the doors.

Outside, the city of Emberfall trembled under the weight of Valenor's latest atrocitythe **Platinum-tier Void Beast**, *Shadow Titan*.

Veythar's fingers twitched toward the Void Core in his chest, its pulse erratic, like a caged star fighting its chains. Beside him, Thalion's cursed vines slithered up to his collarbone, their thorns biting deeper with every labored breath. Rune stood at the periphery, her golden eyes flickering as she clutched the guild's last vial of stasis runesa- fragile hope against the storm.

Then the walls *exploded*.

The *Shadow Titan* loomed through the dust, its form a grotesque monument of pure void energy. Fifty feet tall, its body shimmered like liquid obsidian, each step dissolving the cobblestones beneath it into ash. Its faceif- it could be called thatwas a shifting void of twelve eyes, each pulsing with the cold light of dying stars.

**FALL BACK!**"Thalion roared, shoving a rookie hunter aside as the Titans claw raked through the air. The guild's reinforced oak doors splintered like kindling,Veythar lunged, dagger flashing, but the blade passed through the Titan's shadowy hide as if it were smoke.

*Flicker*, now evolved but frail, uncoiled from his wrist. Its time-stasis ability flared-and failed.

The Titan *moved anyway*.

A backhanded strike sent Veythar crashing through a stone pillar. Agony lanced through his ribs as the Void Core in his chest *screamed*, its light sputtering.

*Impossible.*

Flicker's power had never been negated before.

Valenor's laughter slithered through the chaos. Did you think I.wouldnt*adapt*?" The dark hunter emerged from the Titan's shadow, his armor glistening with stolen Void energy. Your beasts tricks are obsolete."

Thalion hauled Veythar upright, his voice a snarl. What the hells was that? "

Veythar wiped blood from his lips, eyes locked on Valenor's gauntletwhere

a pulsating black rune gleamed. *The same rune he'd carved into Flicker.*

He's using a counter-rune,

"Veythar hissed. It disrupts time manipulation."

Runes breath hitched. Then how do we kill it?"

Before Veythar could answer, the Titan *struck* again. Hunters scattered like leaves, their weapons useless. A gout of violet fire erupted from the beast's maw, incinerating the guild's eastern wing.

Then**Sylviaris appeared**.

Materializing from the smoke like a wraith, the scholar raised her hands. Ancient glyphs flared to life around her, their golden light weaving a net of searing energy. The Titan *howled* as the runes latched onto its form, freezing it mid-lunge.

One hour,"Sylviaris panted, her silver hair plastered to her face with sweat.

That's all I can give you."

Thalion's grip tightened on his sword. Then we move *now*."

Sylviariss revelation came like a dagger to the gut.

The Titan isnt here for slaughter,"she said, dragging them into the guild's crumbling archives. It's a *distraction*." She flung open a vault door, revealing rows of pulsating Void Coresthe guild's entire Reserve*.

Veythar's blood ran cold. Valenor's after these."

To feed the Citadel," Sylviaris confirmed. Each Core he steals brings the Devourer closer to freedom."

Rune's hands trembled. We cant let him take them."

No,"Thalion agreed, his cursed arm twitching. But we cant stop the Titan*and*Valenor."

Veythar's gaze fell on Flicker. The Void Beast's form flickered weakly, its golden eyes dim. *A sacrifice loomed.*

Then"the twist**.Sylviaris's shadow *moved on its own*, slithering toward the vault's darkest corner. There's another way,"she murmured. A relic. The *Eclipse Pike*."

Thalions eyes narrowed. The weapon that shattered the First Void Core?"

It's a myth,"Veythar snapped.

Sylviaris smiled. Is it?"

Her shadow yankeda clothfrom a hidden alcove, revealing a spear of blackened steel, its tip humming with fractured time.

The Eclipse Pike wasnt a weapon.

It was a *key*.

One strike,"Sylviaris warned, pressing it into Veythar's hands. Itll destabilize the Titan's Corebut itll also *fracture* Flicker's bond to you."

Veythar recoiled. Youre asking me to *kill* it,"

Tm asking you to *choose*,"she corrected. The beast or the city."

Flicker nuzzled his wrist, its tiny body trembling. *Trust*, its eyes said.*Always trust.*

Outside, the Titan's roar shook the foundations. The runes were failing. Thalion met Veythars gaze. No time."

Veythar clenched the Pike.

And *ran* toward the storm.

The battle was a blur of violet fire and splintered stone. Veythar dodged the Titan's claws, the Pike's weight burning his palms. Flicker's time-stasis flickered*just enough*to let him close the gap.

He *plunged* the Pike into the Titan's chest,

The world *screamed*,

The Titans Core shattered, its form dissolving into a vortex of dying light. But the backlash was immediate. Flicker *convulsed*, its body unraveling into smoke, its final whimper echoing through Veythar's mind like a requiem.

*Thank you."

Then"*silence**.

Valenor was gone. The Titan was ash.

And Flicker was *gone*.

As the guild's survivors staggered from the rubble, Sylviaris's shadow curled around Veythar's shoulders, her whisper a blade:

Now you understand. Power *always* has a price."