Chapter 82: Echoes in the Deep
The moon bled light.
The stars vanished, one by one.
And across every continent, faith itself began to flicker.
At the center of the world, Jean Luther stood tall at the summit of the Luther Citadel. Eclipsion strapped to her back. Solstice drawn and radiant at her side. Her presence, once merely awe-inspiring, now bent the aura fields of those around her.
An Absolute Master.
But even she felt it: the trembling of reality—the page being turned before the story was finished.
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The Remnants of the Emissaries
Only a few emissaries remained now. Seraphine Durnstahl, the Emissary of Flame, stood with blistering aura at the Citadel's edge, her burning wings unfurled like a phoenix reborn.
Illyana Veyr had returned—rescued by Jean herself from the fold between time and void, though her once-pristine white aura was now rimmed in gray frost. Changed.
And Vaelros the Hollow had not perished.
Instead, he had become something else—his form no longer wholly man, his shadow powers amplified by the broken black egg he had stolen from a forgotten vault beneath the world. No one spoke of it, but the others felt it—the presence of something other wearing his skin.
> "The gods are dying," Illyana said coldly. "And the void wants their thrones."
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Magistery Archives – The Truth of the Codex
Ryan Magus and Erin Magus stood over the pulsing, cursed Codex. The vaults around them trembled with whispers.
Jean descended into the archives, the Codex immediately reacting to her presence—pages flipping themselves violently.
> "You," it spoke through a dozen mouths.
> "The girl born of dusk and dawn. The Echo of Martin. The Emissary who broke time."
Ryan stepped forward, cautious. "I tried to use it. I wanted to rewrite the outcome."
Jean's eyes narrowed. "And what did you see?"
> "The ending," Ryan whispered. "Where we all vanish. Not with pain. But with silence. As if none of us had ever been."
Jean's grip on Solstice tightened.
> "Then we will write something new."
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The Void Between Realms – The Rescue
Seraphine and Illyana, guided by Jean's aura signature, opened the gates to the space between. The Emissaries walked where even gods feared to tread.
There, they found Karen—unmoving, trapped in a stasis of storm and void, her Stormhawk Raigen frantically cawing overhead.
Jean touched the storm with Solstice. Her light cut through it.
Karen's eyes opened. Her first word: "He's awake."
> "Who?" Jean asked softly.
> "The First. The one even dragons kneel to. The one the Codex was written for."
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The Realization
Back in the Divine Realm, Martin Luther stood alone.
The rivers ran red. Celeste had gone silent.
And in the sky of that sacred place, a word was being etched by invisible flame.
> "UNMAKE"
Martin fell to his knees.
> "Jean," he whispered, tears forming. "You're not facing Antares anymore. That was only the prelude."
> "You're standing against the one who taught the gods how to dream."
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