Break the Chain

The path ahead was carved from obsidian-black stone, twisted like a spine that had been snapped and re-fused a thousand times. Each step forward sent sparks flickering underfoot—faint embers from some ancient war still simmering in the bones of the Abyss.

Julius led now.

Not just walking ahead — but burning forward. The glow of his Rising Flame bathed the walls in firelight, casting long shadows behind them. Shadows that flickered, twisted... and sometimes moved when no one did.

Subaru's eyes lingered on those shadows. "It's watching us again."

Reinhart's fingers curled tighter around the haft of his hammer. "Let it watch. We're not the same fools who walked in."

They weren't.

Not after Julius's awakening. Not after Subaru unleashed the Abyss-gale. Not after Reinhart touched that cursed altar and heard his shadow whisper back.

Chapter 7.1

The corridor narrowed into a jagged split — one path veering into violet mist, the other crackling with a low electrical hum.

Reinhart closed his eyes. The Abyss pulsed like a drumbeat behind his ribs. "We're being funneled. This isn't random."

Julius grunted, voice low. "You think Amelia's pulling the strings?"

Subaru's eyes narrowed. "Or the King. He's stirring. The Abyss has its own mind — and it wants us to bleed before we get close."

The decision was silent. They took the path with lightning.

Because pain was a teacher — and they were past running.

Chapter 7.2

It hit them like a wave.

Not lightning. Not flame. Not shadow.

Memory.

The air shimmered — and they were no longer alone.

Figures stepped from the walls. Half-formed. Blurred. But familiar.

Julius's eyes widened. "No…"

Before him stood a boy with soot-covered cheeks and scorched palms. Himself — younger, afraid, small.

Subaru staggered, clutching his head as specters of his past swirled — the shipwreck, the storm, the faces of those he couldn't save.

Reinhart knelt, his breath caught in his throat. A woman stood before him. Pale. Eyes like mirrors. His sister.

The one who never came back from her dive.

Her voice was a whisper of ash. "Why did you live?"

Their enemies were not monsters this time. They were wounds.

And the Abyss demanded they bleed.

Chapter 7.3

Reinhart rose slowly. His armor cracked, breath shaking — but his voice rang clear.

"I lived because I had to. Because if I died… no one would be left to fight."

He swung his hammer. Not at the vision — but at the ground itself.

The impact sent a pulse through the echo-realm, fracturing the illusions.

Subaru followed. Wind swirled around him as he faced the storm of memory. "I didn't save them. But I'll save who I can now."

He roared, and his gale shredded the phantoms.

Julius clenched his fists. Flames flickered uncertainly.

"I was a coward. I ran."

The boy before him didn't speak. Just looked up with hollow eyes.

"I hated myself. But I burned through it. And I'll burn through you too."

He punched the memory.

It burst into embers.

And the chain shattered.

They stood again in the real Abyss — breathless, battered, but whole.

Julius wiped sweat from his brow. "That was worse than any beast we've fought."

Subaru nodded. "And more necessary."

Reinhart looked up — toward the vast dark above them. "They want to break us. But all they've done is sharpen the blade."

Chapter 7.4

Ahead, the ground gave way to a vast black hollow — a bottomless chasm rimmed with glowing runes.

A bridge hung suspended by nothing but tension — a single line of cracked stone stretching into infinity.

And on the other side... movement.

Figures cloaked in shadow. Eyes like lanterns. Masks of bone and gold.

The Watchers.

Keepers of the King.

"Guess we're not sneaking past," Julius muttered, fire dancing along his knuckles.

Reinhart raised his hammer. "We go through."

Subaru drew a long breath, wind coiling around him. "No more turning back."

Together, they stepped onto the bridge.

The Watchers waited.

But so did destiny.