The world was coming apart.
Lucian felt it in his bones, in the way the ground trembled beneath his feet, in the way the sky darkened as if the heavens themselves had turned their backs on what was about to unfold.
Nyx stood at the precipice of the Abyss, the Heart pulsing in her grasp, its blood-red glow illuminating her pale features. The rift behind her had widened, jagged edges stretching out like the maw of a great beast, hungry and endless.
Lucian tightened his grip on his sword, his heart hammering. He knew the choice before him.
And he hated it.
Selene was beside him, her golden flames flickering at her fingertips. She was breathing hard, exhaustion from their last battle still clinging to her, but her stance remained firm.
Ash stood on Lucian's other side, swaying slightly, their face pale. The remnants of Nyx's control still clung to them, like a shadow refusing to let go.
Nyx tilted her head, watching them with a smirk. "I can feel it, you know," she said softly. "The war inside you."
Lucian clenched his jaw. "You have no idea what's inside me."
Nyx chuckled. "Oh, but I do."
The Heart pulsed brighter. The Abyss shuddered.
And then the shadows came alive.
The Last Battle Begins
The Forsaken rose from the darkness, their bodies shifting and writhing, their hollow eyes locked onto Lucian, Selene, and Ash.
The ground shook as monstrous creatures clawed their way free from the depths, their forms shifting like liquid, grotesque and twisted beyond recognition.
Lucian barely had time to move before the first one lunged.
He sidestepped, bringing his sword up in a clean arc, slicing through the creature's shifting body. It shrieked but didn't die, merely reforming as if his blade had done nothing.
Selene blazed beside him, her fire tearing through the creatures, forcing them back—but not destroying them.
"They won't stop," Ash gasped, slashing at another Forsaken. "They'll just keep coming!"
Lucian's stomach twisted. They were buying time.
For Nyx.
His gaze snapped back to her. She was chanting, her voice a whisper on the wind, the Heart of the Abyss floating above her hands, tendrils of darkness wrapping around her body like armor.
She was finishing the ritual.
If she succeeded—
The Abyss wouldn't just wake.
It would consume everything.
Lucian's blood turned to ice.
They had one chance.
The Choice
Lucian pushed forward, cutting through Forsaken as he sprinted toward Nyx.
"Lucian!" Selene called, but he didn't stop.
Nyx lifted her gaze, her smirk widening. "Come to take what's yours?"
Lucian's heart pounded. The closer he got to the Heart, the stronger its pull became.
It wants me.
He skidded to a stop just feet from Nyx, staring at the pulsing orb between them.
His breath caught in his throat.
For a moment, the battle around him faded.
He saw the Abyss—not as a force of destruction, but as something ancient.Endless.
And waiting.
The power was right there, stretching out to him.
Take it.
One step closer, and it would be his.
All of it.
The chaos. The control. The knowledge. The strength to end this war before it began.
Lucian felt his fingers twitch.
He could do it.
He could take it, reshape it, wield the Abyss against itself.
Nyx watched him, silver eyes gleaming. "You were never meant to fight it," she murmured. "You were meant to rule it."
Lucian's breath shuddered.
The weight of everything crashed into him.
His whole life—his curse, his power, his struggle—it all led to this moment.
The world or the Abyss.
One would consume the other.
And he?
He was the only one who could decide which.
Selene's voice cut through the haze.
"Lucian!"
He turned—
And saw her reaching for him.
Her fire was golden, pure, untouched by darkness.
And suddenly—
Lucian knew his answer.
Breaking the Cycle
Lucian lunged, but not for the Heart.
For Nyx.
Her eyes widened as he grabbed her by the wrist, his free hand shooting toward the Heart—not to claim it, but to destroy it.
Nyx screamed.
The Abyss howled.
Lucian's fingers brushed the Heart—
And fire erupted from his touch.
Not Abyssal power. Not darkness.
But light.
Golden, brilliant, blinding.
It wasn't his.
It was Selene's.
Lucian turned, and saw her standing behind him, her flames surging through him, using him as a conduit, as a weapon.
He didn't fight it.
He let it burn.
Nyx shrieked, her body twisting, unraveling, as the fire engulfed them both.
And the Heart?
The Heart shattered.
The Abyss Collapses
A roar split the air.
The rift trembled, the Forsaken screeching as their forms withered, dissolving into dust.
The land shook, the sky cracked, and then—
Everything collapsed inward.
The Abyss was imploding.
Lucian gasped, falling to his knees as the weight of it all crushed down on him.
Selene barely caught him before he hit the ground. "Lucian!"
He blinked, dazed. The darkness inside him—
It was gone.
The Abyss had lost its hold on him.
And Nyx?
She lay on the ground, her silver eyes dimming, the last remnants of the Heart's power slipping through her fingers.
She laughed.
Even in defeat.
"You think this is over?" she whispered. "You think you've won?"
Lucian exhaled, his body weak, but his voice steady.
"No." He looked at Selene. "But we're finally free."
Nyx's lips curved into a bitter smile—
And with a final breath, she vanished into the fading Abyss.
The Dawn of a New Era
The battle was over.
The Abyss was sealed, the darkness no longer lurking beneath the world, waiting to consume it.
Lucian still felt the scars of it inside him, but for the first time in his life, he wasn't afraid.
Selene sat beside him, her fingers entwined with his. "What now?"
Lucian looked at her, a slow smile forming.
"Now?"
He exhaled.
"We start over."
End of Chapter Sixty-Four