CHAPTER 355: INTO THE VEIN CROSSING

The first rays of dawn pierced through the canopy of twisted trees as the group stood before a vast, fractured land—an ever-shifting maze of canyons, suspended platforms, and glowing veins etched across shattered stone like divine circuitry.

The Vein Crossing was more than a location; it was a trial, a living maze, and a force of nature that bore the memory of countless eras long gone.

Kaelen, eyes glowing faintly with the lingering pulse of his blue liquid mana, stared down at the ravine ahead. His grip on the hilt of his fractured Blade of Eternity was tighter than usual.

"We tread carefully," he said, voice low. "I feel like this isn’t just terrain. It’s alive."

Beside him, Kelvin exhaled sharply, flexing his knuckles. "Then we kill it if it gets in our way."

Ethan had already summoned a light orb of mist mana that hovered above his shoulder, illuminating the sharp ridges and floating stone platforms ahead. "There’s distortion here... I can’t even track the mana flow properly. It’s fragmenting."

Guinevere’s brows furrowed as she glanced around, her Amaterasu-flared aura dimmed, as if suppressed. "The flames don’t want to respond either. Like they’re being... smothered."

Morris, ever perceptive, knelt down and touched one of the veins coursing through the stone. It glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm like a heartbeat. "This place... adapts to who enters it. It’s learning us."

At the rear, Eirana and her Voidcloak partner remained quiet, but tense. The creature’s tendrils flicked in agitation as it sensed the shifting pressure all around them.

The group stepped onto the first set of narrow stone bridges—suspended above a seemingly endless void—careful with each movement. But after less than an hour of walking, the crossing began to change.

The very terrain shifted beneath their feet.

Slabs of floating stone rotated mid-air, sending Kaelen and Kelvin scrambling for balance. Mist poured from the gaps in the earth, distorting light and sound.

"This place isn’t just alive," Ethan hissed. "It’s actively trying to confuse us."

They made it to a circular platform carved with ancient runes, panting lightly. The next path ahead was nowhere to be seen.

Then... the voices began.

Whispers.

Faint. Eerie. Familiar.

Kaelen’s head snapped to the side. His mother’s voice. "Kaelen... you failed us..."

Kelvin gritted his teeth. His sister’s voice muttering in his head. "You never came for me..."

Morris looked paler than ever. "Father..." he murmured, fists clenched.

Ethan suddenly collapsed to one knee, sweat pouring down his face as the illusion around him twisted into a scene from his past—his hometown in flames.

"Enough!" Guinevere’s voice broke the spell momentarily, her Inferno mana domain flaring protectively around her and the others. She drew in a shaky breath. "This place preys on trauma. The Vein Crossing is testing more than our navigation."

Kaelen nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "We’re not escaping this with brute force. It’s a test of unity. Of balance. We move only when we move together."

But before they could regroup—

A roar erupted from deeper in the crossing, followed by the crackling of stone splitting.

A massive creature, formed of stone, bone, and corrupted mana, lumbered toward them from the fractured edge. Its eyes glowed like molten cores.

"Spirits of the Crossing," Eirana whispered. "Guardians. It knows we’re not supposed to be here."

Kaelen took a stance, eyes flashing. "Then let’s prove we are."

They launched into battle as the crossing collapsed behind them. No way back. No way forward unless they earned it. Their only path was through the chaos—and through each other.

And yet, even as they fought, the feeling lingered:

They were not alone in the Vein Crossing.

Something deeper... darker... watching.

–––––

The Vein Crossing groaned like a living creature in agony as the great Guardian emerged from the stone-ravaged mist—its body forged from jagged obsidian and ancient bones of unknown beasts, veins of molten mana pulsing across its chest and limbs like arteries of fire and lightning.

Its hollow eyes stared down at them, devoid of malice... but filled with ancient purpose.

The beast was not here to kill.

It was here to test.

And it would do so without mercy.

The first to move was Kelvin.

"MOVE!"

He shot forward like a black comet, his body cloaked in his Unending Darkness mana domain, which expanded like a midnight storm. His scythe spun in wide arcs, trailing shadowy afterimages as he roared and slashed at the Guardian’s lower limbs.

His blade clanged off with a horrible screech—sparks of dark-red mana colliding with ancient stone.

"Dammit! It’s tougher than it looks!"

Beside him, Guinevere leapt into the air, her hair flickering like a flame as she screamed:

"Lehavot: Crimson Wreath!"

She ignited her Amaterasu, and the surrounding air shimmered into crimson ash. Her flaming whip lashed forward, wrapping around the Guardian’s left arm. It screeched in a deep bellow, the attack only slowing it for a moment.

"INFERNO DOMAIN—FULL RELEASE!"

Guinevere’s body erupted with a blazing dome of solar flame, her Amaterasu and infernal core fusing together, melting stone as she yanked the Guardian sideways toward Ethan, who had already taken position.

With his mist twin blades drawn, Ethan dove from above, spiraling like a whirlwind.

"Mist Blade Art: Severance of Form!"

His mist-infused blades carved into the beast’s shoulders, spraying fragmented chunks of its armor—but it responded with an immediate counterattack.

A massive hand backhanded him across the floating platform.

"Ethan!" Kaelen shouted.

But Ethan hit the stone, bounced, rolled—and stood, bleeding—but grinning. "Still good!"

Morris stepped forward, his Elemental Matrix domain unfolding around him in a dazzling spectacle of raw magic. Wind, fire, earth, water, lightning, and more danced around him in chaotic harmony. With his Scepter of All Elements, he thrust forward and shouted:

"Arcane Reversal: Elemental Judgment!"

The air shattered with elemental fury.

Bolts of fire and ice, currents of electrified wind, waves of molten rock—all surged into the Guardian in unison. For a moment, it staggered, arms raised in defense as the elemental torrent cascaded against it.

But then—

It broke through.

With a guttural roar, it slammed a fist into the ground.

The entire platform cracked, pieces crumbling into the abyss below. Everyone leapt to more stable ground.

Kaelen growled.

"This is taking too long..."

He lowered into a stance, his body thrumming with blue light as he abandoned his blade, tossing it aside.

Only fists now.

The air warped around him as golden Qi from the Juggernauts surged from his core.

A second surge—the familiar blue liquid Qi that shimmered like mercury—wrapped around his arms like a divine coil.

"Let’s see if stone can bleed."

He launched forward.

His first punch collided with the Guardian’s face with enough force to shake the entire Crossing.

A crater of stone shattered beneath them.

The Guardian growled.

Kaelen moved with increasing ferocity. Every strike of his fists echoed like cannonfire. His right arm, covered in Juggernaut Qi, struck with earth-splitting force. His left arm, soaked in liquid Qi, moved like a stream through gaps, piercing with surgical precision.

Kelvin joined him from the side, his Abyssal Void Scythe and his domain like a storm of dread. With their combined power, they forced the Guardian back—step by step—until it finally knelt.

But then...

It laughed.

A deep, echoing laugh like grinding boulders.

Its body glowed—and then split into three.

Three Guardians.

One charged at Eirana and the Voidcloak beside her, who protected the backline with her silver longsword and flowing Qi. Her footwork and with the swiftness of the Voidcloak danced like wind through trees, and though their power was not as flashy, their precision was perfect. Every slash disrupted the Guardian’s movements.

Morris lifted both arms, Scepter swirling. "Elemental Lock: Tetra-Array Seal!"

Four walls of radiant elemental glyphs crashed into the newly-formed Guardians, holding them in place just long enough—

—for Kaelen and Kelvin to finish it.

"NOW!" Kaelen bellowed.

Their attacks combined.

A horizontal scythe slash, boosted with Darkness Domain and Qi.

A Juggernaut punch, laced with Kaelen’s full body weight and liquid essence.

BOOM—

The explosion of power knocked all three Guardians off the platforms into the abyss below.

For a moment... silence.

Only the sound of heavy breathing and the creaking of the shifting veins beneath their feet.

Then—

A faint pulse beneath the cracked floor.

Ethan stumbled and placed a hand to his ear. "You hear that?"

Kaelen looked around. "It’s coming from... below us."

The ground suddenly glowed.

A circle. A sigil. Ancient, massive, dormant for millennia.

It thrummed to life—glowing veins feeding into it from all around the Crossing.

And then, the ground beneath them began to lower.

A secret chamber, buried under the Vein Crossing, opened like a mechanical iris.

At its heart: A dormant statue—different from the others. Neither elemental, nor symbolic of a trial. This one... was humanoid. Tall. Winged. Cloaked in runes. Eyes closed.

Kaelen stepped forward, heart pounding. "What... is this?"

Eirana spoke next, voice hushed in awe. "That’s no statue."

Morris’s eyes widened.

"That’s... an Eternal."