The air seemed to stiffen as Kael's words faded.

Umbra floated silently, observing the fissure beneath the tree—the purple glow pulsed like the beating of an unholy heart, casting vivid reflections on the twisted trunks.

There was something there. Something that breathed.

Kael remained motionless, eyes fixed on the center of the opening.

The vibration of the corrupted mana was irregular—sometimes intense, sometimes almost imperceptible, as if the flow oscillated between two planes.

"This isn't just residue from the Core..." he murmured, more to himself. "It's a derivation. Someone is feeding this source from the outside."

Umbra lightly placed one of her spectral hands on the trunk. The wood was warm.

"The flow comes from inside the cave. I feel a presence... ancient, but not natural. Something that was molded."

Kael stood up.

"So there's a passage under Azalith. Probably used during the founding of the Academy."

He moved some of the earth away with a gesture.

The shadow reacted, forming blades that cut roots and displaced stones with surgical precision.

Soon, the entrance was exposed—a narrow, dark corridor where the purple energy seemed more intense.

Umbra recoiled slightly, her bluish eyes flashing.

"If you go in there, you'll face the heart of the flow. If it's a trap, there will be no easy way out."

Kael glanced at her briefly, and a slight smile—tired, but resolute—crossed his face.

"Since when has the easy path been ours?"

Umbra sighed, and her form partially dissolved, enveloping him like a protective cloak.

"Then I'll go with you. But maintain control, Kael. This kind of mana can interfere even with the Umbral."

He nodded.

He took a step—and the world changed.

The cave was alive. The air vibrated, and the ground pulsed beneath their feet, as if the earth had veins.

The walls were covered in runes—ancient, some broken, others hastily restored.

A purple glow moved among them, running from symbol to symbol, forming a web of unstable energy.

Umbra cautiously touched one of the inscriptions.

"These runes aren't from Azalith. They're older. Pre-academic language. Is this… Elaric?"

Kael frowned. "The language of the first conjurers…?"

He ran his hand over the rune, and it responded with a slight vibration.

"Someone has rewritten parts of the text. It's adapted—made to channel energy instead of sealing it."

Umbra looked at him, alarmed. "An inversion ritual. They've turned the seal into a source. This is madness."

Kael narrowed his eyes. "Or genius. Depending on your point of view."

He moved further in.

The tunnel gradually widened, until it opened into a large underground chamber.

The ceiling was supported by natural stone columns—and in the center, there was an active mana circle.

The runes on the floor rotated slowly, and in the core of the circle, a black crystal pulsed like a fallen star.

Purple energy emanated from it, spreading in waves.

Kael felt a shiver run down his spine.

"This… is a fragment of the Core."

Umbra approached, her eyes wide. "But the Core was destroyed!"

"Fragmented," Kael corrected. "Not destroyed."

He knelt down, analyzing the structure.

The crystal was partially covered by veins of living mana—like the roots of an arcane plant, connecting to the walls.

And among them, he saw something that chilled his blood.

Symbols of the Academy.

Runes of Altharion himself. Umbra took a step back. "These markings… are they his?"

Kael nodded slowly.

"But that doesn't make sense. The director wouldn't have used this kind of writing outside the research Cores… unless…"

He stopped.

His breathing became heavier.

The air seemed to close in, the shadow at his feet vibrating in response to the growing anger.

Umbra noticed the change and spoke cautiously.

"Kael. Tell me what you're thinking."

"These runes," he murmured, "were made with internal access. No one outside the Academy would be allowed to manipulate a fragment of the Core. That means someone from the magic council did this—or someone with direct access to the matrices."

Umbra blinked. "You're saying the attack came from within. That someone deliberately fed the Core with corruption."

Kael remained silent.

The anger transformed into pure coldness.

"And there's something else."

He raised his hand.

His shadow lengthened, touching the crystal.

The purple energy reacted violently, crackling like liquid fire, but Kael maintained control—and the flow stabilized for a brief instant.

Enough for him to see.

A memory.

Not his—the crystal's.

A laboratory.

Runes being redrawn.

A female figure with light hair, her face covered by a veil of arcane light.

And a voice, echoing as if coming from within the stone itself:

"For Azalith… and for him."

Kael recoiled sharply, breaking the contact.

The crystal roared, pulsing violently.

Umbra held him back. "What did you see?"

He was silent for a few seconds. Then, he answered softly, as if the forest itself could hear him:

"Lyra."

Umbra froze. "The director's assistant? That's impossible. She—"

"—disappeared before the collapse," Kael finished. "Now we know why."

The crystal pulsed stronger, reacting to the name.

Cracks opened in the walls, and the ground trembled.

The energy began to expand, alive, hungry.

Kael raised his sword, his gaze hardened.

"Umbra, emergency sealing. Maximum level."

"Kael, if we activate this down here, the flow could—"

"Do whatever it wants. But it can't escape."

Umbra nodded and raised her hands.

The shadow expanded, enveloping the circle in a cocoon of darkness.

The energy fought against the confinement, crackling, screaming in ancient voices.

Kael kept the blade steady, the runes on his skin glowing gold and blue.

"Lyra…" he murmured, his eyes fixed on the crystal.

"If what I saw is true… then you knew from the beginning."

The ground trembled with the last pulse.

Then, silence.

The purple glow extinguished, leaving only the sound of Kael's own heart beating in the dark.

Umbra looked around, exhausted.

"We did it… for now."

Kael sheathed his sword, taking a deep breath.

"This changes everything."

He looked at the sealed crack—the place where the crystal now rested, imprisoned in the shadow.

"Lyra, Altharion, and the Core… none of this was chance. This was orchestrated."

Umbra crossed her ethereal arms. "And now?"

Kael turned towards the exit. "Now," he said, his voice cold and resolute, "I'm going back to the director. And I'm going to make him tell me what he's been hiding."

The shadow moved beneath his feet, and the night veil swallowed the cave's light, carrying Kael back to the surface.

The wind greeted him—cold, biting, laden with the smell of ashes and broken promises.

He looked at the horizon, where Azalith still smoldered under the setting sun.

And he murmured, low, like a sentence:

"This time, no one will escape the truth."

Kael remained kneeling for long seconds, watching the purple glow pulsate beneath the roots of the ancient tree. The air seemed to vibrate with an energy that did not belong to that world—a force that escaped the natural laws of mana. Each pulse made his chest reverberate, as if the heart of the forest were beating at the wrong rhythm.

Umbra approached, her expression grave. "Kael… if this is indeed an anchoring point, it's working in reverse. The energy isn't being drained—it's being expelled."

He nodded slightly. "I noticed."

A moment of silence. The sound of the wind seemed to die around them. The whole place had become a sensory vacuum—no insects, no birds, no life. Only that constant hum coming from the fissure, mixed with the subtle tremor of the earth.

Kael slowly rose, wiping the dust from his hands. "Someone reconnected the flow. That shouldn't be possible without a catalyst equivalent to the Core."

Umbra crossed her arms, floating a few meters above the ground. "And who would have the power for that? The Arcane Council of Azalith has been completely dispersed. The senior mages are either dead or sealing the city's borders."

Kael watched the purple glow reflect in his own irises. "Then someone who doesn't need authorization."

Umbra blinked. "Are you saying… someone like you?" He didn't answer. He just stood there, staring at the point of light until the wind changed direction.

Suddenly, the ground vibrated more strongly. The roots moved. Something—a low murmur, a distant voice—echoed from within the rift. It wasn't sound. It was a direct impression, a presence trying to touch his mind.

Umbra recoiled, alarmed. "That's... conscious."

Kael stepped forward, his cloak billowing. "I know."

The rift reacted. The purple glow intensified, and a spiral of energy rose, as if something were trying to cross the boundary between planes. A figure formed in the center—first formless, then increasingly distinct. Silhouettes of hands, faces, fragments of flesh and shadow mixed in a pulsating mass.

Umbra shouted, "Retreat now!"

But Kael was already moving his hands, weaving runes of containment. The shadow beneath his feet spread, forming concentric circles of black energy. The runes ignited like embers, and the entire forest seemed to bend under the weight of the magic.

"If I retreat, it spreads," he said, his voice low and firm.

Umbra snarled, "You have no idea what you're facing!"

Kael ignored her. The purple glow reacted to the runes, as if it had recognized an opposing force. Dark currents rose from the ground, trying to restrain the flow. For a moment, it worked. The air stopped. The light dimmed.

Then... a scream.

Not human.

Something inside the rift screamed—and the world seemed to shatter for an instant. The surrounding trees writhed as if they had a life of their own, the ground cracked, and a wave of energy corroded everything it touched.

Kael was thrown several meters backward, rolling until he came to rest against a fallen tree trunk. Umbra materialized beside him, partially undone by the force of the impact.

"Are you alright?!"

He coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "I've been through worse."

When he looked at the rift again, it was… different. The purple glow had receded, condensing into a floating sphere. Inside it, there was a human form—or something that imitated one.

Umbra whispered, "That's… a soul."

Kael slowly got to his feet, his eyes fixed on the figure. "No. That's a fragment."

The form inside the sphere moved. Slowly, it raised its face—pale, indistinct, but… familiar. The features were impossible to ignore.

"It can't be…" Umbra murmured, recoiling. "Kael… that's Director Altharion's face."

Kael's body tensed. He was paralyzed for an instant, unable to react.

"But I saved him," he whispered, almost to himself. "I saw the body. He was alive."

The figure inside the sphere opened its eyes. Empty, white pupils, but with a purple spark burning in the center. When it spoke, the voice sounded distorted, echoing multiple times.

"Alive… and divided."

Kael took a step forward. "What did they do to you?"

"What you… started."

Umbra placed herself between the two, extending her arms. "That's not him. It's a corrupted copy. The real Altharion is still resting at the camp."

But the fragment smiled. "Resting? No. He never rested. Part of him remained… here. Held… by will. By guilt."

The ground trembled again. The giant tree let out a deep groan, and fissures began to open around the rift. Kael narrowed his eyes. "You were left here to keep the portal active."

"I wasn't left. I stayed."

Umbra looked at Kael, distressed. "This is feeding on his guilt… and yours. Every memory of failure, every life lost… is being used as fuel for this anomaly."

Kael closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they glowed a deep shade of violet. "Then it's time to set him free."

The shadow beneath his feet expanded, covering the entire clearing. Umbra floated back, preparing her spiritual defenses. "Kael, if you absorb this, there won't be anything human left in you."

He took a deep breath. "Perhaps that's the price."

The fragment laughed—a trembling, multifaceted, almost childlike laugh. "You still don't understand… It's not a prison. It's a seed."

Before Kael could react, the sphere shattered. The purple energy exploded in all directions, and a complex symbol—a circular seal—formed beneath his feet. Umbra screamed, trying to break the bond, but it was too late.

The seal connected to Kael's shadow.

An ancient bond. A call that didn't come from Earth, but from the abyss.

Kael fell to his knees, feeling the energy invade his veins. It was cold, dense, alive. And amidst the pain, he heard—not with his ears, but directly in his mind—a deep voice, far beyond human:

"Awaken, heir of ruin."

Umbra materialized before him, her eyes wide. "Kael! Fight it! It's the same power that destroyed the Core!"

He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. Every shadow, every creature linked to him, began to tremble in unison. Some dissolved. Others… knelt. And in the center of the chaos, Kael slowly raised his face, his gaze a mixture of pain and clarity.

"Umbra…"

She leaned closer, almost pleading. "Speak to me!"

"I saw." His voice was hoarse, but firm. "I saw what really opened the gate…"

Umbra stopped, her heart—if she still had one—freezing in her chest. "What?"

Kael took a deep breath, blood trickling from his nose.

"It wasn't an enemy. It was a summons. Someone… from within the Academy. Someone who wanted to unleash the same power that now tries to consume me."

Umbra recoiled. "Who?"

Kael looked up. His pupils were now completely consumed by the incandescent purple.

And before he could answer—the forest split in two with a deafening roar.

A new portal began to open.