Nyssara continued reaching toward her true cosmic body with every fragment of consciousness she still possessed. Again and again she extended her soul through the broken connection that linked this mortal avatar to her true existence, desperately searching for even the faintest response.

But every attempt ended in failure. The vast emptiness beyond her senses remained silent, refusing to acknowledge her existence no matter how desperately she reached toward it.

The harder she forced the connection the more intense the pain became. Cracks spread deeper through her soul and every pulse of agony reminded her that she had violated the oath with her own hands. The backlash she had ignored during the battle now clawed mercilessly at her, making her already unstable vessel tremble as more of her power continued leaking away into the dead world.

A feeling she had not experienced for an unimaginably long time settled greater inside her heart. The feeling of despair, quickly followed by fear.

Nyssara had always believed that, regardless of what happened to this avatar, she would eventually find a way to return to her true body. That allowed her to remain calm before.

But now that certainty no longer existed. Every failed attempt stripped away another piece of her confidence until she finally accepted that she could not restore the connection on her own.

There was still one possibility left. The Void Architect.

The mere thought of asking him for help filled her with humiliation. She hated him for dragging her into this meaningless contest and she hated even more the possibility of owing him a favor afterward.

Accepting his assistance would mean acknowledging that she had failed, and admitting that he had become the only one capable of saving her.

The thought twisted inside her like poison, making her pride scream in protest.Yet pride meant nothing if she died!

Suppressing every feeling of anger and humiliation, Nyssara reached through the faint remnants of their connection and searched for the Void Architect’s consciousness.

"Void Architect... answer me."

Silence greeted her.

She reached farther, pushing through the pain as more cracks spread across her soul.

But still nothing. Not even the slightest trace remained.

Nyssara refused to believe it and tried again. She searched more desperately than before, widening her senses across every layer of existence that she could still perceive despite the damage to her soul.

Nothing answered.

It was as though the Void Architect had completely vanished from existence.

Her expression slowly stiffened.

A terrifying realization crept into her mind.

"He’s... gone?"

If she could no longer find even the slightest fragment of his consciousness, then only one explanation remained. The Void Architect was already dead.

That realization struck Nyssara hard. If even the Void Architect had died, then everything had spiraled far beyond her expectations.

She had entered this world believing herself untouchable, only to end up trapped inside a dying vessel, unable to return home, abandoned by the only other cosmic being who might have helped her.

Nyssara truly felt cornered.

—

Inside the endless darkness consuming Erend’s mind, the distant voices gradually became clearer. They no longer sounded like meaningless echoes drifting through an endless void. They carried warmth that slowly pierced the hatred surrounding his consciousness.

The words remained indistinct, but the emotions behind them became clearer. He felt concern, sorrow, hope, and desperation continuously reaching toward him as if someone refused to give up no matter how deeply he had fallen.

The endless darkness surrounding Erend resisted immediately. More hatred surged, attempting to drown those voices.

His instinct screamed that nothing mattered except destroying the enemy standing before him. The desire to protect those he loved had become horribly distorted until protection meant nothing except annihilating every possible threat.

Yet despite the Black Rage’s resistance, fragments of memory began surfacing from somewhere deep within his consciousness.

He remembered that familiar voice. Then he remembered a shared journey, laughter, battles fought side by side.

The memories appeared only for brief moments before the darkness tried to bury them again, but each fragment remained longer than the last.

Slowly, Erend found himself questioning the endless hatred surrounding him.

"Who... is calling me?"

—

In the physical world, Erend suddenly exploded with another deafening roar as black lightning erupted violently from every wound covering his body.

The surge instantly shattered large portions of the restraints surrounding him before his remaining claw burst free and swept across the battlefield with overwhelming force.

The attack struck Eccar. His body was hurled through the air like a broken projectile before crashing through several enormous pillars of stone.

The impact shattered the pillars completely and drove him deep into the earth as scales exploded from his chest beneath the tremendous force.

Blood sprayed to the air while one of his wings bent unnaturally, and deep cracks spread across his scales protecting his body.

"Eccar!" Aesa shouted as she instinctively strengthened the remaining restraints.

Sylven immediately summoned another wave of enormous vines, but neither of them moved toward Eccar.

Despite every injury covering his body, Eccar slowly forced himself back onto his feet. Blood continued flowing from dozens of wounds as pain spread through every part of his body, yet he paid no attention to any of it. His eyes never left Erend for even a single moment.

He stepped forward once again. Then he reopened their telepathic connection.

"Erend... Listen to me. You’ve already won. You don’t have to keep fighting anymore. We’re here. I’m here."

Every word carried more than sound. Eccar poured years of shared memories into the connection.

Countless battles they had survived together, every victory they had celebrated, failure they had endured, and sacrifice they had witnessed. He sent everything he possessed, hoping that somewhere beneath the endless hatred, the real Erend was still listening.

Inside the darkness, the voice finally reached him. It no longer sounded unfamiliar. It belonged to someone important.

Someone irreplaceable.

"Eccar..."

The name surfaced naturally within Erend’s consciousness. The moment it did, the darkness hesitated.

Cracks spread across the endless sea of hatred as memories flooded back with unstoppable force. He remembered his mother and sister.

He remembered Eccar standing beside him through impossible battles and the companions who had trusted him with their lives, and he remembered why he had chosen to become stronger in the first place.

None of it had been for destruction. It had always been to protect.

That realization tore through the Black Rage.

Outside, the overwhelming storm of black lightning surrounding Erend gradually began to calm. The violent explosions of Magic weakened as the deafening thunder slowly faded into distant echoes.

His body stopped struggling against the restraints, and the unbearable pressure that had blanketed the battlefield steadily diminished.

The lightning surrounding him remained black, but it no longer lashed out uncontrollably.

His breathing became slow and uneven. Then the darkness filling his eyes had disappeared.

Even though the exhaustion and lingering traces of rage remained, the madness was gone and recognition gradually returned.

Erend looked around the devastated battlefield with confusion as if he was just awakening from a nightmare.

His gaze finally settled on the bloodied Dragon standing before him.

"Eccar?" he asked quietly through their connection, his voice filled with disbelief and exhaustion.

—