The air in the Celestial Chamber crackled with volatile energies as Reed backed against the wall, his eyes fixed on the Void Crucible atop the altar. Varkath's laughter—harsh and brimming with malice—echoed through the chamber as his elite guards closed in, their weapons drawn and glinting with enchantments designed to pierce magical defenses.
"Your journey ends here, usurper," Varkath sneered, his face contorted with hatred. "The fragments were never meant for someone of such... humble origins."
Reed's hands trembled, not from fear but from the resonance of the two fragments already embedded within his being. They pulsated beneath his skin like twin hearts, responding to the proximity of their missing piece. The Void Crucible—a jagged crystalline structure that seemed to swallow the light around it—called to him with a pull so primal he could taste it on his tongue, metallic and ancient.
