THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENCE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SOME READERS.
Damon stumbled into the darkness, the roar of the Resonant Stride silenced behind him as the massive stone seal clanged shut. The air was heavy and ancient.
He was deep within the earth, inside a circular cavern that looked small from the outside but stretched impossibly wide and tall within. A single obsidian platform stood at the center: smooth, dark, and waiting.
"Where... where am I?" Damon muttered. His voice echoed back as his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the cool stone, his hand holding unto a diamon in the cave.
Outside, Solaren's refusal made Daichi bark in protest. Solaren couldn't understand him in words, but he knew. He scooped Daichi into his arms and ran. He moved at full capacity, faster than Daichi's eyes could comprehend, the world blurring into streaks of color and wind.
Inside the cave, Damon struggled to rise. He turned from his stomach to his back, his breath shallow. "I did it," he whispered.
The cave was dark. Not dim, but absent of all light. He summoned his Radiant Veil, and his body lit up, tracing his frame in gold. He didn't use it for long; crystals embedded in the cave walls responded to his Eterna, glowing purple, blue, and green. The ceiling stretched high, impossibly vast.
Then he saw him: a man sitting in the chair. The only thing between Damon and the man was the vast space and the obsidian platform in the middle.
"Who is that?" Damon whispered, stepping forward carefully.
The man's eyes opened, black rimmed with green like moss in shadow. He stepped through the haze, his brown hair tousled and pushed back just enough to show the sharpness in his jaw.
His armor wasn't heavy, just layered metal with faded etchings, shaped like something passed down rather than forged new. Orange light flickered across him, not from magic, but from a fire behind him.
"The Seraph has returned," the figure said. His voice wasn't sound; it was vibration. "I am the Keeper of this vault. You stand at the heart of your beginning. Are you prepared?"
Damon dusted his clothes. "Prepared for what, exactly?"
The Keeper frowned. "I have dwelled in this place, waiting, hoping, and praying that the Chosen One would come to release me... and you don't even know why you're here?!"
A green aura surged and the wind howled. Damon staggered. He must have a wind affinity, he thought.
"If you want to be released early," Damon shouted through the gusts, his arms covering his face, "why not just skip the drama and tell me what I'm here for?"
The aura cooled, though the crystals still shone. "You are here to be tested. The Chosen One must succeed in this trial if he has any intention of saving Eternum and the Multiverse."
Damon tilted his head, crystal light reflecting in his blue eyes with a hint of gold. "I never said I was the Chosen One. So, I'll just be on my way." He turned to leave.
"Halt," the Keeper said. The word sent shivers through Damon's spine. "Only the Chosen One can break the seal on this cave. You seem to have broken it."
Damon exhaled. "What's the trial?"
The Keeper descended the stairs, each step bold. "Fight me. Win, and receive your reward. It will help you in your journey."
"And if I lose?"
"Then I will tell the people of Woewyn to prepare for their inevitable ends. If you fail, I will be the reason you take your last breath."
Damon's eyes widened. This is about the tenth time I've faced death in four months, he thought. "What's the reward?"
The Keeper charged, his sword stopping an inch from Damon's face. He's fast, Damon thought.
"I won't give you the satisfaction of knowing—"
A punch came from below. It was just like Solaren's, but this time it was meant to hit. Damon bent backward, dodging both blade and fist. He kicked upward in a backflip, sending the Keeper flying upwards though the keeper used wind to land safely.
The Keeper rose as if nothing had happened. "What stage are you at?"
"Well, I beat a Blaze stage guy," Damon said, glancing at his palm.
"Never take your eyes off me!"
A punch caught him in the gut. Damon flew back, crashing into the wall behind the chair. He got up slower than the Keeper.
"Let's make this fair," the Keeper said, dropping his sword. They launched at each other.
At the castle, Solaren found the Queen watching tutors train Rika. She turned, sensing his urgency. "Is Damon okay?"
"He finished the Resonant Stride," Solaren said. "Then he stumbled into the cave."
Her eyes shifted from calm to shock. "No one has ever unlocked it except him. I hate to say this but, there is nothing we can do except wait and hope."
Daichi growled in disagreement. She knelt, stroking his fur. "I'm sorry but no amount of power has been able to break it down or open it, except Damon. I feel like the Eternal One made it for him, so I shouldn't interfere. He will be fine, Daichi."
Daichi walked away, then paused to pull at Solaren. Solaren followed as Daichi dragged him to the cliff of the canyon. The wolf pointed at the cave, then transformed into his puppy form. Solaren understood.
He leapt from the canyon cliff, completing the Resonant Stride effortlessly. At the cave's seal, Daichi sat and tried to contact Damon telepathically. There was nothing, so he waited with silver eyes full of patience.
Inside, Damon dodged strikes laced with Eterna. He punched and kicked, his fists glowing. The Keeper had the upper hand, but Damon held his ground.
He jumped, aiming for a spinning kick, but the Keeper caught his legs and slammed him into the ground before throwing him across the floor. Damon nearly impaled himself on a crystal tip.
"C'mon, Damon. Think," he muttered, spitting blood. "This guy doesn't run out of energy. I'm starving, and I've failed the Resonant Stride too many times. My back hurts like hell. I feel faster though, but it's not enough."
The Keeper walked toward him. Damon rose slowly. "Time to use the Radiant Veil in a real battle."
He stood with fists clenched, legs apart, and his body hunched. Light rose from his own frame. The Radiant Veil shimmered across his skin, tracing his outline like a memory. It grew brighter, but his fists dimmed.
"I don't have enough energy for this," he muttered.
The Keeper scoffed. "How are you struggling to do something as simple as that? You will fail."
Damon's jaw tightened. "Shut up. Just shut up."
The Veil surged and he groaned. Light crawled up his arms like fire learning to walk. "I won't fail," he said. "You don't decide that. I do."
They clashed again. Damon moved like light itself: not quite as fast, but just as deceptive. The Veil flared, and the Keeper blinked. Damon feinted left, the light dragging the eye, while the real strike came from the right. A clean hit to the ribs.
The Keeper staggered.
Punches landed. Some Damon took, and some the Veil absorbed. He dropped once, barely dodging a stomp, and was forced to rise again. Blood trailing and light burning. There were no words between these two, just motion with the entire aim of destruction.
Damon's strikes began to chip the Keeper's armour, each blow going deeper until plates cracked. Damon jumped, both feet horizontal, slicing through the air like twin blades.
Impact.
The Keeper blocked with both forearms but flew back crashing into the chair he sat on, then into the wall behind it.
Damon saw the man's eyes; this time, they flickered with sorrow. Armor clattered as Damon landed, breathing heavy and blood dripping. They launched again, trading blows and counters until one stopped.
Inside, Damon's body was failing. The Keeper was relentless. Shit, this guy's insane, Damon thought. He doesn't even lose energy.
On Earth...
Natsuki sat alone in her room with her hair in a messy bun. The shard on the necklace Damon gave her pulsed faintly, a flicker of Damon's struggles reaching her across the void.
She looked into it and saw him falter. She saw him lying on the ground, trembling and bleeding. Her breath caught as she closed her mouth with her palm.
"Damon... what's going on?" she whispered, her voice cracking with sorrow. Though her face mirrored the horror she saw.
He couldn't reply. She tried to see what he was facing, but the Keeper's body was only a blur to her eyes. The clench of its fists and its stride as it moved toward Damon made her inhale sharply. The shard pulsed brighter.
"Damon, you have to get up. Don't stop now!"
The connection faded as if blocked. Damon's breath caught and his eyes widened. The Radiant Veil flared again, steadier than before.
"Natsuki..." he whispered.
The Keeper didn't wait, only charged in at full speed. He clenched his fists, stretching his arm backward as he prepared a powerful blow.
It almost hit Damon, but he dodged. He forced himself to be stronger, faster, and harder.
Is this what Mom meant by emotion powering Eterna? he wondered. All because I heard Natsuki's voice... No, I'm just forcing myself here.
The fight continued for what felt like hours. Damon's resolve shattered his urge to give up as each strike broke the ancient plates of the Keeper.
The Keeper lunged in close and raised his arm just high enough to bring it crashing down. The hammer-fist came in a tight, brutal arc. There was no wasted motion, just raw force meant to smash Damon into the cave floor.
Damon didn't retreat. He stepped into the swing, letting it slam into his shoulder with a jolt that rattled his bones. Pain flared, sharp and immediate, but he only bared his teeth.
Light surged around his fist as he twisted his hips and drove an uppercut straight into the Keeper's jaw, every muscle straining behind the blow. This sent the Keepers eyes rolled back as his entire body flew upwards.
Finally, the Keeper fell first. Damon collapsed second.
A long silence filled with echoed breaths followed. The Keeper looked up, his eyes softer. "Thank you for freeing me." He gestured to the obsidian platform that somehow managed to survive the destruction. "Touch it. Say the word. Awaken it."
Damon laid there for a while before standing. He took one long breath, walked to the chair, and placed his hand on it. Nothing.
What am I supposed to say? he thought. Then he whispered a decision rather than a command. "Unveil."
The obsidian slab trembled, light rippling across its surface like breath under skin and Damon stepped back. Soft clicks followed as if they were measured and deliberate, before the glow deepened from green to blue, outlining a hidden seam as the mechanism prepared to open.
It didn't look like a weapon; it was a dull and unpolished small rod with a blue gem with gold etchings embedded at one end. It wasn't glowing, just watching. It was no longer than 30cm long.
The moment Damon's fingers closed around it, the gem pulsed once, as if it remembered him. The metal folded outward like wings unfurling.
Light traced the veins of the metal and the gem brightened. The band split open, and from it, the blade unfolded. It wasn't a sword made of light; it was a sword that remembered Damon's light.
Damon could see his face on its polished surface. Undeniably sharp, even Damon hesitated before touching its edges.
The Keeper, still on the floor, turned his head. "It's more magnificent than I thought. This is the only time you will freely use the sword. Next time, your will must be strong enough."
Damon traced the steel to the blade's tip. Pain seared his bicep as a tattoo burned into him: bold, angular lines spiralling across his arm, glowing faintly blue. It wrapped his bicep like a circuit, a binding seal.
Natsuki hates tattoos, he thought.
"I've been waiting for this day a long time," the Keeper's voice softened. "Hopefully the Eternal One believes I've served my punishment well."
"Punishment?" Damon asked.
"Has the Queen told you of Gamishi and Sorah? I was one of the protectors who joined Sorah in his war, even after knowing it was Kroxus. I regret it more than anything. Greed... is an evil friend."
The sword dimmed, folding back into its rod state.
"Please," the Keeper said, groaning as he rose. "When you see Gamishi, put an end to him. He must be stopped, even though he is only a victim."
Damon saw it now. He remembered that face, that was the man Kroxus had killed after he said all he wanted was the Eterna-blooded treated better. Damon nodded.
The Keeper's eyes lingered on the Prince for a moment. Then, his words carried a tone of overt certainty as he spoke
"Damon Vale. You might have nothing. But soon, you will hold everything. For you are... the Seraph of Twilight."
"What do you mean?" Damon asked.
But the Keeper's body was already dissolving into dust specks of green light, flowing upward into the cavern. His last words echoed in Damon's mind as the dust faded into the crystals above. Damon stood alone, marked, with the sword glowing as if breathing at his side. Twilight, had chosen him.