The Greyhaven square transformed into a battlefield no one had ever imagined.
Snow melted on one side.
Froze on the other.
Fire and fog devoured each other.
In the middle—
four Laments stood.
One cracked.
Three others whole.
And something new was beginning to be born from the first creature's wound.
The black fog that emerged from that crack now formed a small figure.
Not yet perfect.
Not yet stable.
But clear—
it was a new Lament.
Rowan cursed softly.
"Great."
"Now they can reproduce."
Mara raised her hammer.
Fire in the metal burned stronger.
But Elias saw it clearly now—
Mara's breath grew heavy.
That power drained her.
The old carpenter behind them also could barely stand.
The light in his hammer flickered.
They couldn't last long.
Elias looked at the book in his hands.
All this time he only read.
Activated.
Connected.
But had not truly understood the mechanism.
Then he saw something.
The crack in the Lament's body.
Mara's fire did not destroy it.
It opened something inside.
And that something…
was the core.
"Rowan."
Elias spoke quickly.
"We can't kill its body."
Rowan parried one shadow swipe with difficulty.
"Yes, I've realized that!"
"Listen."
Elias pointed toward the cracked Lament.
"There's something inside it."
Rowan squinted his eyes.
"A core?"
"Yes."
"If that's destroyed…"
Rowan smiled crookedly.
"…then it dies."
Mara heard that.
She raised her hammer again.
"I can open it again."
Elias nodded.
"Do it."
The first Lament moved.
But this time its movement was unstable.
The fire still burning its body made it stagger.
But the other three Laments advanced faster.
They began surrounding Mara.
As if protecting the cracked one.
Rowan immediately leaped forward.
"Then I'll distract the others!"
He attacked one Lament.
His sword indeed did not wound.
But enough to divert attention.
Meanwhile—
Mara ran straight toward the cracked Lament.
The hammer in her hand blazed bright.
Fire from the forge seemed to follow her steps.
She raised that hammer high.
"Once more."
And she struck it.
The second explosion of fire occurred.
Bigger than before.
The Lament's body cracked deeper.
The fissure widened—
and for the first time…
everyone saw it.
Inside that shadow body—
there was something like a black sphere.
Pulsating.
Like a heart.
But cold.
Empty.
Rowan shouted.
"That's it!"
But at that moment—
the newborn Lament seed moved.
Faster than the others.
It lunged toward Mara.
Mara had no time to react.
But before the creature reached her—
something appeared between them.
A wooden wall.
The carpenter stood with one knee on the ground.
His hands trembled greatly.
But that wall stood.
"Go…"
he said weakly.
"I'll hold it…"
Mara did not hesitate.
She stepped forward.
But this time—
she did not attack.
She stopped.
Looking at the core.
Then she spoke softly.
"I can't destroy it."
Elias fell silent.
"Why?"
Mara answered without turning.
"Fire purifies."
"But this…"
she looked at the core.
"…this is not something that can be burned."
Rowan shouted from afar.
"If not her, then who?!"
All eyes turned to Elias.
And for the first time—
he realized something.
He was not a warrior.
Not a creator.
Not a smith.
But he held something else.
Words.
He opened his book.
His hands did not tremble.
But his breath was heavy.
He didn't know if this would work.
But he knew one thing.
If the Lament was born from despair—
then perhaps…
it could only be destroyed by something deeper than mere fire or strength.
He began to read.
But this time—
he did not read aloud.
He spoke softly.
Like someone speaking directly into the darkness.
"The darkness has not overcome it…"
The words felt different.
Heavier.
More real.
The black core pulsed faster.
As if responding.
Elias stepped closer.
Rowan shouted.
"What are you doing?!"
Elias did not stop.
He looked at the core.
And for the first time—
he did not see a monster.
He saw something empty.
Something that had lost everything.
And perhaps—
that was what had to be destroyed.
He raised his hand.
And touched the air before the core.
"You have no power…"
The last word came out softly.
"…over the light."
For a moment—
nothing happened.
Then—
the core cracked.
One small line appeared on its surface.
And in an instant—
the cracks spread.
The entire core shattered like glass.
The Lament's body froze.
The fog around it stopped.
And then—
the creature collapsed.
Not into ash.
Not into blood.
But into emptiness.
And vanished.
Silence.
Everyone fell silent.
Rowan finally spoke softly.
"…so that's how."
Mara lowered her hammer.
The fire in the metal slowly died.
The carpenter fell to the ground.
But his face was peaceful.
Luca whispered.
"One… is gone."
But the other three Laments still stood.
And now—
they knew.
Humans could kill them.
And that made them far more dangerous.
Elias slowly closed his book.
His heart still beat hard.
But one thing became clear now.
This war was not about power alone.
It was about who first understood the meaning of hope itself.
And they had just taken the first step.