The battlefield went silent.
Eclipse stood motionless.
The cracks spreading across his body had stopped.
But something was changing beneath his skin.
Kael stared at him.
"Who are you?"
Eclipse didn't answer.
His crimson eyes slowly turned black.
Then—
A second pair of eyes opened above them.
The sky itself seemed to bend.
A voice echoed across the First World.
"I have waited a very long time."
Every Guardian froze.
Even Nox disappeared from the battlefield.
Aetherion's voice trembled.
"No..."
Kael looked toward him.
"You know that voice?"
Aetherion didn't answer.
He simply stared at Eclipse.
The creature inside Eclipse began to emerge.
Black tendrils wrapped around Eclipse's body, pulling him backward as if something was being born from within him.
Eclipse screamed.
"Get out!"
The voice laughed.
"You were never meant to control me."
Eclipse fell to one knee.
For the first time, Kael saw genuine fear in his eyes.
"What is happening to you?" Kael asked.
Eclipse looked toward him.
"Don't let it..."
His voice cracked.
"...reach you."
The darkness erupted.
A massive figure emerged behind Eclipse.
It had no face.
No armor.
No recognizable body.
Only a humanoid shape surrounded by endless darkness.
Kael's Last Core reacted immediately.
White and black energy surged around him.
The figure turned toward Kael.
"There you are."
Kael felt his blood run cold.
"You know me."
"I know what you were."
Nox suddenly appeared above the battlefield.
His crimson aura shook the heavens.
"Enough."
The mysterious being looked toward him.
"You still survive?"
Nox's expression hardened.
"Unfortunately for you."
The being laughed.
"You were always stubborn."
Kael looked between them.
"You know each other."
Nox slowly lowered his head.
"We fought together once."
Kael's eyes widened.
"Together?"
Nox looked at the creature.
"Before the Devourers."
"Before the Architects."
"Before the Ancient War."
"We stood on the same side."
The creature smiled.
"Until Nox betrayed me."
Nox's crimson energy erupted.
"I saved the universe from you."
The creature raised one hand.
"And doomed it instead."
The sky cracked.
A shockwave exploded across the battlefield.
Kael struggled to remain standing.
The Harbinger planted its enormous hands into the ground to resist the pressure.
Arion shouted from within its Core.
"Kael!"
"I know!"
Kael pushed forward.
The strange power inside him responded.
The white and black energies merged again.
The mysterious creature looked directly at him.
"You really don't remember."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Remember what?"
"You were there."
A flash of memory struck Kael.
He saw himself.
Not as the Star Eater.
Not as a prisoner.
But standing beside Nox...
And the creature.
The three of them stood before a dying universe.
Kael's younger self held the Last Core.
Nox held his black blade.
The creature stood between them.
They weren't enemies.
They were allies.
Kael gasped.
"No..."
The memory vanished.
The creature smiled.
"Now you're beginning to remember."
Kael stared at it.
"Who was I to you?"
The creature answered immediately.
"My brother."
Silence.
Even Nox looked away.
Kael's heart pounded.
"My... brother?"
The creature extended its hand.
"Come home."
Kael didn't move.
Then he heard Aetherion whisper behind him.
"Kael..."
"Don't listen."
The creature smiled.
"He never told you the truth."
Kael turned toward Aetherion.
Aetherion's expression revealed something Kael had never seen before.
Fear.
Not fear of the creature.
Fear of what Kael might remember next.
The creature's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Ask him what he did to your brother."
Kael's eyes widened.
The universe fell silent.
And Aetherion finally lowered his head.