Eclipse Requiem

The chamber was silent.

The shattered remains of the obelisk crackled with dying energy, its abyssal glow flickering like a fading ember. The oppressive weight in the air had lifted—**but something was wrong.**

Kael stood still, gripping his sword. The voice he had heard… **it wasn't Malrik.** It was something far greater.

*"You have passed the trial."*

The words still echoed in his mind, not spoken aloud but resonating within his very soul.

Saren shifted uneasily beside him. "Kael… what just happened?"

He exhaled, shaking his head. "I don't know."

But deep inside, he did.

This wasn't the end.

The abyss had tested him—**and now, it had acknowledged him.**

---

### **A Lingering Presence**

Kael took a cautious step forward, his boots crunching against the broken stone. The center of the chamber, where Malrik had fallen, was **empty.** There was no body.

Saren noticed too. "Where is he?" she asked, gripping her sword tighter.

Kael narrowed his eyes. Malrik had been consumed by the abyssal surge, but he hadn't died—**at least, not in the way a mortal would.**

"He's still out there," Kael muttered.

Saren's face darkened. "Great. Just what we need."

A faint hum filled the air.

Kael turned sharply. The remains of the obelisk **glowed faintly.** The shattered fragments—dark as night—**called to him.**

He hesitated.

The abyss wanted him to take them.

The moment his fingers brushed the surface of one fragment, a **surge of knowledge** flooded into his mind. Images, memories—**secrets buried for centuries.**

He **saw** Malrik's past.

He saw the abyssal **entity** that Malrik had served.

And then—he saw **something else.**

A figure cloaked in abyssal flames. Watching. **Waiting.**

Kael yanked his hand back, his breath unsteady.

Saren grabbed his shoulder. "Kael! What happened?"

Kael's grip tightened around the fragment. "I know where we have to go next."

---

### **A New Path**

The fortress walls trembled as the last of the abyssal energy dissipated. **Outside, dawn was breaking,** the first light piercing through the once-darkened sky.

Saren let out a breath of relief. "Finally. I was getting real tired of all this doom and gloom."

Kael, however, remained tense.

Because the battle against Malrik… **was just the beginning.**

He had seen the truth—the abyss wasn't just an entity.

It was a force **older than history itself.** And something within it… **was watching him.**

As they stepped out into the morning light, Kael clenched the abyssal fragment in his hand.

Their journey wasn't over.

It was only just beginning.

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