Chapter 168: Shatter the Realm

The mirrored Spire groaned.

Cracks webbed across its surface, snaking up walls and down into the ground, as if the very bones of the realm were breaking.

Serena watched as Darian stepped away from her outstretched hand. His refusal wasn’t a declaration of power—it was a choice born of fear. He didn’t trust the Gate’s change. And now, the realm rejected him for it.

“Darian,” Serena called, voice steady even as the world around them trembled. “This realm is collapsing. You’ll be trapped here.”

His eyes locked on hers, unreadable. “Better a cage I understand than a world I can’t control.”

The floor beneath him gave way. A swirl of silver light, like a whirlpool of time and thought, opened beneath his feet. He teetered—his power flickering—then fell backward into it.

Gone.

Just like that.

Serena exhaled, chest tight. Part of her had wanted to save him. Another part knew he had never truly wanted to be saved.

Behind her, Elias called out. “Serena!”

She turned—just as a fissure tore through the sky above them.

Light exploded, blinding and violent. The realm screamed—literally screamed, with a voice that echoed in a thousand forgotten languages. The Gate’s will was unraveling.

“We need to go,” Elias shouted.

Serena nodded. “Hold on to me.”

She closed her eyes, reaching for the tether—the thin strand of herself still anchored to the physical world. The connection was fragile now, fraying with every beat of her heart.

“I can’t hold it,” she gasped.

Elias gripped her tighter. “Then let me.”

He pressed his palm over her heart—and pushed.

Outside, on the Spire, Serena’s body surged upward with a breathless jolt.

Her flames flared, casting a wave of heat that sent several approaching Gate-born staggering backward. Lyra stepped in front of her just in time, sword drawn.

“Back with us?” she asked, breathless.

Serena nodded, eyes wide. “We need to close the tether. Now.”

But Elias hadn’t returned.

Serena’s eyes snapped back to the Gate.

He was still inside.

Inside the Gate, Elias stood alone now.

The realm had changed in Serena’s absence—no longer a mirrored Spire but a void. Endless, colorless, echoing.

He felt something crawl across his skin—not physical, but a memory that wasn’t his.

Suddenly, a vision overtook him:

A younger Darian, years before the war, standing over a grave. Rain pouring. A child’s name etched in the stone.

Darian wept.

Next to him, an older man—perhaps his father—stood in silence.

“They’ll never understand what it means to lose everything,” the man said.

Darian’s voice was hollow. “Then I’ll make them understand.”

The scene faded.

Another rose: Darian at the Gate, younger still, begging it for power. For answers. For revenge.

“Give me what they fear,” he whispered. “Make me unbreakable.”

The Gate opened.

And it did.

Elias staggered back.

The realm twisted again, pulling at his mind. His name. His thoughts.

“Serena…” he whispered.

And she heard him.

In the physical world, Serena’s hands began to glow again—not with power, but with panic.

“He’s not coming through,” she said.

Mira rushed to her side. “If he’s trapped—”

“I’m going back.”

Lyra blocked her. “No. You barely returned once. If you go back now—”

“I’m not leaving him,” Serena snapped. “Not now. Not ever.”

She stepped toward the Gate.

Kael cursed. “We’ve got three minutes tops before that ward fails!”

“I only need one.”

Inside the Gate, the void tried to fold around Elias—but a thread of warmth cut through the gray.

He turned—and Serena was there.

Breathing hard, arms outstretched, eyes wet.

“You came back,” he said, voice rough.

“Of course I did.”

She reached him. Grabbed his face. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Stay behind.”

Then she kissed him.

The realm cracked like glass.

The void reeled.

The Gate screamed again—but this time, not in rage.

In surrender.

Light spiraled around them both—fire, silver, red, gold. The realm tried to push them apart, but they held onto each other.

Serena raised one hand and whispered, “We're done here.”

The light swallowed them whole.

They hit the real world like falling stars.

Serena collapsed first, then Elias. Lyra and Mira rushed forward to catch them both.

“Welcome back,” Mira muttered. “About damn time.”

Kael, panting from the ridge, raised a fist. “You brought the sun with you.”

Serena blinked—and looked around.

All across the Spire, the Gate-born were retreating.

The rift was closing.

Slowly. Painfully. But closing.

Serena sat up, leaning against Elias, her hand still clutching his.

“We’re not done yet,” she said.

“But we’re winning,” Elias replied.

And for the first time since the Gate cracked open

Serena believed him.