To reach Valenhar was not a journey measured in distance—but in defiance.
No maps marked its location. No stars guided the path. It was a land abandoned by the gods themselves, shrouded in void storms and ancient wards that devoured memory and magic alike.
And yet, the throne had pointed them there.
Haruto stood at the edge of the skybridge, cloak fluttering in the high-altitude winds. Behind him, the floating city of Vel'Tharion slowly folded into stasis—its purpose fulfilled.
Lucien approached, squinting into the swirling dark. "Valenhar looks more like a black hole than a continent."
"That's the point," Serenya murmured. "It wasn't hidden. It was erased."
Haruto held out his hand. The crystal core of the Nullblade flared to life once more, guiding energy into a spiraling runic platform. It extended outward like a bridge of light, cutting across the chasm of sky.
"No airships," he said. "No portals. We walk."
Lucien sighed. "Of course we do."
As they crossed the threshold, the world around them began to change.
The air grew heavier. Magic didn't flow—it resisted, as if pushing against their very presence. The stars above flickered erratically, and the ground below faded into a swirling abyss.
But up ahead—floating in that void—was Valenhar.
A fractured continent, broken into jagged islands held aloft by forgotten magic. It pulsed like a dying heart—powerful, ancient, untamed.
Haruto's gaze sharpened. "This was the beginning."
Serenya's voice trembled. "The First Cradle… where all magic was born, and where the gods cast down their first weapon."
Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess—that weapon was you?"
"No," Haruto replied. "It was something even the gods couldn't kill."
They reached the outer edge of the ruins, where a colossal gate stood—sealed in layered glyphs of forbidden script. One symbol pulsed brighter than the rest.
It matched the shard embedded in Haruto's palm.
He raised it. The gate answered.
With a deep groan, the barrier split open, revealing a stairway descending into shadow and silence.
At its base… something waited.
Something ancient.
Something that remembered Haruto's name.