AN: I edited the last part for this chapter. since that part was originally from my old draft before I made the revision for this fic to post.(27-April-25)
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The journey to Tatarasuna was eerily quiet.
Nestled between jagged cliffs and scattered volcanic ridges, the remnants of the once-great forging region lay still and abandoned. Ash blanketed the ruins like a snowfall of cinders, muffling the sound of their footsteps. The wind carried a strange chill, despite the underlying heat that radiated from the scorched ground.
Kiana frowned, her arms folded tightly. "This place feels wrong."
Noah said nothing, but he agreed. His hand rested on the hilt of his lightsaber, and every step deeper into Tatarasuna felt like stepping into a memory that didn't belong to them. The further they went, the heavier the air became—dense with tension and something else... something ancient.
"No birds, no insects," Lumine murmured. "Even the trees are still."
Elysia knelt by a patch of scorched earth, running her fingers through the ash. "There's corruption here. I can feel it under the surface."
They moved cautiously through the remains of blackened forges and rusted machinery. The silence was deafening.
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After assessing their surroundings, the group agreed to split briefly to scout.
Noah and Lumine moved toward what remained of the central forge. The stone was cracked, scorched, and riddled with Abyssal markings. Lumine traced her fingers along the faded sigils.
"These weren't made by humans," she said.
Noah nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing on the Void Archives' mimicry. A pulse of emotion struck him: a faint echo of fear, pain... something buried deep within the forge.
"There's something beneath this place," he said quietly.
Meanwhile, Kiana and Elysia climbed a broken stairway leading to a half-collapsed tower. From the top, they could see the whole valley.
"It's quiet... too quiet," Elysia said.
Kiana leaned on the ledge, her eyes narrowed. "It feels like something's waiting." Her grip tightened unconsciously.
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Reuniting near a sealed stone entrance partially buried beneath debris, they found what looked like a tunnel—a passage beneath the main forge. A low hum pulsed from the cracks, tinged with Abyssal energy.
"Should we open it?" Lumine asked.
Noah drew his lightsaber. "We're not turning back now."
Together, they forced the stone seal open.
A gust of corrupted air blew past them. The tunnel beyond was narrow, winding, and unnaturally warm—the walls glowing faintly with veins of magma and streaks of violet light.
They stepped inside.
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As they des-cended into the depths, a loud rumble shook the ground. The entrance slammed shut behind them.
"Trap," Noah muttered, lightsaber igniting instantly.
From the shadows, Abyssal creatures crawled out of the walls. Their bodies were twisted, their shapes barely holding form. Grotesque limbs and hollow, glowing eyes marked them as something no longer alive—but not entirely dead either.
Kiana summoned her void portals and launched spears of energy into the creatures. The first few went down, but the flickering of her power warned her the strain was building.
Noah became a blur of motion—his lightsaber carving arcs of blue light in the dim tunnel. He leapt across gaps of molten rock, using the Force to push enemies back in waves or pull them into his path where his blade awaited them. With each strike, he created breathing room for the others.
"They're coordinated!" he barked, deflecting a strike aimed at Elysia.
Elysia formed a dazzling fan of ice crystals, sending them out in a spiral. The shards whirled mid-air before finding their targets, freezing some Abyssal forms in place. She slid across the ground, the ice forming a slick path beneath her feet, allowing her to keep her distance.
"Don't let them surround us!" she called.
Lumine tapped into her elemental versatility. She began with Anemo, conjuring a powerful gust that pushed a cluster of enemies into the molten cracks below. She shifted into Geo, summoning a stone pillar that smashed into a charging beast. Electro arcs surged from her blade as she cleaved through enemies, then switched to Dendro, rooting a dozen foes in explosive vines that burst into viridescent flames with a follow-up Electro burst.
"Lumine, left!" Noah called.
Lumine pivoted, summoning a Geo shield just in time to block a leaping monster. The impact shook her stance, but she retaliated with a spinning sweep of her sword infused with Electro, vaporizing the beast mid-air.
Kiana soared upward briefly with a flicker of Void energy, summoning a spatial gate and hurling down a barrage of energy spears. For a moment, her power surged—gold light crackling at her fingertips.
Then it faltered.
Her body spasmed.
She dropped to her knees, clutching her head.
"Weak... Always weak," Sirin's voice hissed in her mind.
The battlefield blurred. Her control wavered.
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Noah felt it. Through the mimicry of the Key of Sentience, her fear and despair struck him like a physical blow. He turned, eyes glowing faintly with focused energy.
He reached out with the Force—not to push or pull, but to connect. He focused, diving into the tangled storm of her mind. The moment he touched her presence, it was chaos.
No... calm. Remember who you are.
His voice echoed in her mind.
The golden light steadied.
Kiana gasped and blinked. Her vision cleared. The whispers dulled.
Noah staggered from the mental strain, sweat lining his brow, but he remained standing.
Kiana stood once more, fire returning to her eyes. "Let's finish this."
Together, they fought back.
Kiana unleashed a crescent wave of Void energy, tearing through a line of Abyssal beasts. Elysia froze the ones retreating. Lumine summoned twin pillars of Geo and Anemo to sandwich a final beast in a crushing vortex of stone and wind.
Noah spun into the fray, finishing the last remaining creature with a single clean slash.
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The silence afterward was almost more unsettling.
The group stood amidst the wreckage of the battle, panting. Their eyes turned deeper into the forge cavern, where the tunnel continued downward—into something older.
The walls ahead bore murals unlike anything they'd seen—symbols etched in silver flame, worn with time. Strange figures, larger than life, locked in combat with what looked like Abyssal horrors—but... different.
"This isn't just Abyss," Lumine whispered. "It's something else."
Noah said nothing, but his grip on his weapon tightened.
And in the silence that followed, Kiana felt a strange pull deep within the ruins—a distant, unspoken call she couldn't quite understand.
She shook her head, steeling herself.
"Let's keep moving," she said, voice steady despite the lingering chill in the air.