THE FIRST GENERAL IS REVEALED

— There is a traitor among you! Trust no one! Run away...! —

Mitsu's channel cut off, leaving a void that instantly sowed paranoia. They looked at each other, camaraderie forged in blood cracked, replaced by icy distrust. 

— Who...? — he started to ask, but a monumental roar shook the ruins.

— It's coming down! The fight with the guardian weakened the pillars! Get out, now! —

They ran like hell, following Karen's lithe silhouette through collapsing passageways. As they emerged into the blinding light outside, Mitsu was waiting for them, wounded and pale.  — Finally! Listen, the traitor is.... — he managed to shout.

His words were cut off. An invisible force hit them, throwing Ikel, Luce and him into the air.

Noelia and Lyra stopped in their tracks. Noelia's gaze jumped from them to Mitsu, and then... landed on Karen.

And then he saw it.

The girl who had been their guide was gone. From the lengthening shadows of the dusk, a new figure emerged. Her stance was taller, more lethal. A dark cloak with electric blue runes enveloped her body. And her eyes... two pupil-less pools of cold white light.

It was Karen. But not the Karen they knew.

— Karen... — whispered Noelia, paralyzed with disbelief.

The creature smiled, a gesture that did not fit the face of their former guide.

— Karen was a very helpful guide, wasn't she? She guided you through the traps, led you to the core... and even helped you defeat that pesky old guardian. — Her voice was a mocking, multiple whisper. — A guardian I couldn't touch. System security wouldn't let me near the core. But you, the "heroes"... you were. —

The revelation came as an icy shock.

— Our victory... — Ikel muttered from the ground.

— It was my victory —Karen hissed. — Your strength was the key that unlocked the cage. Thank you for disabling the defenses of your own world. —

She ignored Mitsu and slid toward him. With terrifying ease, she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. Mitsu and Ikel charged, but she vanished and reappeared behind them, knocking them down with two brutal blows.

Slowly, she turned to Noelia, who reacted with a blast of ice that faded against Karen's dark aura. She stopped in front of her and stroked her cheek. — You... are perfect — whispered the multiple voice.

A green flash interrupted the moment. His fireball exploded against her back, not hurting her, but catching her attention.  — Hey, Karen... — he spat, struggling to his feet. — Or whoever you are...? I'm still standing. —

An aura of green flames burst around him and he lunged forward. It was no use. She deflected him with dull elegance and, with a single palm strike, sent him flying again. At the same time, Luce and Lyra charged together. Luce was a whirlwind of blows, while Lyra unleashed chains of holy light. But Karen, with a single hand, created a barrier that stopped everything and a wave of force that swept them both away.

They were all defeated. Her attention returned to Noelia.  — And now, the final act— said Karen, raising a hand.

From the shadows at her feet emerged dark golden chains. They dug into Noelia's chest, arms and ankles, lifting her off the ground in a crucified posture. A piercing scream escaped her lips. The energy of the chains burned her, drawing her life force, her mana.  — Your elemental power... is the perfect catalyst — said Karen, with a scientific fascination.

The energy that was ripped out of Noelia did not dissipate. It flowed across the ground in glowing runic lines, converging back into the ruins, directly into the core of the defense they had released. The crystal heart, once pure cyan, began to beat with a violent purple pulse.

A massive beam of corrupted energy shot from the ruins into the sky. On the horizon, from the two distant towers where Mitsu had failed, two more identical beams rose to meet him.

The three beams of dark light converged at a point high in the sky. There, reality seemed to tear apart. The energy swirled, forming a giant vortex of darkness, and at its center, an orb of violet light slowly opened, like an eyelid.

Above the towers, above the whole world, an eye of the Void had opened. And it was watching them.

Ikel, Mitsu, Luce, all battered, they could only look on in horror. They had been deceived. Not only had they lost their leader; they had been the architects of their own doom. Victory had evaporated.

All that remained now... was the shadow of betrayal. And the eye of their enemy, watching them from a broken sky that they had helped to break.