Chapter 20: The Final Battle

The darkness pulsed. A silence heavier than stone blanketed the air—until a whisper cracked through the tension, like glass shattering in a church. Ravaa’s voice echoed—not from his mouth, but from the void itself. Ravaa (voice only): "Zayn... aim for the heart. It’s his only weakness." They stood in a fractured throne room. The remnants of battle scorched the floor. The light of the molten lava flickered through the cracked walls. Before them stood Rakka, no longer hidden by illusion or shape. His true form had finally emerged. A nightmare made real. His body was a mass of see-through black metal, twisted like molten chains. Inside it—veins of glowing red, blood and heat running like lava through a beast-shaped furnace. His face—no longer human. Jagged. Fanged. Demonic eyes like dying stars. Rakka: "You came so far... just to die as insects do." He opened his mouth, and a breath of corrupted smoke poured forth, hissing like boiling oil. Lilu stumbled backward. Lilu (terrified): "He's... he's not just a demon—he's a curse!" Kael: "Doesn’t matter what he is—we’ve fought monsters before!" Riven (gritting her teeth): "Yeah, but this time, the monster is chained to a god-sized dragon." The ground trembled. Chains buried beneath the palace began to strain. The sound of heartbeat-like thuds came from below—the Dragon, still alive and imprisoned beneath them, beginning to stir. Then, Rakka charged. His chains whipped outward like serrated whips. Kael leapt, clashing his blades against it, sparks flying. Kael (grunting): "Keep him busy! Zayn! You know what to do!" Riven slid beneath a flying chain, threw a grenade that exploded in a blinding flash, staggering Rakka. Riven: "Hit him while he's blind!" Zayn raised his gun, taking aim—but Rakka’s tendrils shot forward and grabbed Lilu. Lilu (screaming): "Let me go!!" Zayn: "NO!" Rakka lifted her like a doll, his claws closing in. Rakka (hissing): "You should not have touched what belongs to me..." Suddenly, Nyra dashed forward, slicing at his wrist with her energy blade. A blinding white gash appeared—Lilu dropped, caught by Kael mid-air. Nyra (coldly): "Touch her again, and I’ll slice your soul." Rakka staggered back, roaring, his voice shaking the palace. Ravaa (voice again): "NOW, ZAYN!" Zayn didn't hesitate. He leapt off a broken column, soared through smoke and flame—and drove his blade straight into Rakka's heart. Zayn: "FOR EVERYTHING YOU TOOK FROM US!" A scream like ten thousand dying gods shattered the walls. Rakka crumbled, body convulsing. Black liquid—thicker than tar—poured from his chest, splashing against the floor. The sword on Zayn’s back glowed—and the liquid flowed into it, swirling until a deep red gem clicked into the bottom-most hole of the blade. Then— The chains broke. The palace trembled violently. The dragon beneath roared in agony and freedom. Bones twisted. Muscles reformed. Fire dripped from its eyes. Lilu (in horror): "He's moving... the dragon’s... ALIVE!" Kael: "We have to get out, now!" Ravaa appeared again, stepping out of thin air. Ravaa: "To the gate—before he seals you in his flesh!" The dragon began to rise, and so did the walls. The room collapsed. Every bone in their body screamed with the shaking ground. Nyra: "Where’s the key!? We need the key!" Riven: "It has to be on him—RAKKA!" Kael turned, eyes sharp. He ran to Rakka's crumpled leg and tore free a massive pendant, shaped like a molten dagger—four feet long, glowing with unreadable runes. Kael (holding it up): "Found it!" They sprinted. The dragon roared again—lava pouring from its mouth. The air became fire. Bones snapped as the world reshaped itself. A portal—barely visible—swirled ahead like a dark eye, pulsing. Kael jammed the key in. The portal cracked open with a thunderclap. They leapt in—one by one. And just as the last of them disappeared, a voice echoed from the flame... Unknown Voice (dark, whispering): "You will die... before you can even sense the pain." And then—silence. Just flame. Just bone. And the endless dark.

The dragon has stirred.
The sword has chosen.
But the prophecy has only whispered its first word.

The heart that bled black was only the beginning.
There are eight more doors,
eight more rulers,
eight more truths…

…and a lie that binds them all.

Who is the Rakshak?
What did Ravaa truly lose?
And why does even Rashka fear what's coming next?

The Nine Realms are awake now.
And something far older than gods…
has started to move.

Book Two is not a continuation.
It is a reckoning.

☼ The path ahead was never meant to be walked.
☼ But now… it must be.