The sky didn't crack from lightning.Nor from divine punishment.Nor from Qi eruption.
It cracked from being watched.
A single fracture of empty blackness cut across the heavens above the Frozen Chasm, jagged and unnatural—as if reality itself recoiled.
Xueya instinctively grabbed Shan Wei's arm.
Drakonix screamed, wings flaring, flames exploding outward in a violent defensive burst.
Jin Wei's broken body lurched upright, staggering forward in front of Shan Wei.
Even the Observer—the man who commanded timethe man who froze soundthe man who felt no fear in front of kings—
took a step back.
"…No," he whispered."No… this is far too early…"
The fracture widened.
Cold fell.
Not frost.Not ice.Not winter.
Absence.
A cold without temperature.A void without color.A silence without stillness.
Shan Wei's heart thudded—slow, heavy, like something ancient was pressing against his ribs.
"What… is that…?" Yue Lian whispered, trembling.
The Observer's voice was barely a breath:
"A fragment.A shadow.A glance…"
He shook his head slowly, horrified.
"…of the Era Devourer."
1. The Devourer Glances at Shan Wei
The crack pulsed.
Black light spilled out—not spreading,not shining,just existing,wrong in every direction.
It cast no shadow.
It gave no shape.
It made the world beneath it feel…
thin.
Shan Wei felt his breath catch.His vision blurred.
His prismatic heart—usually steady, warm, powerful—shivered.
For the first time.
Xueya felt it too.Her frost domain flared violently, ice blooming in full galaxies around her.
But the Devourer's presence—
ignored her.
It stared at only one thing.
Qi Shan Wei.
The crack pulsed again.
Cold sweat dripped down Shan Wei's spine.
His voice came out hoarse.
"…It's looking at me."
The Observer's eyes widened behind the mask.
"You can feel its gaze? At your level? That shouldn't be possible—!"
Drakonix suddenly roared, wings snapping open—
FWWWWRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!
The roar did not sound mortal.Or beast-like.Or even divine.
It sounded primeval.
Like the first dragon of creation screaming defiance at destruction.
He flew upward, tiny body glowing with prismatic light—trying to shield Shan Wei from the crack in the sky.
But the void-light brushed him.
Drakonix shrieked in agony—
not physical painbut something deepersoul-deeplike his existence was being rewritten.
"DRAGONIX!!!" Shan Wei shouted.
He leaped upward instinctively—
but his body froze.
Not by force.
By fear.
Not his fear.
His spark's fear.
The echo of the First Prismatic Emperor trembled inside him.
As if it remembered this feeling.
As if it remembered dying to it.
Xueya screamed:
"SHAN WEI—MOVE!!!"
Her frost exploded, seizing him back into motion, breaking the paralysis.
Shan Wei caught Drakonix in his arms mid-fall.
The beast trembled violently, eyes wide, pupils blown.
"Fwee… fweeee—"Weak.Broken.Terrified.
Shan Wei held him tightly.
"I'm here. I won't let anything take you."
But his own hands were shaking.
Because through the crack—for a single instant—Shan Wei saw something move.
Not a shape.Not a form.
A concept.
A hunger.A purpose.An inevitability.
Not a creature.
A function.
A correction.
And its correction was him.
2. Shan Wei's Prismatic Overdrive Sparks
The prismatic threads around Shan Wei—until now dim, flickering, unstable—suddenly ignited.
Red.Blue.Gold.Green.Purple.Silver.Black.
They spiraled around him, blazing like miniature suns.
The Observer took a step back.
"No—! He cannot awaken this here! He will tear the realm apart—!"
Shan Wei fell to one knee, clutching Drakonix as agony surged through his body.
His vision turned prismatic.His blood boiled.His bones vibrated.
The spark of the First Emperor pulsed violently—
THUMP.THUMP.THUMP.
Xueya knelt in front of him, grabbing his face between her hands.
"Shan Wei—LOOK AT ME!"
Her frost galaxies expanded to shield him.
The prismatic flames clashed against her ice—
but her frost did not break.
She was fate-defying.
And fate-defiance held.
Shan Wei's breathing steadied.
But the Overdrive still burned.
The Observer whispered:
"…This is his first Prismatic Overdrive spark.No mortal realm can withstand the full awakening…"
The Empress stared at Shan Wei in disbelief.
"He's… glowing… like a god…"
Yue Lian whispered:
"He looks like… a star being born…"
Shan Wei gritted his teeth.
"I'm… not ready for this…!"
The crack in the sky widened slightly—and reality screamed.
3. Jin Wei Enters Guardian Protocol
Jin Wei's body—until now broken, cracked, dormant—suddenly lit with pure white light.
He straightened fully.
Not damaged.Not staggering.
Standing tall.
As if his ancient memories forced him to obey.
His voice deepened, layered with echoes of ancient puppet commands:
"GUARDIAN PROTOCOL — PRISMATIC SPARK DETECTED."
Shan Wei looked up, shocked.
"Jin Wei—?"
The puppet slammed one fist into the ground.
The chasm lit up with golden runes—a shield matrix spreading outward, covering them all.
The crack's void-light hit the shield—
and the runes shattered—
but slowed it.
The Observer was stunned.
"That shield—that shield was used only once—during the First Emperor's last stand—"
Jin Wei's eye flickered to Shan Wei.
"MASTER—SURVIVE."
Then he turned toward the crack.
Not to fight.
To stand between.
Like a broken sentinel refusing to kneel.
4. Xueya Awakens Her Fate-Defying Frost
Shan Wei's Overdrive flames flared again.
He gasped—
then froze.
Xueya's frostexpanded.
Changed.
Transformed.
What had been a calm galaxy of ice—became a white moon of frost behind her.
Silent.Unmoving.Perfect.
The Observer whispered:
"…Her Fate-Defiance Core is awakening…"
Xueya held Shan Wei's face firmly, eyes blazing.
"I told you," she said softly, "you will not fall to fate."
Her frost moon expanded—
and fate-threads writhing around Shan Wei recoiled from it.
Shan Wei's breath trembled.
"Xueya… your frost… it's…"
"Not fate's," she whispered."It's mine."
5. The Devourer Speaks a Word
The crack pulsed.
And for the first time,the Era Devourerspoke.
Not in language.Not in sound.
In erasure.
A single syllable—
impossible to describeimpossible to recreateimpossible to remember—
passed through the realm.
The Empress collapsed.Yue Lian screamed, clutching her head.
Drakonix wailed in agony.
Jin Wei staggered.
Even Xueya flinched, frost moon trembling.
Only Shan Wei—
his Overdrive spiraling wildly—stood tall enough to hear it.
The syllable was not a name.
It was a decree.
A verdict.
A cosmic decision:
"UNMAKE."
Shan Wei felt it directly in his soul.
A crushing pressure struck his heart—the spark flared—the prismatic threads curled upward—
and Shan Wei roared back.
A roar so rawso furiousso alivethat even the void cracked.
"YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME!"
The sovereignty barrier exploded upward—forming a prismatic pillar that shot into the sky.
It hit the crack—and for a single impossible instant—
the Devourer blinked.
The crack sealed shut.
And the world gasped into silence.
Xueya fell into Shan Wei's arms.Drakonix collapsed against his chest.Jin Wei slumped into the ice.The Empress sobbed in relief.Yue Lian trembled uncontrollably.
Only the Observer remained standing, mask lowered, voice shaking.
"…The Devourer has marked you."
Shan Wei lifted his head.
Golden eyes burning.
"So be it."
The Observer whispered:
"Your war has begun."
To be Continued
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