Possessed Azlin's power pulsed outward like a storm tearing through the ruins. Walls trembled under the weight of dark energy. Cracks split the floor beneath their feet. With a flick of his hand, he sent twin blades of shadow spinning through the air—one at Rania, one at Nagara.
Rania moved fast, flicking her fingers outward. A translucent shield of golden light shimmered around her, catching the blow. Still, she staggered back, her expression sharpening, elegance traded for wariness.
Nagara dodged and countered, sending a freezing gust that froze the debris mid-air and launched spears of ice toward Azlin's feet.
But the possessed boy laughed, floating slightly above the ground, untouched by the frost.
Then—
A low hum began.
From the far side of the ruin, an ancient glyph lifted off the stone, glowing crimson and gold. It pulsed like a heartbeat in the air—a ruin-bound sigil, shaped like a burning eye enclosed by wings.
The Black Jinn snapped his head toward it. Azlin's possessed body stopped attacking.
"…There," the Jinn hissed through Azlin's mouth. "There it is."
Rania's eyes widened. "The Ruin of the Seal… he's after it!"
Azlin's feet began to move—slow at first, then in a flash he darted toward the glowing sigil.
"Stop him!" Rania shouted.
Nagara didn't hesitate. They sprinted after him, their feet echoing across the broken stones. The wind howled as if the ruin itself was rejecting what was to come.
"Don't touch it!" Nagara yelled, reaching—
But he was too late.
Azlin's fingers met the sigil just as both Nagara and Rania grabbed his shoulders.
"Shit—!" Nagara swore.
The ruin pulsed once—
—and then exploded into silence.
Everything turned black.
The world vanished.
…
When they opened their eyes, they were no longer in the ruin.
They stood in a place of nothingness—a vast, colorless void, filled with curling mist and shifting echoes. There was no ground, no sky—just a gray, endless space humming with some ancient, unknowable force. Time felt distant. The air was cold and thin.
Rania's voice broke the silence. "Where… are we?"
Nagara clenched his fists, staring at Azlin's still form ahead of them, floating above the mist.
The echoes whispered again.
This was not the world they knew.
This… was something else.