The gigantic stone hand tightened around the edge of the ancient gate.
A thunderous crack echoed across Blackstone Ridge as pieces of black stone broke away from the colossal fingers. Silver veins pulsed beneath the smooth surface like streams of liquid starlight, illuminating the endless darkness beyond the gateway.
No one moved.
Even the Hollow King remained frozen.
Victoria Kane slowly raised the Dawnblade before her.
The weapon trembled.
Not with fear...
But with recognition.
The Crown of the Black Star shone brilliantly upon her head, yet its golden light seemed strangely small against the ancient darkness flowing from the First Prison.
The Last Sentinel remained on one knee.
His deep voice echoed through the silent battlefield.
"The First Fallen..."
"...the oldest enemy ever faced by mankind."
Dr. Evelyn Brooks quickly searched through Elias Crow’s journals.
Several forgotten pages suddenly began glowing with golden letters that had been invisible before.
She read aloud.
"Before kingdoms rose... before the Black Star was forged... before the Hollow King claimed dominion over death... there came a being from the darkness beyond the heavens."
Father Gabriel stared in disbelief.
"So the legends were true."
"The Hollow King was never the first evil."
Another violent heartbeat rolled across the mountain.
Boom...
Boom...
Boom...
Each pulse caused the black mist to spread farther across the battlefield.
Where it touched broken weapons and shattered armor, time itself seemed to pause.
Nothing decayed.
Nothing moved.
It was a silence that swallowed life itself.
Cole Mercer lowered his rifle.
"I don’t like this."
"Everything feels..."
He searched for the right word.
"Empty."
Lucas Reed nodded uneasily.
"It’s like the mountain has stopped breathing."
Far below the summit, Roland Thorne slowly approached the opening gate.
His crimson eye burned with desperate ambition.
"If the Hollow King feared this power..."
"...then it belongs to whoever commands it."
Victoria shouted across the battlefield.
"Roland!"
"Stay away from the gate!"
He ignored her.
Dark flames gathered around his corrupted body as he reached the widening crack between the enormous doors.
The Hollow King suddenly roared.
"You fool!"
His massive arm shot forward with astonishing speed.
Chains rattled violently as he seized Roland around the waist before he could enter the prison.
Roland struggled furiously.
"Release me!"
The Hollow King’s crimson eyes blazed.
"You seek power you cannot understand."
Before Roland could answer, an enormous silver eye slowly opened within the darkness beyond the gate.
It was larger than the fortress itself.
Unlike the Hollow King’s burning gaze, it held no anger.
No hatred.
No mercy.
It simply observed.
The moment it looked upon the battlefield, every living soul felt its presence.
Commander Selene Voss dropped to one knee.
Soldiers lowered their weapons.
Even the spirits of the Thirteen Marshals became strangely transparent.
Victoria struggled to remain standing as the Crown glowed with all its strength.
"What... is it doing?"
The Last Sentinel slowly rose.
"It is remembering."
The silver eye continued studying the world.
Then, for the first time in countless ages, a voice emerged from the darkness.
It did not shake the mountains.
It did not roar across the sky.
It simply spoke.
Yet every living creature heard the words inside their own mind.
"Who... carries... the Light?"
The Dawnblade burst into brilliant white fire.
The Crown answered with thirteen rays of golden light that illuminated Victoria alone.
The ancient eye fixed upon her.
A long silence followed.
Then the First Fallen spoke again.
"The Last Marshal..."
"...still lives."
The enormous stone hand slowly withdrew from the gate.
For one brief moment, relief spread across the battlefield.
Then the entire mountain trembled with greater violence than ever before.
Deep beneath the First Prison, another presence awakened.
A low growl echoed through the abyss.
The First Fallen was not alone.
And whatever stirred beneath it was far more terrifying than anything the world had yet witnessed.