[VOLUME 14: THE SHATTERED HEAVENS][ARC 3: THE ABYSSAL COURT]
The colossal Abyssal Root pulsed with a sickening, wet sound, like a dying heart struggling to beat. The corrupted golden light bleeding from its fractures cast horrific, twisting shadows across the cavern walls.
"Elara," Li warned, his voice tight. He stood a few paces behind her, his golden broadsword still dripping with the traitor's black blood. "That is condensed holy fire from the High Seat itself. It is designed to incinerate anything tethered to the dark. It will burn you."
"I am not just the dark," Elara replied, her voice eerily calm over the violent hissing of the crystal. "And I am not just the light. I am the space between."
She didn't hesitate. She stepped directly into the pool of sickly gold leaking onto the obsidian floor, ignoring the way it immediately seared the edges of her starlight gown. She pressed both of her bare hands flat against the massive, fractured crystal.
