[Flashback]
The sky above fractured, tearing wide open as a cataclysmic shadow loomed overhead, blotting out the sun and swallowing the horizon.
Shielding his eyes against the sudden, violent gale that threatened to rip the ground from beneath him, Kael looked up at the towering, majestic figure materializing before him. "Vrita... what happened?"
Vrita looked down at him, the terrifying aura surrounding her instantly softening into a mixture of profound awe and warmth. "Look at you, Kael. You've grown so much. Your features... you've completely matured." A gentle, maternal smile touched her lips. "I've been searching everywhere for you. I wanted to reunite you with your family."
The warmth instantly drained from Kael's face. He looked away, his hands clenching into tight, trembling fists as his voice cracked with a volatile cocktail of suffocating despair and absolute rage. "It's too late. Vajr took them. They kidnapped my family... and Renjiro, too."
Vrita's gaze sharpened into deadly shards of ice, her gentle demeanor vanishing in a heartbeat. The air grew heavy with her sudden wrath. "Then I am coming with you."
"No—absolutely not!" Kael stammered, frantically raising both hands to halt her advance. His chest heaved as he forced the words out. "You can't get involved. This isn't your fight, Vrita, and I refuse to drag you into this chaos."
Vrita offered a silent, compliant nod, stepping back to give him his space. But the moment Kael turned his back and bolted toward the epicenter of the danger, she didn't hesitate. She silently fell into step right behind him, a loyal shadow refusing to let him face the storm alone.
[Return to Current State]
Kael let out a sharp breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, a fierce, knowing grin finally breaking through the cracks of his lingering anger.
"So you followed me after all, Vrita."
Vrita didn't look at him. Her eyes remained locked dead ahead on Vajr and the writhing, malevolent Spirit beside him. Her voice was cold, steady, and devoid of fear. "Be on your guard, Kael. You are fighting in an infinity room now."
Kael shifted his gaze from her to Vajr, his brow furrowing in utter disbelief. "An infinity room? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Before Vrita could answer, a sharp, urgent voice echoed directly into the deepest recesses of Kael's mind.
"An infinity room is a space where the boundaries are forged from infinity itself," Sara's voice explained, her telepathic presence cutting through his confusion. "Think of it as a spatial loop, but on a massive, structural scale. No matter how fast or how far you run, you will only ever end up exactly where you started. There is no physical escape."
Kael exhaled heavily, turning a hardened glare toward their captor. "How do we leave this room, Vajr?"
Vajr smirked, a sickeningly confident expression crossing his face as he crossed his arms. "Only one side walks out of this room alive, boy. It's simple math. Either it's Vrita and you... or me and this spirit."
Before Kael could even process the ultimatum, the Spirit lunged. It became a blur of lethal, shadowy energy, diving straight at Kael with claws outstretched.
Kael's reflexes kicked in. He threw himself to the side, the wind of the Spirit's near-miss whipping violently past his face.
"Kael, I'm helping you!" Sara's voice echoed again, but this time, it didn't just stay in his head.
A blinding light materialized beside him, solidifying into a physical form. Sara stepped into reality, her expression fierce. "Broken Wings!" she commanded, manifesting a powerful aura of shattered, ethereal plumage.
Vrita, momentarily glancing back while trading heavy blows with Vajr, widened her eyes in shock. "Wait... you can use that too? That's supposed to be Kael's specialty!"
"We share our powers to establish it!" Sara shouted back, her energy bracing against the room's suffocating pressure.
Suddenly, a dark, sickening murmur echoed deep within Kael's consciousness—the voice of the Broken Soul.
"She can invoke it... but the price will be paid by Kael alone."
Kael ignored the ominous warning, burying the dread deep down. He didn't have time for consequences. Channeling every ounce of his remaining strength, Kael roared, "Broken Wings!"
Black, fractured energy erupted from his back, matching Sara's aura. Seeing the dual manifestation of the legendary ability, Vajr froze. For a few crucial seconds, the tyrant stood stiff, completely paralyzed by sheer shock. Realizing his tactical error, Vajr snapped out of his stupor and launched a desperate, explosive assault on Vrita. Sara didn't hesitate, immediately leaping forward to flank Vrita, their combined forces clashing against Vajr in a shockwave of sparks and pressure.
That left Kael alone with the Spirit.
The Spirit moved like a specter, darting left and right, leaving afterimages in the infinity loop. Kael intercepted a devastating swipe, his forearms crossing to block the impact. The force drove him back, his boots skidding across the seamless floor.
"Hey, listen to me, Kael!" the Spirit taunted, its voice a grating, chaotic hiss as it circled him. "Is this really your most powerful ability? It's pathetic. I can kill you instantly. And once you're dead, I'll go after your family."
Kael's vision swam with red. "Mind your words..." he growled, his knuckles turning white.
"Then fight!" the Spirit shrieked, lunging again, clashing violently against Kael's defenses. "The winner of this little match gets to decide the punishment. And oh, I have such wonderful plans... because once you and Vajr's target are out of the way, I want Vrita and Sara as my personal slaves!"
Something inside Kael snapped. He ground his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter, the sheer disgust and fury boiling his blood past the point of sanity.
Deep within his mind, the Broken Soul sensed the absolute malice. A disordered, glitching laugh echoed. "I will help you... while my form is half-awakened."
Suddenly, Kael stopped fighting the darkness.
The air around Kael warped. When he spoke next, his voice was no longer human. It was deep, layered, and horribly distorted—a chaotic chorus of a boy and a monster speaking in perfect, terrifying unison.
"You will die here."
Hearing that monstrous, overlapping voice resonate through the infinity room, Vrita's heart dropped. She glanced back, her face draining of color as pure dread washed over her.
"Not again..." she whispered.