As the path behind them vanished into a void of non-existence, the temperature in the chamber dropped to absolute zero. The Star-Core, a pulsating sphere of negative mass, began to expand. It didn't glow with light; it glowed with a "darkness" so intense it felt physical.
Fang Yuan knelt at the edge of the ritual circle, his indigo threads frayed and bleeding. Beside him, Eron was chanting frantically, his eyes fixed on the core with a hunger that bordered on insanity.
"The second sequence, Pilgrim!" Eron shrieked. "Feed it your remaining mana! We are at the threshold!"
But as Fang Yuan reached out, the chanting in the room suddenly stopped. Not because Eron ceased speaking, but because Time itself had been stretched thin.
«...Seeker of the End...»
A voice resonated directly within Fang Yuan's soul. It wasn't telepathic; it was a vibrational frequency that bypassed his mental defenses. It was the voice of the Star-Core.
«...The fallen one beside you weaves a cage, not a throne... He seeks to use your Void-Essence as a filter to cleanse the virus from his own broken spirit... If you complete his sequence, you will not ascend. You will become the battery for his resurrection...»
Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed. He didn't look at Eron. He didn't move a muscle. He was a master of patience, a predator who knew that in a world of lies, the first one to act is usually the first to die.
«...I am the remnant of the First Constellation...» the Core continued. «...The Abyssal Overlord chained me here to power his Spire. I do not ask for your mercy, for the Void knows no such thing. I offer a trade. Give me the 'Heroic Fragment' you hold, and I will grant you the True Sequence of the Null-Overlord. You will not just reach Rank 3... you will become the antithesis of the Abyss itself...»
Fang Yuan felt Eron's hand on his shoulder. The old Weaver's touch was cold, and his mana was beginning to seep into Fang Yuan's back like a parasitic vine.
"What are you waiting for, boy?" Eron hissed, his facade of the "helpful guide" finally cracking to reveal the monster beneath. "Give me the fragment! Complete the weave!"
Fang Yuan looked at the Star-Core, then at the desperate, dying Arch-Weaver. He had two sequences in front of him: one a trap of resurrection, the other a gamble with an ancient sentient entity.
"Eron," Fang Yuan said, his voice a chilling, hollow rasp. "You told me that in the Silver Nebula, you fought by rearranging reality. You forgot one thing... I don't rearrange reality. I erase the parts that I don't like."