The sky cracked.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
A dark fissure spread across the horizon like reality itself was being torn open.
Kael stood still, staring at it.
Lyra’s hand grabbed his sleeve instinctively.
“Kael… what is happening?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Because for the first time since returning… he didn’t recognize the world anymore.
Seraphina stepped forward, eyes fixed on the fracture in the sky.
“It has started.”
Roderick, barely conscious, laughed weakly.
“You idiots… you really triggered it.”
Kael turned sharply.
“Explain.”
Roderick coughed blood onto the ground.
“The split didn’t just separate the child.”
A pause.
“It broke the seal holding him back.”
Lyra’s voice trembled.
“Who?”
Roderick looked at Kael.
“The one your bloodline was built to contain.”
Silence.
Then Kael said quietly:
“The first Alpha King.”
Roderick nodded.
“No.”
A weak smile.
“The one even he feared.”
The ground trembled again.
From the broken seal where Eren had vanished, light began to rise.
Not silver.
Not gold.
Black.
Seraphina immediately stepped back.
“That’s impossible…”
Kael turned.
“What now?”
Her voice dropped.
“That is not Moonborn energy.”
Lyra tightened her grip on Kael.
“Then what is it?”
Seraphina answered slowly.
“The original source.”
A pause.
“The thing all Alpha bloodlines were created to suppress.”
A scream echoed across the distance.
Not from a person.
From the world itself.
The sky above Moonfang twisted violently.
And then— a voice returned.
The same voice from before.
But deeper now.
Stronger.
Awakened.
“YOU SPLIT ME.”
The pressure dropped instantly.
Every wolf in the region collapsed.
Kael remained standing.
Barely.
Lyra struggled to breathe.
Seraphina dropped to one knee.
Kael spoke through gritted teeth.
“Where is my son?”
A pause.
Then the voice responded.
“HE IS WITH ME.”
Lyra’s eyes widened.
“No…”
Kael stepped forward.
“Give him back.”
A low sound echoed across the sky.
Almost like laughter.
“HE IS NOT YOUR SON ANYMORE.”
Silence.
Kael’s aura erupted instantly.
The ground shattered beneath him.
“Lies.”
The voice answered calmly.
“ONE HALF BELONGS TO YOU.”
A pause.
“THE OTHER BELONGS TO WHAT YOU CREATED.”
Seraphina whispered behind him:
“This is bad…”
Lyra turned sharply.
“What do you mean?”
Seraphina looked terrified.
“If the entity has one half…”
She swallowed.
“Then it can fully manifest through the other.”
Kael froze.
“…Eren.”
Far away.
The abandoned temple.
The second boy stood still.
The woman in black watched him carefully.
“You feel it, don’t you?”
The boy didn’t answer.
His eyes glowed faintly now.
He looked down at his hands.
“I feel… him.”
The woman nodded.
“Good.”
She stepped closer.
“Because now you will learn what you are.”
The boy looked up.
“What am I?”
A pause.
Then she smiled.
“You are the crown.”
A tremor passed through the temple.
The boy’s expression changed slightly.
Something inside him responded.
Unnaturally.
The woman continued.
“And your brother…”
A pause.
“…is the key that unlocks everything.”
Back in Moonfang.
The sky split wider.
Kael’s breathing slowed.
He looked at Lyra.
“We’re going to get him back.”
Lyra shook her head.
“You don’t even know where he is.”
Kael turned toward the fracture in the sky.
“I don’t need to know.”
His aura intensified.
“Because he is calling me.”
“If you go through that rift, you may not return.”
Kael looked at her.
“I already died once.”
A pause.
“I’m not doing it again without my son.”
Lyra stepped in front of him.
“Then I’m coming too.”
Kael immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You don’t get to decide that anymore.”
Kael looked at her.
And for a moment, everything else disappeared.
The war.
The prophecy.
The entity.
Just them.
Lyra’s voice softened slightly.
“He’s my son too.”
Kael didn’t respond.
Because she was right.
Seraphina sighed quietly.
“If you go together…”
A pause.
“You might destabilize the seal further.”
Kael turned back to the sky.
“Then we go carefully.”
A long silence.
Then Roderick laughed weakly again.
“You still think this is about saving him?”
Kael looked at him.
“What is it about then?”
Roderick smiled faintly.
“You’re not rescuing your son.”
A pause.
“You’re walking into the origin of your bloodline.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“And?”
Roderick’s final words were quiet.
“You were never meant to come back.”
The rift in the sky widened.
A massive pull began forming.
Reality itself bending inward.
Lyra grabbed Kael’s hand.
He didn’t hesitate this time.
Seraphina stepped back.
“Once you enter…”
A pause.
“You will see the truth of everything.”
Kael looked at her one last time.
“I already know enough.”
Seraphina shook her head slowly.
“No.”
A final warning.
“You don’t.”
The wind roared.
The rift opened completely.
Darkness spilled out like a living thing.
Kael tightened his grip on Lyra.
“Stay close.”
She nodded.
And together— they stepped into the fracture.
The world disappeared.
And somewhere deep beyond reality… a throne opened its eyes.