Every relic wants to be held by someone worthy.
But to destroy a god, you have to become what they fear."
— Carved into the wall of the Chain Cathedral
---
They didn't slow down.
The moment the gates shattered, the three entered the heart of the cathedral—where the walls wept with memories too heavy to speak aloud.
Each step echoed like thunder.
Each breath resisted by the Crown's will.
And waiting for them at the top of the crimson stairs…
Three generals.
Each touched by the Crown.
Each fused with the Fold.
Each chosen.
---
First Battle: Kaien vs. the Hollow Starborn
The first general was a husk of a knight, held together by contracts and bones.
His spear was made of teeth.
His blood was made of promises.
He didn't speak.
Kaien didn't either.
He simply walked forward.
And threw his spear—
through the knight's oath.
Not the armor.
Not the body.
The oath.
It shattered mid-sentence.
The knight's existence unraveled.
Kaien stepped past him before the corpse even hit the floor.
> "One lie down."
---
Second Battle: Lyra vs. the Crimson Widow
The second general stood in a garden of blades.
She was beautiful.
Unreal.
And her voice could bend fire.
> "Do you think I'm afraid of a girl with no love left in her?"
Lyra didn't blink.
> "I don't need love to burn."
Tenebranth moved once.
Only once.
And the Crimson Widow's emotions froze inside her veins.
She couldn't feel fear.
Or power.
Or pain.
Only the nothing Lyra had mastered.
She collapsed.
Still smiling.
Still empty.
---
> "Two down," Lyra said, without turning around.
---
Third Battle: Vayren vs. The Echo Warden
The last general waited in a chamber of glass.
He was Vayren's reflection.
Literally.
Same face. Same eyes.
Just wrong.
He carried a sword that hummed in Vayren's voice.
> "You forgot me," it said. "You moved on."
> "I buried you," Vayren replied. "Now I'm here to bury you properly."
They clashed.
The cathedral trembled.
The Echo Warden struck at every version of Vayren Vayren had ever tried to become.
But Vayren wasn't here to remember.
He was here to end the story.
> "Echo: Thread Severance."
Veilbrand howled.
And the glass shattered—
Not around them.
Inside him.
The reflection screamed.
Then stopped.
For good.
---
Scene: The Final Door
Three generals down.
Three relics lit with victory.
And ahead of them—
The throne.
Gold.
Black.
Alive.
And on it:
Vellamira.
Crown on her head.
Barefoot.
Smiling.
---
> "You made it," she whispered. "Together again."
> "Tell me…"
She leaned forward.
> "Which of you will I kill first?"