[Vault Sector 7 — Cryo-Locked Chamber Core]
The air was alive with frost and ruin. Shards of ice spiraled midair, freezing breath to lips and thoughts to silence.
Aurex's steps shattered the ground beneath him. A monstrous silhouette of half-flesh, half-armor, veins pulsing with unstable Viora. Madness bled from his eyes.
Kiro stood protectively in front of Pablo, his body coated in venomous crimson aura. Blood coiled around his limbs, his chest heaving from exhaustion.
"You won't leave with that Core," Kiro growled.
Aurex gave a slow, crooked smile.
"This planet betrayed its protectors. Now, it becomes their tomb."
His arm rose—and the floor erupted.
Spikes of ice. Mirror-blades. Shrieking frost constructs.
Kiro launched forward, intercepting the barrage—but the sheer force of Aurex's assault overwhelmed him. A frozen gauntlet slammed into his chest, sending him crashing into a cryo-wall, coughing blood.
Aurex advanced toward Pablo.
"Your turn, El'Vertigo heir."
Pablo staggered to his feet, fingers trembling.
He reached inside his jacket—and pulled out a single blackened card, edges rimmed in violet flame. One tarot. One legacy.
"I didn't want to use this," he whispered. "But you leave me no choice."
He held it over his heart.
"Tarot of the El'Vertigo — Awaken: Dark Levithan."
The card burned to ash in a whisper of wind.
The ground liquefied.
Dark water spread from Pablo's feet—mass dissolving, steel melting into black fluid. It crept across the vault like oil, consuming frost and fire alike. The chamber darkened. The air grew heavy.
Aurex stumbled.
"What is this—?"
Pablo's body absorbed the black tide—his skin pulsing, veins glowing deep purple. The water swirled around his arm, forging into a curved obsidian blade. It hummed with a dangerous, living pulse.
"Dark Levithan," Pablo said, voice echoing, "isn't just power. It's hunger."
Kiro rose again, blood dripping from his jaw.
Pablo glanced back at him. Nodded.
They moved together.
Kiro surged forward, venom mantle blazing. Pablo followed, sword dragging behind him—then he swung.
The air split.
A crescent slash of pure black Viora tore across the vault, slicing through constructs and rending frost to vapor. Aurex blocked with an ice wall—
Shatter.
Kiro leapt above the chaos, delivering a crashing blow to Aurex's shoulder. Pablo lunged low, his dark blade sweeping into the mad warlord's side.
Aurex roared, staggered.
"You think that's enough?!" he bellowed.
He slammed his hands into the floor—ice surged again, trying to retake the chamber.
But Pablo absorbed it.
The dark water consumed the frost, growing larger. His blade thickened, sharpened, then glowed.
"I told you," Pablo said coldly. "My family doesn't run from monsters. We become theirs."