Chapter 74: The Breath of the Void and the Last Bastion of Echo
As Kael's Void Inquisitor, weakened by pure Echo energy, retreated in pain, the "living" Void fissure at the center of the ritual site grew larger, spasming and humming like a lump of flesh. This was no mere portal; it was a hungry, conscious, and bottomless fragment of the Void itself, tearing at the fabric of the universe and seeping into existence. Nightmarish shapes and an indescribable nothingness began to seep from the fissure, swallowing the light of the stars and straining the boundaries of geometry and reason. The last cries of the sacrificed Aethel warriors and other unfortunate souls were drowned in this nothingness.
Even Aslan and the two surviving Shadow Squad soldiers stood frozen for a moment at this new and utter terror. This was unlike anything they had ever fought before. This was the threat of pure, unadulterated annihilation.
Kael focused all his attention on that ominous rift, trying to suppress the indescribable fear and despair that was assaulting his mind. The Void Inquisitor was still a threat, but the priority right now was to stop the absolute evil seeping through that rift and threatening to consume the entire planet, even the entire star system.
"Odyssey! Captain Rostova! What's the situation?" Kael shouted into his communicator.
Captain Rostova's voice was barely audible over the static. "Kael! There's a massive energy leaking from that rift! It's affecting all our systems! We can't do anything from here... from here! Get out of here!"
But Kael couldn't get out of the way. If that rift was completely opened, it would be over. The Chitauri core glowed with a final hope in his palm. The purified Echo energy he had drawn from the Crystal of Terra and Aethelburg's Beacon was still inside him. And the small crystal that the Aethel leader Orion had given him was warming slightly on Kael's neck.
"Aslan! Soldiers!" Kael said, his voice determined. "I will try to close that rift! You try to save the still-living victims and stall the Inquisitor! Whatever it takes!"
It was a suicidal mission. But Kael knew that this was his destiny as the Echo Carrier. This was his last stronghold.
Kael focused his Chitauri core and soul into that living Void rift. This was no mere energy attack; it was a battle of wills. Life's endless resistance to nothingness. Kael engaged in a mental battle with the conscious, hungry energy of the rift. The bottomless darkness of the Void was trying to swallow Kael's mind, to crush his hopes, to drown him in his own nothingness. But Kael resisted. The Echo within him, the song of life, shone like a beacon against that darkness.
As for Aslan and the Shadow Squad soldiers, they fought with superhuman effort. On the one hand, they were fighting the small Void creatures that were leaking from the rift, and on the other hand, they were trying to free the Aethel warriors who were still alive from those dark chains. The weakened Void Inquisitor roared in anger at this resistance and attacked them with its last strength.
One of the Shadow Squad soldiers was shot by a dark energy bolt from the Inquisitor while trying to save an Aethel warrior. The soldier collapsed to the ground with a painful scream. The other soldier rushed towards the Inquisitor to avenge his comrade, but he was defeated shortly after. Only Aslan was left.
Aslan was fighting with anger and desperation. He was putting his own life on the line to protect his friends and to buy time for Kael. Although he was badly wounded in his fight with the Inquisitor, he did not give up.
Kael, on the other hand, was in the depths of that mental battle. The endless nothingness of the Void was about to swallow him. But at that very moment, the Aethel crystal on his neck burned with a bright light. A wave of hope and power from Aethelburg's Lantern, from Orion, and from the countless Aethel souls he had saved, reached Kael's mind. It gave him the final strength he needed.
"You... you will not win!" Kael cried into the darkness in his mind. "For we are hope! We are life! And our Echo is stronger than your silence!"
Kael sent all the pure Echo energy from his Chitauri core and soul blasting like a nova into the heart of that living Void rift. It was not just energy, but will, a challenge.
The rift cracked in pain at the pure, overwhelming life energy. The nightmarish shapes that had seeped through it receded, the bottomless nothingness trembled. And finally, with a deafening crash, the living Void rift closed. In its place, only a pulsating tear in space-time and a slowly dissipating cloud of dark energy remained.
The ritual area fell silent. The Void Inquisitor had lost his source of power as the rift closed, and he had disappeared, screaming in pain. The few surviving Aethel warriors looked at Kael with astonishment and gratitude.
Aslan rushed to Kael, wounded. Kael could barely stand. His body and soul were exhausted, but he had succeeded. He had closed the terrible rift, and prevented the destruction of the Obsidian Fortress and perhaps the entire star system.
But the victory had come at a high price. Two brave S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers had been killed, Aslan was badly wounded, and Kael had been pushed far beyond his own limits. The Chitauri core had been nearly extinguished in his grasp.
At that moment, a final whisper reached Kael's mind through the closing rift. It was the voice of one of the Lords of the Void, perhaps one of the most powerful: "This... this is only a delay, Echo Carrier. Our game is not over. And the next time we meet, your little light will be extinguished in our endless darkness."
It was a terrifying promise. And Kael knew it was not an empty promise. The war had become much more personal, and much more dangerous.