The Veil and the prelude to a clash

"Hahhh... Haaa... Hahh..."

In Dragnir's Tomb cave, Galana's heavy groans of exhaustion filled the dense, humid air of the cave. Leaning against the rocky wall, each breath was a struggle, her muscles trembling from superhuman effort. The battle had lasted all night, a ceaseless hell of blows, the crunching of chitin, and the constant hissing of the beasts. Now, the faint gray light filtering from outside barely announced dawn, casting a somber halo on the sweat and despair on her face.

"Hahhh... Hahh... How much longer are you going to sleep...?"

Beside her, Fionn lay motionless, unconscious and enveloped in dense cobwebs that stuck him to the cold floor. The gloom couldn't hide the numerous wounds covering his body, dark marks of burns and lacerations testifying to the intense pain he had endured. Blood loss was evident, a dark pool spreading beneath him.

Galana gritted her teeth, her gaze fixed on the immense number of monstrous spiders surrounding them, a tide of hairy bodies and articulated legs covering every visible surface. There were too many.

"Tch... I barely have any runes left..."

She murmured, her voice hoarse and broken, resignation tinting every word. Her eyes, once filled with cold determination, now reflected despair as she watched the circular barrier of the last defensive runes flicker and vanish, their magical shields falling one by one with small crackles. Each time a rune gave way, the spiders took another step, their multiple eyes gleaming with relentless avidity in the gloom. The end seemed imminent.

"...At this rate... There's no other option."

Saying this to herself as if in a whisper, she slowly moved her hand to her belt, weighing the possibility of pulling out the last rune she had left: "Over Limit." This rune allowed her to push her abilities beyond conceivable limits, at the cost of burning her own life, drastically reducing her life expectancy. A bitter taste filled her mouth as her regrets flooded her.

A long time ago, she had been a naive child, completely dependent on her trustworthy older sister. One day, her curiosity led her to find a strange book that recounted supernatural things: ways to create curses, information about something called the Dark Era. With childlike fascination, she ended up reading about a spell that allowed body swapping.

She decided to use it with her sister, eager to experience the other's perspective, unaware that this would be her greatest and cruelest mistake. In the middle of the spell, a simple fly got in the way, and the tragedy was consummated: it was the fly, not Galana, who swapped bodies with her sister. To top it off, in her youth, without knowing the truth, she herself ended up killing the fly that carried her sister's soul. After that, her sister was taken to a psychiatric hospital in a desperate attempt to help her; however, she never improved and continued to behave like a fly.

"...I was a real idiot."

The memory of that unforgivable mistake tormented her. Every spider lunge, every fading rune, was a reminder of the need for sacrifice. The "Over Limit" rune was her last card, but the price was... herself. After discovering the truth, regret had consumed her, becoming the driving force that pushed her to improve and try to help other people, as atonement for her sin.

She looked at the "Over Limit" rune in her hand, her eyes clouded with tears.

"I'm truly sorry..."

She murmured, sobbing, her voice barely audible.

"Once I die... Will I be able to apologize to you...?"

At that moment, just as she was about to bring the rune to her chest, hoping to use what was left of her life to at least protect someone else, a warm white light began to shine beside her, and a hand, enveloped in that same light, stopped her movements.

"This time it won't end like this."

Said a voice that sounded both familiar and strange beside her, leading her to turn in confusion.

"Huh...?"

What she saw was Fionn, surrounded by a resplendent white aura, with a luminous symbol shining brightly on his forehead. His expression was calm, almost serene, as if he were in a deep trance. He walked slowly until he positioned himself in front of her, interposing himself between Galana and the horde of spiders.

"Are you really... Fionn?"

Seeing this sudden change, Galana asked with disbelief in her voice.

"Yes..."

To which he replied, raising a hand towards the cave ceiling.

"...and no."

And with those words, the light began to converge in his palm, swirling and taking the form of a sword as Fionn smiled with a strange but reassuring grin.

"I still remember these words..."

Fionn uttered as the sword seemed to gain an increasingly tangible form.

"SHOW YOURSELF, DAMOCLES!!"

And accompanied by a powerful shout before Galana's astonished eyes, a beautiful sword materialized in his hand, its brilliance momentarily dazzling the darkness of Dragnir's Tomb.

Immediately after the sword materialized, the surrounding space began to change. The cave walls blurred, shadows dissolved, and the environment transformed into a vast and deep starry universe, with distant galaxies shining in the infinite blackness. Fionn, at the center of this cosmic wonder, adopted a firm stance and slowly lowered the sword. A wave of pure energy emanated from the blade, expanding rapidly. In an instant, all the spiders, regardless of their size or number, were completely eradicated, disintegrating into specks of light before disappearing.

"...First requiem."

Fionn quietly whispered, his voice barely audible in the immensity of space.

"I-impossible..."

Galana, completely shocked by the scene, could only murmur in denial.

"It's time."

Following Fionn's words and giving Galana no time to process what had happened, an ancient formation began to manifest on the ethereal ground beneath Fionn's feet. He then raised the sword with both hands towards the starry sky.

"A small change can make all the difference, right?"

These were the words Galana managed to catch, spoken by Fionn with an enigmatic smile. Immediately after, with a deliberate movement, he brought the sword down, plunging it into the center of the formation, directly in front of Galana's confused eyes.

"You must also move forward... Awaken now!!"

Saying this, a blinding beam of light surged from the ground, shooting up into the starry sky.

"RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!"

The energy grew, twisted, and from its center emerged the colossal silhouette of a gigantic dragon that immediately let out a monstrous roar that shook the very universe. It then took flight, soaring through space as if pursuing "something" invisible, leaving a tempest of lightning and cosmic wind in its wake until it disappeared into the distance, as quickly as it had appeared.

"Sigh...! What was that?!"

It was then that Galana could finally let out a trembling sigh, feeling the air return to her lungs. But her relief was short-lived as she noticed Fionn, who had remained standing, suddenly collapsed. The aura around him rapidly faded, along with the symbol on his forehead and the sword of light.

"But what did you do?!"

Galana cried out, confusion, caution, and concern in her voice.

"...One last gamble."

To which Fionn, weakly smiling, replied, his eyes beginning to close.

"...Good luck... I know you can...do it... Kni...ght..."

After saying this, his words faded into a babble, and his body lay inert on the ground.

"Hey, Fionn! Are you okay?! Stay strong?!"

In the end, what was once a cave echoed only with Galana's cries of concern in the now desolate empty space.