The village of Dravien lay in ruins — a ghost town swallowed by fog and shadow. The Ardent Veil's touch was unmistakable: warped memories twisted into nightmares, reality bleeding at the edges.
Kaien's hand gripped the hilt of his sword, the cold steel humming faintly with the Abyss's pulse beneath his skin. His breath was steady, but inside, a storm raged. He felt the weight of the lies pressing down on him, thick like chains.
"Stay close," Elias warned. "The Veil is stronger here."
Suddenly, twisted figures emerged from the mist — Veil zealots wielding distorted weapons and fragmented illusions.
Kaien stepped forward, shadow lengthening and twisting around his blade. The air thickened, reality warping with every step.
A zealot lunged, its form flickering like a broken reflection. Kaien parried, steel ringing against corrupted metal.
Then, the world seemed to shatter.
The veil of lies tried to engulf him — visions of doubt, pain, memories that weren't his.
But something inside Kaien snapped.
He closed his eyes, drawing the Abyss deep into himself.
When he opened them, his blade erupted in shadowfire, tendrils of darkness weaving like living smoke. He slashed — and with a sound like tearing fabric, a shimmering rift tore through the air.
Through the rift, the illusions fractured, revealing the true forms beneath — the Veil zealots exposed as hollow shells sustained only by deceit.
Kaien's eyes burned. "No more lies."
He moved like a storm, slicing through illusions, unraveling the Veil's grip with every strike.
The fight was fierce, but with each cut, the Abyssal Rift grew stronger — a blade not just of steel, but of truth.