Ascendant Beasts : The Voidcrest Prophecy

### **The Hand of the Devourer**

The fissure yawned wider, snow hissing as it vaporized against the heat of the emerging horror. The Devourer's hand—a grotesque amalgam of bone, sinew, and liquid shadow—clawed into the valley, its talons gouging deep furrows into the permafrost. Unlike the fleeting tendrils of before, this was *solid*, *anchored*, its knuckles bristling with jagged spines that hummed with stolen starlight.

"It's anchoring itself to our world," Lira muttered, her void-rotted eye twitching. "If it fully manifests…"

"We die," Zane finished, shadows writhing beneath his skin like caged beasts. The Heart's whispers crescendoed, sweet and venomous.

*Let me in. Let me save them.*

Thalia's violet gaze flicked to him, her Veilwalker senses frayed but still sharp. "Don't."

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### **The Bargain**

They retreated to the temple, its walls shuddering under the Devourer's tremors. Zane slumped against a mural of the First Pact, his breath ragged. Black veins spiderwebbed up his neck, throbbing in time with the fissure's pulse.

Thalia knelt beside him, her hand hovering over his. "We'll find another way."

"There *is* no other way." His voice cracked. "The Heart's right. I'm dying. But if I let it take control—"

"Then you're gone for good."

*Not gone,* the Heart crooned. *Ascended.*

Outside, the Devourer's hand flexed, crushing a glacier to powder.

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### **Lira's Choice**

Lira lingered at the temple's edge, her dagger tracing the relic shards at her belt. The cult's whispers slithered through the wind, a familiar voice rising above the chaos.

"*Sister,*" it called.

Her twin brother, Kael, emerged from the snow—or a hallucination wearing his face. His void-rotted grin mirrored hers. "The Devourer offers redemption. Join us. *Again.*"

"You're dead," she hissed.

"And you're a coward." He stepped closer, his form flickering. "Finish what Father started."

Her dagger trembled. Then she plunged it into the snow, severing the illusion. "I'm done with ghosts."

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### **The Elite's Folly**

Lysandra Voss watched the valley through her scope, the Covenant shard glowing ominously in its containment unit. "Activate the weapon."

"Commander, the readings are unstable—"

"*Now.*"

The shard flared, a beam of corrupted light lancing toward the fissure. The Devourer's hand *screamed*, its talons disintegrating—but the fissure split wider, birthing a second hand.

"It's feeding on the energy!" the technician yelled.

Lysandra's smirk faltered. "Shut it down!"

Too late.

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### **The Heart's Reign**

Zane's resolve snapped.

*Yes,* the Heart purred. *Together.*

Shadows erupted, engulfing him. When they cleared, he stood transformed—a figure of living night, eyes twin voids, a crown of jagged teeth swirling above his brow.

Thalia lunged, but his shadow-blade halted her. "Zane—!"

"He's not home," the Heart said through his lips.

It lunged at the Devourer, their clash shaking the valley.

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### **The Crown's Price**

Thalia dodged falling debris, her Veilwalker sight catching threads of realm-energy fraying around the fissure. "Lira! The shards—we need to seal it!"

They sprinted, weaving through chaos. Vyrthax tore into cultists, his howls desperate.

The Heart-possessed Zane grappled the Devourer, their struggle tearing the sky. With a roar, he plunged his shadow-blade into its wrist—but the fissure *screamed*, collapsing inward.

The Devourer recoiled, half-severed. The Heart laughed—until Zane's voice clawed free.

"Thalia… NOW!"

She hurled the shards into the fissure's heart. Light exploded.

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### **Cliffhanger: The Hollow Victory**

The fissure sealed. The Devourer's hands crumbled to ash.

Zane collapsed, the crown of teeth dissolving. His veins faded to gray.

But the victory was hollow.

Above, the Elite's weapon overloaded, detonating in a storm of prismatic fire. New fissures bloomed across the horizon—a hundred tiny gashes leaking darkness.

And deep in Zane's mind, the Heart whispered: *You're mine.*

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