The Forbidden Element

Surya drifted in a vast emptiness. The Fractured Realm was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was a void, a place without light, without time, without reality itself. His body felt weightless, yet heavy, as if it were being unraveled at the seams.

His limbs flickered, his very existence threatened by the abyss that sought to consume him.

His heart pounded.

He gritted his teeth.

"I am not done yet!"

But the void did not care. It did not listen. It only erased.

And yet, amidst the silence, he heard a whisper.

"Surya..."

His eyes widened.

Saria?

His head snapped up, his golden irises flickering with desperate hope.

The void rippled.

Was it real? Or was this just another cruel illusion?

"I won't disappear."

His fists clenched. His will burned against the nothingness.

Then—a voice.

Smooth. Cold. Mocking.

"How pitiful."

The darkness before him shifted, forming the shape of a man.

The Forgotten One stood there, composed yet sinister, his crimson eyes gleaming like embers in the void.

"Even in the face of oblivion, you cling to defiance." His lips curled into a smirk. "How... irritating."

Surya glared at him, feeling his body slowly unraveling. "What did you do to me?"

The Forgotten One extended his hand. The darkness tightened around Surya's body.

"I am showing you your fate, prince."

The pressure increased—crushing, suffocating.

It felt as if a thousand unseen hands were trying to pull him apart.

Surya gritted his teeth. He would not scream.

Not in front of this bastard.

The Forgotten One tilted his head, amused. "You were never meant to exist in this world, Surya Raj. That power of yours... It is unnatural. A deviation. And now, the world seeks to correct its mistake."

Surya's breath grew ragged. His vision blurred.

His body flickered—becoming transparent.

His very soul was being erased.

The Forgotten One's voice dropped to a whisper. "This is the end for you."

But then—

A flicker.

Small. Dim.

But there.

Deep within Surya's chest, something ignited.

He had felt this before—the same sensation when he first awakened his true power.

His father's words echoed in his mind.

"You are more than just your body, Surya. You are will itself."

Surya exhaled.

He lifted his head.

His golden irises blazed.

The Forgotten One narrowed his eyes. "...What?"

The golden flicker in Surya's chest expanded, pushing back against the void.

The suffocating darkness recoiled.

Surya smirked.

"You talk too much."

And with that—he moved.

The Forgotten One barely had time to react before Surya's form solidified.

He lunged forward. His body was no longer flickering. His golden aura surged, brighter than before.

His sword materialized in his grip, its edge gleaming like a miniature sun.

Surya slashed—a single, decisive stroke.

CRACK!

The void shuddered.

The Forgotten One's eyes widened. "Impossible—"

BOOM!

A golden explosion erupted from Surya's blade, ripping through the void itself!

The Fractured Realm trembled, cracks spreading through the once-endless darkness.

The Forgotten One stumbled back, eyes wide with disbelief.

"NO—THIS CANNOT BE!"

Surya grinned.

His sword pulsed. "You may have created this realm..."

The cracks spread.

Golden light poured through the fractures.

The Forgotten One snarled, trying to stop the collapse—but it was too late.

Surya's voice rang through the void.

"But I decide what happens here!"

And with a final slash—

The Fractured Realm shattered.

Light consumed everything.

For a moment—nothing.

Then—a pulse.

A heartbeat.

A gasp.

Surya's eyes snapped open.

The battlefield returned in an instant—the chaos, the destruction, the burning city.

He was back.

And across from him, The Forgotten One staggered, his body flickering, his power visibly weakened.

Saria, Rohan, and Aaryan stood frozen in shock.

Rohan's voice was breathless. "I... I saw him disappear...!"

Saria covered her mouth, her eyes wide with relief. "He was gone... But he came back..."

Surya cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders. His golden aura had not faded.

The Forgotten One trembled. "You... escaped?"

Surya smirked.

His grip on his sword tightened.

"Like I said."

Golden flames danced around him.

"I decide what happens."

(TO BE CONTINUED...)