The silence that followed the explosion of light felt unnervingly heavy. Caelum stood motionless, his eyes locked on Eryx, whose form was beginning to blur and shimmer as if the very fabric of his being was unraveling. Despite the victory, Caelum could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on him, the fear of what might come next lingering like a dark cloud.
Eryx's mocking smile had vanished, replaced by a look of disbelief and fury. "You think you've won?" he spat, his voice tinged with venom. "This is only the beginning, Caelum. The Shadow King's resurrection is not something you can stop. It will come for you, for all of you."
Lyra's blade gleamed in the dim light as she moved closer to Caelum, her gaze unwavering. "We've stopped you for now. And that's enough."
Caelum's heart raced, but he didn't look away from Eryx. He knew the cult's leader wasn't finished yet, that there were still forces at play that none of them fully understood. The sword in his hand pulsed faintly, the whispers of its curse subsiding for now, but Caelum couldn't shake the feeling that the darkness it held would never fully leave him.
"I won't let you bring him back," Caelum said, his voice steady but filled with resolve.
Eryx's form flickered again, growing more transparent as if the light itself was eroding him. "You don't understand," he hissed, "the Shadow King is not a man. He is a force. He is the darkness that lives in every heart. He is eternal, and no matter how many times you strike him down, he will always return."
With those words, Eryx's form dissolved completely, vanishing into the air like smoke. The ruins fell quiet once more, and for a long moment, none of them spoke. Caelum could feel the weight of the battle they had just fought, the strain it had put on him, on Lyra, on everyone who had joined him in this fight.
But despite the defeat of Eryx, despite the temporary silence, Caelum knew the war was far from over. The Shadow King's return was inevitable, as Eryx had said. And it would be up to him and his allies to stop him once and for all.
"We need to regroup," Caelum finally said, his voice hoarse. "There's still too much we don't understand. The cult… the Shadow King… they're part of something bigger. Something we haven't even begun to uncover."
Lyra nodded, stepping closer to him. "Then let's uncover it. Together."
As they made their way out of the ruins, Caelum's thoughts were a storm of uncertainty and dread. The battle may have been won, but the war was far from over. And deep down, he couldn't shake the feeling that their next confrontation with the cult—and the Shadow King—would be even more dangerous than anything they had faced so far.