Epilogue: Whispers in the Obsidian (Hello friends, this is the final chapter of the novel... I hope you enjoyed this first volume just as much as I enjoyed writing this story. I sincerely hope you liked it. And I’d love to know: what are you taking away from this novel?)

Far from the bustle of the capital, where mountains rise like stone fangs beneath a perpetually overcast sky, silence reigns supreme in a chamber submerged in gloom. At the center of the room, a fine, gleaming crystal ball floats above an obsidian pedestal, casting a vibrant image deep within its core.

In it, the silhouette of Alister Weiss can be seen. His face is contorted with blind fury, his fists clenched so tightly that the vibration of his hatred seems desperate to break free from the crystal.

From the darkest corner of the room, where light refuses to enter, a dark eminence emerged. Only the lower half of his face was visible beneath the hood; pale skin that stood in stark contrast to the absolute blackness of his robe.

"It will not be long..." his voice was a raspy whisper, like the scraping of old parchment across a tomb. "It will not be long before the balance of the gods meets its decline."

A slow smile crept across his lips. It was an expression filled with refined malice, yet it concealed something more: a thirst for retribution that did not belong to this century, something that not even the purest mana from the Academy could ever deduce.

The image in the sphere shifted suddenly. Alister’s silhouette faded, replaced by two figures walking hand in hand toward the coliseum’s exit: a human wrapped in a bluish aura, and a semi-human crowned in fire.

The dark eminence let out a stifled laugh, and the crystal ball flickered off, leaving the room in total darkness.