"Nova Castellan, Child of the Stygia Clan… receive my power."
The words of the towering specter did not simply enter Nova's ears.
They pressed against her soul.
Each syllable felt heavy and ancient, as though countless years were buried inside the voice itself, and the moment those words finished echoing across the wasteland of corpses and black lightning, an unbearable radiance suddenly exploded before her eyes.
The world drowned in white.
Nova instinctively shut her eyes tightly while raising her right arm to shield her face, yet even through her closed eyelids, the brightness pierced inward like burning sunlight reflected from snow, forcing her body to tense from head to toe while a strange weight abruptly settled into both of her hands.
A metallic sound rang out sharply.
Clang.
The sound echoed through the awakening chamber in reality, cold and heavy like iron striking stone.
