Far from the war’s clamor and the upheavals abroad, Pure Vessel and Broken Vessel still trained within Fellwyn, slowly raising their strength to the level required to chase what they’d set their hearts upon.
To achieve a miracle like the Legendary Vessel’s, they needed staggering power. Fortunately for them, Fellwyn was the best place to seize it.
Lightbearers walked a distinctive path to grow stronger—the Path of Light. It forced the body to its limits, bearing unprecedented pressure to ignite a volatile surge that vaulted the user into higher realms.
To truly benefit from that path, one had to wield the Domain ..a birthright peculiar to the Lightbearers. The Path of Light was among the finest—and cruelest—training methods in existence, and Fellwyn provided the harshest environment to draw out its maximum yield.
In that pitch darkness, only the strongest, finest Vessels survived.
So, year upon black-walled year, Pure and Broken trained, striving for the power each needed to do what they intended.
Then, at last—after grueling effort—Broken Vessel’s body erupted with might, his frame blazing with a great radiance.
A light that proved he had finally broken through and grasped a share of the strength he sought.
He collapsed to the floor, panting, but grinned with unfeigned joy and shouted:
"Finally! I did it!!!"
Across from him, Pure nodded, pleased in his own quiet way.
"With this, all the pieces are in place. We can move to the next step."
Broken Vessel — Rank SSS.
Stage One: Throne Beyond Existence (early stage).
As for Pure ..he had crossed that threshold long ago and climbed higher still.
Pure Vessel — Rank SSS.
Stage Two: Pulse of Chaos (mid stage).
Now both possessed enough strength to make things happen—and they couldn’t afford to wait. If they grew much stronger, they would be drafted straight into the Vessels’ order, a fate neither desired. They wanted freedom—nothing else.
So that night, Pure and Broken packed what little they had and launched a desperate bid to shatter Fellwyn’s chains.
That dark training ground had been built more as a prison than a proving hall. Escape was brutally difficult—a pocket reality with a single way out, a gate guarded so heavily it was said to be unbreachable.
Pure and Broken didn’t care.
In minutes, Vessels and wardens alike fell like flies as the pair cut through them at blinding speed.
Racing at the speed of light, the two moved as one.
"Remember, Pure—we have to finish this fast, before the commanders catch on. If the strongest Vessels intervene, our chances drop to zero!"
"I know."
Resolved to do whatever it took, Pure Vessel became a merciless engine of destruction that night.
Born with a blessed body that eclipsed his peers and gifts beyond comprehension, he unleashed the most potent Light-Soul and erased everything that stood in his way.
From childhood, Pure Vessel had been buried beneath mountains of expectation. For a long stretch of his life he thrashed only to fulfill others’ desires—stripped of his own will, treated as nothing more than a weapon of mass destruction, meant to crush the Lightbearers’ enemies and then be cast aside.
For a long time, he accepted that fate.
But after his fateful meeting with Broken, Pure began fixing his eyes on a freedom he had never dared to dream of.
His shattered friend showed him the road—and the goal.
All that remained was to make it real.
One after another the Vessels fell, and in Fellwyn’s depths, his radiance became a killing spark that crawled up from the abyss.
Broken followed close behind, only to be stunned by what he witnessed.
A single look at the terrifying way Pure fought told Broken that his friend had been holding back enormously whenever the two of them crossed blades.
A flawless body; flawless control; flawless command of every martial art ever drilled into him—
and on top of that, the devastating Light-Soul aura that vaulted him higher still.
’Pure... I’m starting to understand why so many call you the greatest of the Lightbearers...’
It was talent from another world—and power that made the impossible possible.
Pure and Broken didn’t know whether fortune favored them or whether the turmoil outside had thinned Fellwyn’s strength, but the strongest Vessels were away, drawn to the demons’ latest surge.
The war had pulled most of the peak fighters to the front, leaving Fellwyn deprived of much of its usual might. Few elites remained.
And against Pure and Broken, those few toppled in moments, unable to put up a real fight.
It was only a matter of time before the pair reached the exit at last—
the gate to the outer world, to the freedom both had craved.
But before that gate stood the final obstacle they were bound to face.
"This is..." Broken’s expression darkened as recognition hit.
"He’s the one who runs this damned pit. I think they call him White Vessel. Be careful, Pure—he’s strong."
"You don’t need to tell me. His presence says enough."
At the end of the path, the man who had spent his life as master of the abyss awaited them.
"Turn back, Pure Vessel. What you’re about to do betrays your entire race."
White’s voice was rough.
The curse of darkness still held, so neither Pure nor Broken could make out his features ..
but even in that choking black, a vicious scar stood out on his face.
White tried words first, though the killing intent pouring off him said he was ready to do it the hard way.
"I have no intention of retreating," Pure said flatly, shaping a blade of light into his hand, "and no intention of talking. Arm yourself. The fight has already begun."
He moved—and White met him, parrying with disconcerting ease.
"Fool of a Vessel! Do you not grasp what your people are suffering while you try to run from the duty on your shoulders?"
White’s counterattack forced Pure back—proof of how formidable he was.
"The war rages. Our kin among the Vessels die every day—holding the line, buying you time to grow strong enough to become the beacon that leads us. And you dare throw their sacrifice away?!"
Furious, White crashed into him, and the two traded blows with absolute savagery.