The wind howled across the cliffs outside Astra Village.
Eren stood at the edge of the world.
Behind him, Lyra’s cloak fluttered softly in the cold air. The broken sky above still carried faint cracks, glowing like scars across the heavens.
“It’s coming,” Lyra said quietly.
Eren felt it too.
A pressure in the air. A vibration beneath his feet. The world itself seemed to tremble in anticipation.
From the horizon, shadows gathered.
The Sky Knights had arrived.
Five figures stepped forward, each clad in dark armor, their presence suffocating. And at their center stood the knight from before—the one with burning red eyes.
“The bearer lives,” he said calmly. “And so the cleansing begins.”
Eren’s arm began to glow.
The Sky Mark pulsed violently, as if responding to its enemies.
Lyra stepped beside him. “Remember what I told you,” she said. “Control it. Don’t let it control you.”
Eren swallowed.
“I don’t even know how,” he admitted.
The red-eyed knight raised his sword.
“You were never meant to learn,” he said. “You were meant to die.”
The battle exploded without warning.
The Sky Knights moved in perfect synchronization, blades cutting through air faster than sight. Lyra’s staff lit up with silver light as she cast barriers and counter-spells, barely holding them back.
Eren tried to focus.
The mark burned.
Voices echoed in his mind—memories of war, destruction, fallen gods screaming as they were struck down by power like his.
“Stop…” he muttered.
One of the knights broke through Lyra’s defense and lunged toward him.
Instinct surged.
Eren raised his arm.
Blue light erupted outward in a massive shockwave, blasting the knight into the sky. The earth cracked beneath him as raw energy poured from his body like a storm.
The remaining knights hesitated.
The red-eyed knight stepped forward alone.
“So it awakens further,” he murmured.
He moved like lightning.
Their clash split the ground.
Sword met energy, black steel grinding against glowing blue flames. The impact sent tremors through the cliffside.
Eren felt himself losing control.
The power inside him wasn’t steady—it was chaotic, wild, ancient.
“You see?” the knight said as they struggled. “This is why you must die. You are not strong enough to wield it.”
Eren gritted his teeth.
“Maybe not,” he said.
The knight’s sword pushed closer.
“But I won’t let you decide my fate!”
The Sky Mark flared brighter than ever before.
Suddenly, the cracked sky above responded.
Light poured down from the fracture in the heavens, connecting with the mark on Eren’s arm. The world fell silent.
Time slowed.
Eren saw it then—the truth.
The Sky Mark was not evil.
It was a balance.
Whenever gods grew corrupt… whenever power tipped too far… the sky created a weapon to reset the world.
And that weapon was human.
He saw his mother standing beneath a broken sky years ago.
She had been a bearer too.
She had chosen sacrifice.
Tears streamed down Eren’s face.
“So that’s why…” he whispered.
The knight noticed the shift.
“Impossible,” he said. “You shouldn’t be able to synchronize fully.”
Eren’s eyes glowed bright blue.
“I won’t destroy the world,” he said calmly.
The energy stabilized.
Controlled.
Focused.
“I’ll protect it.”
With one final surge, Eren released a concentrated beam of light directly into the sky.
The fracture above began to mend.
The black cracks slowly sealed, stars returning to their places.
The remaining Sky Knights staggered back.
The red-eyed knight dropped to one knee.
“It has never… chosen mercy before,” he muttered.
Eren fell to his knees as the light faded.
The mark on his arm dimmed, but it did not disappear.
The sky was whole again.
Silence covered the land.
The surviving knights retreated without another word.
Lyra rushed to Eren’s side.
“You did it,” she whispered in disbelief.
Eren stared at the restored heavens.
“No,” he said softly. “This is just the beginning.”
He stood slowly.
“The sky doesn’t want destruction,” he continued. “It wants balance.”
Lyra studied him carefully.
“And what will you do now?”
Eren looked toward the horizon, where kingdoms lay unaware of what had nearly happened.
“If the Sky Mark is meant to judge gods,” he said, “then I’ll make sure it never becomes a weapon of fear again.”
A faint smile appeared on Lyra’s face.
“The world just gained its first Sky Guardian.”
The wind moved gently through the grass.
Above them, the sky was clear.
But far beyond the visible world… something ancient stirred.
Watching.
Waiting.
END OF SKYFRACTURE
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