The ruins of Eredhal greeted them like an open grave.
The ancient city, once a jewel of the floating kingdoms, now lay splintered, half-swallowed by the earth, cracked spires like ribs clawing toward the sky. The stormclouds above were unnaturally still, as if held by breathless anticipation.
Kael's boots sank into the wet ash.
Every step echoed in his blood.
⚠️ SYSTEM ALERTApproaching Trial Site: Vault of Judgment
Warden Detected: [Thalor, Exarch of the Broken Flame]Former Affiliation: Kael's Right Hand, Defender of the Lightning Throne
Objective: Survive Thalor's JudgmentMemory Vault Access: Locked until combat concluded
Kael didn't speak for a while.
Elyra walked beside him, pale but composed, though her fingers occasionally twitched. She stared too long at the cracked statues—ones Kael couldn't recognize, but she clearly did.
"Do you remember what happened here?" she asked quietly.
Kael touched one of the broken angelic carvings. "No."
He paused. "But my body does."
🔓 Memory Trace DetectedFlashback Fragment: [Warden Execution Site]"They bled your name into the stone here, Kael. Carved it with screams."
He withdrew his hand, trembling.
Something in him had stirred. Something that whispered not in words, but in hunger.
🛕 The Trial Gate
A massive obsidian gate barred the path into the memory vault—a cathedral built from time itself. Before it stood a figure dressed in molten bronze and dead feathers: Thalor, the Exarch.
His voice echoed like thunder dragged across a battlefield.
"Kael.""The stars should have stayed silent."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"You were my brother," Thalor said. "Before you defied them. Before you broke the Pact. Now you're a mistake—walking on borrowed breath."
⚔️ Trial Initiated:– Defeat Warden Thalor– Time Limit: None– Divine Chain Compatibility: 82%
🎯 Condition: If Kael loses, his memory vault will be sealed for eternity
Kael raised his hand, and the Chain of Eloria ignited.
"Then break me," he whispered.
⚔️ The Fight: Fire Against Godflesh
Thalor moved like a comet—pure burning rage. Kael countered with lightning-slick reflexes, but he was too calm.
Too cold.
Each blow he landed didn't feel like a choice. It felt… remembered.
⚡ Skill Fusion: [Storm Vein] + [Devour Memory]➤ New Passive: God-Eater Instinct– In high combat stress, Kael draws on sealed divine memories– Side Effect: Loss of emotional regulation– Warning: Unstable Identity Exposure Possible
His skin darkened. His eyes shimmered gold. Every strike grew more violent. More brutal. Not to win—but to ruin.
Thalor noticed. His eyes widened.
"You're… still in there. The real you."
Kael didn't answer. The storm inside him had started howling.
💀 Flashback Echo:"You executed Thalor once already, Kael. With a smile. With mercy."
"Then you resurrected him. Just to punish him again."
🩸 Elyra Intervenes
As Kael slammed Thalor through a broken column, roaring with an emotionless fury, Elyra stepped forward.
"Kael! Stop!"
He didn't hear her.
Or maybe, part of him did—and hated it.
Lightning coiled around his arms. A black flame began to burn in his veins, not born of the Omega System—but from himself.
Elyra's eyes welled with panic. She whispered something, then screamed his name—not once, but twice.
And on the second call, Kael's vision cracked.
🌌 The Collapse
⚠️ SYSTEM OVERRIDEMemory Lock Broken
🔓 Divine Title Fragment Recovered: [Kael the Hollow Star]
"He who devoured gods to build his own throne. He who loved… and destroyed her."
Kael dropped to his knees, throat dry, body heaving.
The chain wrapped tighter around his wrist, pulsing like a heartbeat slowing down. The hunger receded, leaving guilt behind like ash.
Thalor coughed blood, but smiled.
"You're still trying to be human, aren't you?" he rasped. "Still pretending you didn't end us all."
Kael didn't answer.
He couldn't.
He just looked at Elyra, and for the first time, saw fear in her eyes.
Not of him. But for him.
🧠 The Vault Opens
The trial gate groaned open.
A thousand glyphs spiraled into the void, and beyond them, a room made not of stone—but of Kael's sealed mind.
Statues of his former forms lined the chamber: a boy with lightning in his chest, a warlord cloaked in broken stars, a god weeping beneath a throne of ash.
🎯 Memory Vault AccessedMemory Retrieved: [The First God Kael Devoured – Eron, The Lightfather]
Skill Gained: [Domain Fracture – Light Suppression Field]– Temporarily suppress divine abilities within radius– Cooldown: 6 Hours
Kael stepped forward, eyes shadowed.
But as he touched the memory glyph… Elyra collapsed.
😨 The Prophet's Breaking
She screamed once.
Then again.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground. Her skin pulsed with silver veins. Her breath was shallow. And in her eyes—two memories were colliding, trying to overwrite her mind.
⚠️ Prophet Core UnstableMemory Feedback DetectedSealed Memory Conflict: [Death of Elyra] vs [Survival Timeline]
Kael held her tightly.
"Stay with me. Please—Elyra, stay with me."
She blinked through pain. "You… you weren't always like this. I thought… I could bring you back."
"And?"
She smiled through tears. "Now I'm not sure… if you should come back at all."
Then her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.
💀 End of Chapter 5