Smoke curled lazily through the forest ruins, but the air had changed.
Kael stood in the still-burning circle, hand still bound with Lilith's, their mixed blood sizzling between their palms. The second bond had changed everything.
He could feel her thoughts. Not clearly—just flickers. A warning here. A hunger there. The weight of her centuries-old rage pressing softly at the edge of his consciousness.
> [Lilith's Will: Linked.]
[Mental Sync: 6%]
[Emotional Channel: Opened.]
His heart beat harder. Not in fear—but excitement.
Lilith let go of his hand slowly, her eyes scanning the black sky above.
"They'll come fast now," she muttered. "The Knights of the Sanctus Order are only the first layer. The Church has worse—Voidwalkers, Blood Hunters, Inquisitors…"
Kael took a breath. "Can we outrun them?"
Her wings twitched, but she shook her head. "They'll track the blood link. Your mark shines like a beacon to them now."
"So what do we do?"
She looked at him with a smile so calm, so chilling, it made his stomach tighten.
"We stop running."
Kael blinked. "What?"
Lilith turned and began walking, flames parting in front of her. "We find the one place where even the Church fears to go. The one place your true power can awaken without interruption."
Kael stepped after her. "And where's that?"
She didn't look back.
> "The Ashdeep Ruins."
"The resting place of the Demon King I once served… and betrayed."
---
The forest stretched ahead, vast and shadowed, but Kael no longer felt powerless.
Each step he took, his boots cracked burning roots and broken swords. His blood was hot. His heart thundered.
And somewhere deep within him, something stirred again.
> Soon...
Throne.
Claim it.
---
But far behind them, back where the circle had burned and knights had bled—
Another figure stepped out of the shadows.
A woman in white armor, blindfolded, holding a blade humming with divine light.
She knelt, touched the scorched ground… then smiled.
> "The Abyss Queen has found her mate."
"Good."
"Let the purge begin."
They walked in silence for hours.
Kael followed behind Lilith, watching her figure move through the dying forest like a shadow made flesh. Her wings had retracted, replaced by a flowing black cloak that moved like living smoke. The fires they left behind slowly smothered into ash, the wind thick with the scent of blood, charred bark, and scorched magic.
Kael's thoughts were loud.
His heartbeat louder.
And every time he glanced at her… he could feel her inside him. Thoughts not his. Memories that flickered and vanished like dying stars. It was intimate. Violent. Unnatural.
He spoke first.
"Why me?"
Lilith didn't turn.
"Because fate is cruel. And you were broken enough to accept it."
"I'm serious," Kael said, stepping forward. "Why not kill me back at the ritual site? I was just another human to you."
Now she turned, slowly.
The moonlight caught her features—pale skin, silver hair, crimson eyes with that faint violet glow from their deepening bond.
She looked at him like one might regard a crack in a perfect sword.
"You really want to know?" she asked.
Kael nodded.
She stepped closer.
"Because when I kissed you…" Her voice dropped lower, silk-wrapped venom. "I saw something inside you that terrified even me."
Kael's breath hitched.
"You weren't meant to live a quiet life," she said. "Not after what you buried. Not after what you were. That throne in your dream? It's real. And once, you sat on it. I saw the memory behind your eyes."
Kael clenched his jaw. "You keep calling me 'something else.' What was I?"
Lilith tilted her head. "A god. Or a monster. Or both. The records say your kind were erased from existence for trying to claim dominion over both demons and divinity."
He blinked. "You mean…"
"Not a hybrid," she said. "A devourer. Born in the Abyss. Feared by gods. Betrayed by both."
Kael stumbled back a step. "Then why would you bond with me? Why risk it?"
Lilith's lips curled upward.
"Because, dear husband… I want the world to burn, too."
---
They kept walking until the trees grew twisted, the ground cracked and blackened. Magic seeped from the soil in slow, glowing threads—tainted, ancient.
Kael stopped. "What is this place?"
Lilith stepped past a jagged arch of stone, brushing her fingers across a rune that shimmered faintly as it touched her skin.
"Past here," she whispered, "the old warzones begin. These were once fortresses, shrines, battlefields. Now they're graves."
Kael scanned the cracked, rotting earth.
And then he saw it.
A massive stone statue—half-buried in the ground. A horned figure, kneeling with a sword plunged through its chest. The runes beneath it glowed faintly in red. Wings—shattered. Fangs—broken.
Kael swallowed.
"Who is that?"
Lilith's voice was distant. Hollow. "That was the first Abyss King."
He stared at her. "You said you betrayed him."
"I did," she said, flatly. "So did all of us."
Kael stepped beside her. "Why?"
Lilith's voice trembled—not with sadness, but with rage. "Because he tried to unite demons and humans through war. And we thought him mad."
Kael touched the cracked base of the statue. It pulsed beneath his palm. Familiar.
Lilith noticed.
Her eyes narrowed. "You remember him?"
"I… I don't know. I feel something." Kael clenched his fist. "Like I was there."
"You were," she whispered. "You were the one who stood beside him… until the final battle."
Kael looked at her.
And Lilith… looked afraid.
"You're not his heir," she said slowly. "You were his killer."
---
Far behind them, wind howled.
A shadow moved through the treetops.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
> "How poetic," the woman in white murmured. "The God-Eater and the Betrayer… walking hand in hand again."
She raised her blade.
"Let's give the past a bloody encore."
---
The ruins fell into shadow.
Kael stood beneath the shattered archway of the old Abyss King's monument, his thoughts spinning. Every word Lilith spoke made the air feel heavier.
> You were the one who stood beside him… until the final battle.
You're not his heir… You were his killer.
"How could I forget that?" Kael whispered.
Lilith crossed her arms. "Because you chose to. After the War of Annihilation, your soul fled the Abyss. You sealed your power, locked your memories. Became human."
"Why?"
She stared at him, her gaze sharp. "Because if you hadn't… the gods would have destroyed you permanently."
Kael turned toward the shattered statue of the demon king—its broken wings now seeming less tragic and more symbolic. "I don't know what scares me more… that I was someone powerful… or that I was someone willing to kill a king."
Lilith said nothing. But in her silence, Kael understood something else:
> She still didn't know if she could trust him.
And he couldn't blame her.
---
Then it happened.
The wind died.
Birdsong ceased.
The forest air thinned, like it had been sucked away by a divine vacuum.
Lilith's wings unfurled instantly, shielding Kael.
"Above," she said, voice tight.
A blur of white dropped from the sky, blade-first.
Kael barely moved before Lilith's flame wing caught the strike mid-air. Sparks exploded. The ground shook.
The woman who landed was elegant—tall, armored, blindfolded. Her blade hummed with celestial light, but her expression beneath the fabric mask was calm… almost reverent.
"I was beginning to think the Abyss Queen had grown soft," she said. "But you still move well, Lilith Raventhorn."
Lilith's eyes widened. "Seraphina Vale."
Kael frowned. "Who the hell is that?"
Lilith's tone was dark. "One of the Seraphs. A blade chosen by the gods. Assassin of Kings."
Seraphina smiled beneath her veil. "And you must be the Broken One." She turned her blade slightly toward Kael. "The thing that escaped judgment. I've been waiting for you."
Kael tensed.
> [Warning: Divine Power Detected]
[Mark of the Abyss – Response Triggered]
[Adaptive Blood Instinct – Unlocked (Temporary)]
Lilith moved in front of him. "You'll have to go through me first."
"Oh, I intend to," Seraphina said sweetly. "But don't worry. I'll leave just enough of him alive to pull out the mark… and break the bond."
Kael's heart raced.
Something primal stirred in him again.
Lilith attacked first—a lance of flame hurled like a spear.
Seraphina vanished.
Kael's instincts screamed—he ducked, and a slash of divine energy passed inches over his head, slicing a tower of stone behind him clean in two.
Lilith countered, dragging her hand across her own blood and summoning twin blades of fire and shadow.
They clashed.
Steel and flame.
Grace and fury.
Kael watched, heart hammering.
But he couldn't just stand there.
Not anymore.
> You were his killer, the voice echoed again inside him.
But you were also… his successor.
Kael stepped forward.
And for a split second—Seraphina hesitated.
That was all Lilith needed.
Her blade pierced Seraphina's shoulder, flame bursting from the wound.
But the holy knight didn't scream.
She smiled.
"Now I know it's really you."
Then, faster than Kael could react, she vanished again.
Lilith's eyes went wide. "Kael, MOVE—!"
But it was too late.
Seraphina reappeared behind him, blade to his throat.
> "Let's see how much of a monster you really are."
She plunged the blade toward his spine—
And the Mark of the Abyss exploded.
---
Black-red energy surged from Kael's chest, sending Seraphina flying back with a scream. Her blade snapped in half mid-air. The ruins trembled. Symbols lit across Kael's skin, and his eyes turned fully crimson.
> [Bloodbound Core Activation – 48%]
[Suppressed Power Breaking Seal…]
[Instinct Override: Active]
Kael's voice dropped to a tone not his own.
> "Don't touch what's mine."
The flames obeyed him now.
Not Lilith's.
His.
They surged around him like a beast reborn.
Seraphina knelt, coughing blood.
She looked up, laughing.
"Yes… yes… he is back."
Kael stepped forward, unaware of the cracks appearing on the ground with each footstep.
Lilith reached him, grabbing his wrist. "Kael—stop. You're slipping."
But he didn't look at her.
He looked at the moonless sky.
> "If the gods want war…"
"They'll get one."
---