Kael stepped forward through the blackened earth his blood soaked boots sinking into the ash that had once been flesh the charred remains of the bone demons curled around him like brittle roots their broken jaws still open in silent screams behind him the tower of skin he had erected pulsed with a deep red glow the souls of the fallen screaming soundlessly within their fleshy prison
A gust of wind stirred the haze revealing a silhouette in the distance tall cloaked horns curling from its skull like spirals of ancient wrath Kael felt the air shift not with fear but with amusement the ground trembled as it moved closer dragging a massive black blade that hissed like boiling oil with every inch it scraped across the land
Kael narrowed his eyes the demon was not alone behind it hundreds of horned figures emerged from the smoke hunched bodies hungrily clattering their claws against rusted metal plates they did not speak they simply advanced like a tide of hate drawn to Kael's cursed presence
Kael extended his right arm and the chained blade burst from his palm coiling in the air like a serpent of fire with a flick it lashed out piercing the first demon's skull and dragging its twitching body toward him Kael crushed it underfoot as if stepping on an insect
They came in waves blades fangs poison breath Kael did not step back his movements a blur of death he weaved between claws with the grace of a fallen god striking with such force that heads exploded into red mist his eyes now glowing silver cut through the battlefield seeing every heartbeat every moment of hesitation
One demon leapt onto his back shrieking and trying to pierce his spine with a curved fang Kael reached over grabbed its throat and slammed it face first into the ground again and again until nothing remained but a smear of gore
Blood ran like rivers painting the field in shades of crimson his armor cracked and reformed every time a strike landed but Kael was changing again something deeper his veins pulsed with ancient power every time he killed he absorbed more more strength more hatred more voices whispering
Then the horned general spoke in a voice like stone grinding against bone
You are no longer human it said you are becoming us
Kael walked toward him past the piles of twitching corpses not human not demon something beyond I am becoming what you fear
The general laughed and raised its blade it curved like a scythe too massive to wield yet it did its edge dragging a black rift through the air with each swing it crashed down on Kael the impact shaking the field cracks splitting the land beneath them
Kael caught the blade with both hands his fingers bleeding the skin peeling back but he pushed up until the blade was suspended in the air and with a shoutless roar he twisted it breaking the edge and punching his chained fist through the demon's ribs and out its back
The general fell knees first black ichor spraying from its mouth
Kael stood over it his chest rising and falling his body trembling not from exhaustion but from something darker within him
Suddenly the air turned cold everything stopped every corpse every blood drop hung in the air frozen time halted and then from the sky something fell slowly not light not fire but a figure wings torn face hidden by a mask of bone it landed before Kael
It spoke with no voice yet Kael heard it in his mind
You are the Reborn
Kael felt his heart tighten as the mark on his chest pulsed a circular sigil now burned there glowing white against his blood soaked skin
You are no longer of the cycle it said you broke the chain
Kael looked at the figure and for the first time since his return he felt something like hesitation
What do you want he asked in thought
Not want the figure said you are chosen to destroy or to become the end
Kael's fingers curled around the hilt of his chained blade and his voice returned I choose vengeance I choose to become the end
The figure smiled or something close to it and began to dissolve into black feathers that rose into the sky and vanished
As time resumed the battlefield shifted beneath Kael demonic roots cracking open and revealing stairways of bone spiraling downward into the earth the air smelled of rot and promise
He descended without pause every step echoing his past every scream behind him feeding his path
Below awaited new enemies twisted by centuries of pain beings who had never seen light and knew only the law of torment their laughter echoed up the stairs before Kael even arrived
He entered a chamber carved from living stone faces screaming in the walls their mouths opening and closing in silent rhythm and in the center a throne made from corpses and upon it a woman of shadows her eyes like twin abysses
Welcome Kael she said I have been waiting
Kael stopped his body covered in blood his aura now visible a ring of silver fire circling him
Who are you he asked
She smiled revealing teeth made of glass I am what they fear I am your mirror I am the final test
She stood and as she did her form shifted she became him his face his eyes his wounds but darker twisted Kael without soul Kael without past
They circled each other silently blades drawn shadows clashing against light their strikes so fast they split the air in two sparks danced with blood and each time he struck her she laughed as if pain meant nothing
Is this all you are she whispered as she dug a dagger into his ribs
Kael pulled it out with a snarl and drove his chained blade through her face the impact echoing through the cavern but she faded into mist reforming behind him stabbing again laughing again
You will never kill me I am your rage
Kael screamed and a pulse of dark light erupted from his chest vaporizing the illusion and cracking the stone walls around them
He stood alone the chamber collapsing around him and then from the rubble rose new enemies beastly malformed crawling from the cracks like worms of hatred hungry for his soul
Kael raised both hands and summoned fire lightning and shadow all at once three skills merging into one massive blast that turned the chamber white with light every enemy burned every voice silenced
Kael fell to one knee the power draining him but he smiled not from joy but from promise
He whispered to himself
This is just the beginning