Darkness.
It wasn't just the absence of light.
It was weight.
Heavy, suffocating, ancient.
Kael drifted through it—his body no longer his own. His limbs felt like stone, but his mind was painfully alert, shackled in a place that existed outside time.
> "Where… am I…?"
No answer.
Only a low thrum pulsed around him, echoing in his bones. The sigil burned on his chest—an alien rune pulsing with cold, violet light.
> System Restarting…
Warning: Core integration compromised. Foreign presence detected.
Running stability diagnostics… failed.
Error code: ELD_01 – Host contaminated with Outer Source.
Kael's eyes opened.
But the world was… wrong.
He lay in a twisted version of the ruined city—a mirror of reality warped by dream and nightmare. Buildings leaned impossibly to the side. The sky above bled swirling shades of purple and green. Time ticked forward and backward in bursts.
He was in the In-Between.
---
> "This… is not the same realm," Kael whispered, pushing himself up.
He looked down.
His body had healed—sort of.
No scars. No wounds. But his skin shimmered, veins glowing faintly with black light. His right arm had runes dancing along the surface—never still, always whispering.
Then came the voice.
Not from his mind.
But from within his blood.
> "Little spark… still burning, even after the gods tried to snuff you out."
Kael spun around.
From the shadows emerged a figure—tall, cloaked in shifting layers of void, its face hidden beneath a veil of stardust and teeth. It didn't walk. It floated, and with every movement, the world seemed to flinch.
> "Who are you?" Kael demanded, fists clenched.
> "Names are for beings that die. But you may call me… the Deep One. Or Father, if you wish."
Kael scoffed. "I already had a father. He died. Torn apart by people like you."
The entity chuckled—an echo that made Kael's ears bleed.
> "Wrong. Your father knelt to the gods. I am not them."
It stepped closer.
Kael staggered back. Not in fear—but because his body was beginning to change again.
The sigil on his chest flared.
> System Override: Latent Eld-Core Awakening Triggered.
New Attribute Tree Unlocked: "Voidborne Ascension"
Status Update: Kael Solas – Hybrid Class: Godkin | Eld-Blooded
---
Kael dropped to his knees.
Visions exploded behind his eyes—stars dying, realms collapsing, a war before time began. He saw things no mortal should see.
But he didn't go mad.
He absorbed it.
Piece by piece, knowledge etched into his soul.
> "What… are you doing to me?" Kael hissed through gritted teeth.
> "I'm helping you, Kael. You see, the gods marked you for erasure. But I…"
The Deep One crouched, placing a clawed hand over Kael's chest.
> "…I mark you for inheritance."
---
[Meanwhile – Tribunal Citadel]
Inside the divine control nexus, alarms screamed in every direction.
> "The Executioner is offline."
> "Host Kael Solas has entered the In-Between. Eld-signature detected."
The cloaked Tribunal Lords stood in a circle, glowing eyes locked on the central crystal screen displaying Kael's still form.
> "He's begun merging with the forbidden bloodline."
> "It must not complete. Prepare the Sealing Code."
> "Too late," one of them said, voice grim. "He is no longer just a heretic."
> "Then what is he?"
Silence.
> "He is a threat to both heaven and abyss."
---
[Back in the In-Between]
Kael rose.
His eyes had changed—slitted, glowing with layers of silver and black. His voice had an unnatural resonance when he spoke.
> "If I accept your gift… what do you want in return?"
The Deep One's smile widened—though it had no mouth.
> "Oh, nothing for now. But when you reach the 7th Gate… I'll call. You'll answer. That's all."
> "Until then—"
It touched his forehead.
Kael screamed as knowledge—a forgotten language, a forgotten power—was carved into his bones.
The world around him snapped back into motion.
---
He awoke.
Back in the ruined plaza.
Except… not the same.
The buildings were restored, but wrong. People walked the streets again—but they didn't breathe. They turned and smiled at him with hollow eyes.
He realized—
> "This isn't the real world… It's a pocket realm."
And it was created from his own mind.
Kael looked down.
His hands glowed with power. Not divine. Not magical.
Something else.
> New Skill Gained: Eld Veil
Allows the user to bend space within a localized domain.
Can fabricate temporary "realities" based on memory and will.
Kael clenched his fists. "I'm not just running anymore."
He looked up at the sky.
> "I'm going to the 7th Gate. I'll tear the heavens open myself."
But then—
A familiar figure stepped from the edge of the fabricated crowd.
Eyes wide with terror.
Armor cracked.
Blood dripping down her face.
> "Kael?" she whispered. "Is… that really you?"
Kael froze.
> "Neriah…?"
The last person he thought was dead.
The only one who had ever protected him before his ascension.
---
[TO BE CONTINUED]