Recap:
Kael descended into the forbidden sanctuary beneath the Valemire Wastes and met Syra, the leader of the Nullblood Rebellion. There, he learned the truth—he is the last heir of House Ardyn, a lineage tied to the mysterious Void Nexus. But just as he accepts his fate, the Divine Sentinels breach the surface, forcing Kael to join the Rebellion's defense.
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The sound of war thundered above.
Each step Kael took toward the vault exit echoed like the ticking of a cosmic clock—counting down to something catastrophic.
"Prepare defensive sigils," Syra ordered, her voice laced with both reverence and rage. "Kael, if you fall here, everything we've sacrificed will be for nothing."
He didn't answer.
Not because he doubted.
But because he was already listening.
Above the surface, amidst shattered statues and ancient stones, the Divine Sentinels descended like celestial executioners—clad in ivory armor lined with golden glyphs, their faces hidden behind emotionless helms.
A hundred of them.
And leading them—one man without a helmet. His white hair whipped in the wind, his golden eyes gleaming with cruel clarity.
Kael emerged from the vault just as lightning split the sky behind him. His Eclipse sigil glowed fiercely across his chest.
The man's gaze locked onto him.
And froze.
"…Kael?"
Kael blinked.
His throat tightened.
"Riven…?"
A name from another life.
A brother once lost.
But not dead.
Not forgotten.
Not forgiven.
Riven stepped forward, his divine mantle fluttering like angelic wings. "They told me you were dead. They told me I buried you."
Kael's voice was low, hollow. "You did."
Riven's hand clenched around his radiant halberd.
Syra emerged behind Kael, flanked by Nullblood guardians. "So the traitor wears a Sentinel's crown now. Fitting."
"Silence, heretic," one of the Sentinels growled.
Riven raised a hand. "No. I want to hear what he says."
Kael stepped forward, his body humming with volatile black lightning.
"You left me to burn in the orphaning fields. You chose the divine lie over blood."
"I chose survival," Riven snapped. "You think I wanted this? You think I enjoyed watching our family be erased?"
Kael raised his hand.
Void energy spiraled around his arm like a serpent.
"I don't care what you wanted."
And then—
He attacked.
The first clash cracked the sky.
Kael's Void Pulse collided with Riven's divine halberd in a burst of black and gold. Windstorms erupted. Lightning surged. The surrounding Sentinels were thrown back by the sheer force.
Kael moved like a phantom—every step imbued with ancient, forbidden power. His body flickered between planes, untethered by the rules of light or time.
Riven parried each strike, gritting his teeth.
"You've become something else," he spat.
"I've become what they feared," Kael said coldly.
More Sentinels joined the battle. Syra shouted commands as Nullblood mages opened shadow portals and launched anti-divine glyphs. The battlefield exploded into chaos.
But in Kael's eyes, there was only Riven.
Only the betrayal.
Only the question he had buried for years.
"Why didn't you save me?"
Riven didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Instead, he unleashed his divine technique—Halo Severance, a beam of pure sanctified wrath.
Kael raised his hand, and for the first time, didn't dodge.
Instead, he absorbed it.
His Eclipse sigil glowed brighter than ever, and a notification rang in his mind:
> [Void Nexus Resonance achieved]
[New Evolution Path: Eclipse Sovereign – Tier II unlocked]
[Bloodright Skill Awakened: Shadowheart Dominion]
The golden beam warped—corrupted—then reversed.
Kael hurled it back.
It tore through the sky.
And it sent Riven crashing into the ruined archway they once played under as children.
Kael approached the broken form of his brother, standing over him with eyes like eclipsed suns.
"This time… I bury you."
He raised his hand to finish it.
But stopped.
Because Riven whispered something—barely audible.
"They… made me… forget you."
And with that, Kael's hand trembled.
For the first time, not from anger.
But from doubt.
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Next Chapter: Echoes Beneath the Throne
The battle ends—but Kael must choose: finish his brother, or uncover the truth about the ones who erased his past. Meanwhile, deep within the capital of the gods, a masked figure watches the battle unfold… and smiles.