The air around Kael crackled with electricity, thickening like storm clouds before the tempest. His crimson mark burned fiercely beneath his tunic, a searing pulse that beat in rhythm with his heart.
In the shadowed hall of the Hollow Spire, silence fell as Kael stepped forward, Ashrend drawn and gleaming like a shard of nightfire. His presence was magnetic — commanding the attention of every soldier, every enemy.
Lyra and Darric watched, breaths caught in their throats.
From the shattered archway, Veilspawn swarmed in endless waves, their bodies flickering with dark energy, eyes wide with malice. They surged like a living flood, but Kael was no longer the desperate boy who had trembled before the darkness.
He was the Crimson Sovereign — born from fire and blood.
Kael lifted Ashrend high, and a radiant crimson aura exploded outward, scorching the floor and setting the air ablaze. Flames danced along his blade like living serpents.
He moved with terrifying speed.
The Veilspawn barely had time to react before Ashrend flashed again and again — strikes so swift and precise that entire ranks fell, heads severed in a cascade of crimson sparks. The air was filled with the metallic scent of blood and the crackle of burning Veil essence.
His swordplay was poetry in death — a storm of blazing steel that cleaved through shadow and bone alike.
"Crimson Ascendance!" Kael roared, voice a thunderclap that echoed through the ruined halls.
He spun, sending a spiral of flame and lightning outward, knocking back the enemy in a fiery cyclone. His movements blurred, faster than any eye could follow.
Lyra grinned, her blades singing in time with Kael's assault. "That's the Kael I know."
Darric fired bolt after bolt, each one finding a target made vulnerable by Kael's whirlwind of destruction.
But the true test came when a massive Veil beast—twice Kael's height, horns curling like blackened flames—charged through the debris.
Kael met it head-on.
The beast roared, swinging massive claws, but Kael dodged with balletic grace. His crimson aura flared as he leapt onto the creature's shoulder and drove Ashrend deep into its neck, the blade glowing white-hot.
The beast howled, thrashing wildly, but Kael held firm—then with a final, decisive slash, he beheaded the abomination.
The severed head fell at Kael's feet, steaming and smoking. The body collapsed, veins sputtering into lifeless ash.
Kael's chest heaved, the Crimson Mark glowing with newfound strength.
He looked up at his companions, eyes blazing.
"This power... it's only the beginning."
Lyra stepped closer, her gaze fierce but filled with trust.
"We follow you to the end."
Kael sheathed Ashrend with purpose.
"The world will remember the Sovereign's name."