The storm had ended, but the silence it left behind was worse. The Black Fang grounds were unrecognizable, mountains leveled, rivers burned dry, and the air heavy with the metallic tang of divine ash. What remained of Kael’s disciples were scattered among the ruins, whispering prayers to no god at all.In the shattered courtyard, Kael sat beside Aelira’s still body. He hadn’t moved for two days.Her skin glowed faintly beneath the dust, light seeping from her veins like liquid dawn. The divine wound that should’ve ended her life was closing slowly, each heartbeat a flicker between death and resurrection.Kael’s voice was rough from silence. “If you wake up just to scold me again, I’ll take it.”Nothing. Only the sound of the wind dragging ashes across stone.He reached out, brushing a lock of pale hair from her face. “You weren’t supposed to get hurt. You were supposed to be smarter than me.”Her lips parted.A breath. Then another.Kael froze. “Aelira?”Light burst from her chest li

The first spear of light hit the earth like a falling star. Kael barely had time to pull Aelira into his arms before the shockwave tore through the mountainside. Black Fang disciples were flung like leaves in a storm; the air turned to fire.Above them, the sky was no longer blue, it was a wound, bleeding radiance. From it descended the angels of Heaven, their wings stretching wide across the horizon. Each feather burned like molten silver, each eye cold as judgment.They weren’t soldiers. They were executioners.Kael set Aelira down gently. “Stay behind me.”She was trembling, her glow unstable. The divine brand across her back pulsed with violent light, searing her skin. “Kael, there are too many..”“Then they can die together.”His voice was calm, almost too calm.The angels spoke in unison, their voices a choir that split the air.“Mortal heretic Kael Draven. Vessel Aelira-07. You stand condemned by the Will of Heaven. Lay down your weapon.”Kael lifted the Godslayer Blade, its cr

The void howled around Kael Draven. It wasn’t wind, it was memory, echoing across lifetimes. Every heartbeat was a ripple, and every ripple showed him another world, another version of himself.He staggered through the darkness, the Godslayer Blade glowing faintly in his grasp, its crimson edge dripping light instead of blood..“Where… is this?”His voice was swallowed by the void. Then, the darkness answered.Thousands of Kaels stared back at him. Some wore crowns. Some chains. Others bled on battlefields, clutching the same blade. Each one bore the same eyes, burning with fury, drowning in grief.Aelira’s voice echoed faintly in his mind, distorted by distance.“Kael! Where are you? Don’t let it pull you under!”Her voice faded, and the void tightened its grip.The first memory struck like lightning.Kael stood on a mountain of corpses, armor shattered, the world burning around him. A crown of fire adorned his head. Angels screamed in the sky.“Heaven cannot be slain,” a golden fig

The sky was wrong when Kael opened his eyes, the air itself tasted different, thin, metallic, heavy with incense and lies. He stood on the ridge of a mountain that used to overlook his sect’s valley. But the banners were gone. The towers of the Black Fang were dust.In their place rose golden spires, temples of Heaven.Kael’s jaw tightened as he stepped forward. The wind carried the sound of distant hymns, echoing from a dozen cities below. Holy fire burned across the horizon, where temples shone like suns. Every peak bore Heaven’s mark, a single glowing sigil that pulsed like a wound.He whispered, “They built their cages while I was gone.”Aelira stood beside him, her aura a quiet storm of divinity. She had changed, her eyes glowed faintly now, not with corruption, but with some fragile balance between light and shadow. “Kael,” she murmured, “the world… it’s different. Centuries might have passed in the void.”Kael’s expression hardened. “Then they’ve had centuries too long.”He d

The morning sky burned red, not from dawn but from fire.Villages that once bowed to temples now burned under black banners. Soldiers knelt in the ashes, heads bowed, blades dripping.Kael stood in the heart of it all, cloak torn and soaked in blood, not his, not anymore. His gaze swept over the fallen idols of Heaven, their golden faces cracked and bleeding molten light.Behind him, the army of the Black Fang waited. Once disciples, now soldiers. Once survivors, now conquerors.Kael turned, voice cutting through the smoky wind.“Look at what the gods built,” he said. “Towers to their pride, altars to their cruelty. And what did they give you in return?”Silence.He lifted the Godslayer Blade high, its black flame spiraling up into the storm.“Nothing. They took your children. They took your faith. Now we take everything back.”The soldiers roared.Kael’s voice rose with the thunder. “We are not a sect anymore. Not fugitives. Not disciples. From this day forward” he slammed the blade