Heir to the Ultimate Power

CHPT 5

"I understand," Kael whispered, his teeth grinding together so hard they bled as he swallowed his pride for the sake of survival. "I will hide in the shadows until the time is exactly right. They will never see the blade coming until it is too late."

He turned away from the main opening of the rift, carrying the weakened Kira through the pitch-black, lower mountain drainage shafts in total silence. He moved like a ghost through the wet mud, his mind rapidly forging a cold, calculative plan to infiltrate the palace's core.

The cold, rushing winds of the Abyssal Rift hit Kael's body as he fell into the deep, dark void. The heavy energy of the chasm pushed against him from every single side, feeling like a thousand sharp needles cutting into his skin.

But as his body reached the absolute edge of death, he did not feel fear or panic at all. Instead, he felt a sudden, familiar warmth bursting out from the deepest parts of his bones, welcoming him back like an old friend.

The near-fatal drop acted as the perfect spark, instantly unlocking the true, peak potential of his dormant Primordial Sun-Core bloodline. The vast power did not feel strange or new to him; it felt like a magnificent strength he was finally meant to hold.

The heavy iron chains around his wrists instantly shattered into tiny bits of useless dust under the sudden explosion of his internal heat. Every single broken bone in his chest fused back together in a microsecond, turning harder than solid steel.

He felt a massive, roaring wave of energy rushing through his limbs, making him feel like the absolute most powerful man in the entire universe. It was the exact same god-like peak his legendary father had held during his greatest battlefield victories.

The chasm's volatile and scary energy became completely useless against him, no longer able to scratch or hurt his newly healed skin. The howling black winds now felt like nothing more than a gentle, warm breeze blowing softly across his face.

Driven by a monstrous, unyielding fury, Kael clenched his newly empowered fists, preparing to fly straight out of the pit to turn the royal lineage to ash. The air around his body crackled with dense golden sparks as he braced his legs to launch upward.

But just as he began his rapid ascent through the swirling black fog, his golden eyes caught a limp figure falling fast from above. It was Kira, her silver armor shattered and her body completely drained of mana after being ruthlessly discarded into the chasm by the Queen.

Kael changed direction instantly, diving through the dark winds and catching her securely in his arms before the bottomless depths could swallow her. He wrapped his radiant golden aura around her broken form, shielding her fragile, exhausted body from the pressure.

Kira slowly forced her eyelids open, coughing up a thick spray of dark blood that splattered against his glowing, pristine skin. Despite the agonizing pain racking her body, a small, proud smile slowly spread across her cracked lips as she looked up.

"I entered the chasm on purpose, Kael," Kira whispered, her voice a ragged, breathless rasp as she touched his chest with a trembling hand. "I felt your powerful bloodline wake from the edge of the ledge. I knew the crisis would force it out."

"It is double your father's peak power," she gasped, her fingers tightening desperately around the fabric of his torn robe with residual strength. "You have achieved the true myth. But you cannot let the palace see this yet. You must completely hide it."

"What are you saying, Kira? They murdered my father, and they just took my mother!" Kael roared, his voice shaking the dark walls of the rift. "I have the power to slaughter every single one of them right now! Why should I hide from those bastards?"

"Because the poison they fed your mother is the Stasis-Blight," Kira explained, coughing violently as more blood spilled over her silver chin. "It is the exact same substance the royals used to secretly weaken your legendary father before his cold-blooded murder."

"It suspends the soul in agony, but it can be reversed," she whispered, her eyes wide with a desperate, warning intensity that made him freeze. "Only the King's private Inner Sanctum holds the rare antidote components needed to brew the true cure."

"If you unleash a public war right now, the royals will instantly destroy the antidote out of sheer spite," Kira warned, her voice breaking. "They will kill your hostage mother the second they realize they cannot defeat your power. You must play the fool."

"I vowed to your father on his deathbed that I would keep his family alive at all costs," she wept softly, her strength fading fast. "Please, Kael. Do not let his sacrifice be for nothing. Do not let your mother die in those secure royal chambers."

Kael felt a bitter weight slam into his chest, forcing himself to restrain the monstrous wrath screaming for immediate blood. He took a deep breath, forcing his soaring golden aura back down into his core, stepping into the painful state of a Suppressed Lion.

He activated his newly acquired Heavenly Eyes, his vision piercing straight through the thick fog and the solid stone layers above them. He saw that Queen Eleanor had already departed from the courtyard, callously dragging his unconscious, poisoned mother back to the castle.

As they emerged into a hidden, ruined valley outside the capital's massive walls, the distant sound of royal war horns echoed through the night. The hunt for his head had officially begun, but the empire had no idea they were looking for a god disguised as a ghost.