THE LAST BLOOD SOVEREIGN

CHAPTER 23: THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS

 

The silver eagle folded one wing and plunged through the clouds.

Black lightning streaked past its feathers.

Kael struggled to keep his footing as fierce winds howled around him.

Below was nothing but a sea of clouds.

One mistake...

One slip...

And the fall would be fatal.

Prince Kaelor smiled from the back of his black wyvern.

"Fight well, Blood Sovereign."

"I dislike boring victories."

With a sharp whistle, the six Imperial Sky Guards split into formation.

Three attacked from above.

Three swept in from below.

They moved with flawless coordination.

"They're trying to surround us!" Elara shouted.

Selene nodded.

"They've trained together for years."

"Break their formation!"

Caelan grinned.

"Finally..."

He launched himself into the air.

Golden wings burst from his back.

His spear shone like the morning sun.

BOOM!

He crashed into the first wyvern, sending both rider and beast spinning through the clouds.

The remaining guards immediately adapted.

"They're fast," Kael muttered.

"No," Selene replied as she drew her moonlit sword.

"They're disciplined."

A rain of black arrows suddenly fell from above.

Elara reacted instantly.

She fired three glowing blue arrows.

Each one split into dozens of smaller arrows made of lightning.

The skies exploded with flashes of blue and black.

The Imperial archers were forced to retreat.

Kael focused on Prince Kaelor.

The prince had not moved.

He simply watched.

Almost... studying him.

"Why aren't you fighting?" Kael shouted.

Kaelor smiled.

"I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"To see whether you're worthy of my spear."

Before Kael could answer—

A deafening roar echoed through the clouds.

One of the black wyverns broke formation.

Its eyes turned completely crimson.

Dark veins spread across its body.

Its rider screamed.

"What—?!"

The wyvern suddenly bit its own master in half.

Blood sprayed across the sky.

The remaining Imperial soldiers stared in horror.

"No..."

"It's been corrupted!"

The beast's body doubled in size.

Jagged black spikes erupted from its back.

Its wings tore apart and regenerated into massive shadowy limbs.

Kael felt a familiar chill.

"The Abyss..."

Prince Kaelor's smile disappeared.

"Impossible."

"We purified those wyverns."

The corrupted creature roared.

Without caring who stood in its way, it attacked everything.

Imperial soldiers.

The silver eagle.

Even the other wyverns.

It had lost all reason.

Selene's expression hardened.

"If that thing reaches the city below..."

"Thousands will die."

Kael tightened his grip on his crimson sword.

"I'm ending this."

He leaped from the eagle.

Elara gasped.

"Kael!"

He fell through the clouds.

Straight toward the monstrous wyvern.

The creature opened its enormous jaws.

Black flames gathered within its throat.

At the last instant—

Kael summoned Crimson Aegis beneath his feet.

The shield became a platform in midair.

He pushed off it with explosive force.

The Blood Sovereign Armor flared brilliantly.

His crimson blade ignited.

"For everyone you've killed..."

"This ends now!"

He swung.

First Form—Crimson Horizon!

A colossal arc of scarlet light sliced through the heavens.

The corrupted wyvern froze.

A thin crimson line appeared across its body.

Then...

BOOOOM!

The monster split cleanly in two.

Its corpse dissolved into countless particles of black ash.

The skies fell silent.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

Prince Kaelor stared at Kael with wide eyes.

"So..."

"You've already mastered the First Form."

Kael landed safely back upon the silver eagle.

His breathing was heavy.

That single attack had drained nearly half his strength.

But the skies were clear again.

The remaining Imperial Sky Guards slowly lowered their weapons.

None of them wished to continue.

Prince Kaelor looked at Kael for a long moment.

Then, to everyone's surprise...

He lowered his spear.

"My father was wrong."

Selene frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Kaelor ignored her.

He looked only at Kael.

"The Abyss attacked both our forces."

"It no longer distinguishes between ally and enemy."

Kael remained silent.

Kaelor continued.

"The world is changing."

"And if the Abyss can corrupt even the Emperor's strongest beasts..."

"...then a far greater war is coming."

He turned his wyvern toward the north.

"This battle ends here."

One by one, the remaining Sky Guards followed him.

Before disappearing into the clouds, Kaelor called back without turning around.

"Kael!"

"When we meet again..."

"I won't come as my father's son."

"I'll come as the man who must decide the fate of this world."

With that, the Imperial force vanished into the storm.

A strange silence settled over the sky.

Caelan scratched the back of his head.

"I... wasn't expecting that."

Neither was Kael.

He watched the distant clouds where the prince had disappeared.

For the first time...

He wondered whether every servant of Emperor Malachar truly desired the same future.

Far below, the towering peaks of the Whispering Mountains finally emerged from the mist.

At their center stood a colossal mountain split cleanly down the middle.

Between the two cliffs hung a pair of gigantic crimson doors.

Each door was over a hundred meters tall.

Ancient runes glowed across their surface.

As Kael's crimson mark began to shine, the mountain trembled.

A deep voice echoed from within.

"Welcome, Heir of Blood..."

"The Third Trial awaits."