THE LAST BLOOD SOVEREIGN

CHAPTER 42: THE TRIAL OF COMPASSION

The valley trembled.

The seven stars above dimmed as the enormous hand of living shadow descended from the heavens.

Its fingers stretched across the sky like mountains.

Every flower in the valley withered beneath its presence.

Every river turned black.

Kael instinctively reached for the Blood Sovereign Blade.

But before he could attack—

Lysara raised her hand.

"Do not draw your sword."

Kael stopped.

"What?"

The Fifth Sovereign's voice remained calm.

"If you fight this trial with anger..."

"You have already failed."

The shadow laughed.

Its voice echoed from every direction.

"Then let us see whether the last heir deserves your legacy."

The giant hand struck the valley.

BOOOOOOM!

The ground split apart.

Kael leapt forward, shielding Selene from falling rocks.

Caelan pulled Elara away from a collapsing cliff.

Aurel planted his staff into the earth, creating a barrier.

When the dust settled...

The valley was gone.

Instead...

They stood in the ruins of an ancient city.

Smoke filled the air.

Buildings burned.

Children cried for help.

Soldiers fought desperately in the streets.

Kael looked around in confusion.

"This isn't real."

Lysara's voice echoed through the smoke.

"It is a memory."

"The day my kingdom fell."

People ran through the streets in panic.

A mother held her injured son.

An old man struggled beneath a collapsed building.

A wounded knight crawled across the road.

Then the shadow spoke again.

"Only one can be saved."

Everyone froze.

Three paths appeared before Kael.

The mother.

The old man.

The knight.

A timer of crimson light appeared above the city.

One minute.

Selene whispered,

"This is impossible."

Caelan looked around desperately.

"There has to be another way."

Lysara remained silent.

She only watched Kael.

Kael closed his eyes.

His heartbeat slowed.

He remembered something his own father had once told him in a forgotten memory.

"A king does not ask..."

"Who deserves to live?"

"A king asks..."

"How many can still be saved?"

His eyes opened.

He smiled.

"The trial is lying."

Everyone looked at him.

Kael pointed toward the burning buildings.

"These three people aren't the only victims."

He ran.

Not toward any of the three.

Toward the centre of the city.

Selene immediately understood.

"Everyone!"

"Follow him!"

Together they ignored the shadow's rules.

Caelan lifted fallen beams.

Elara guided trapped civilians.

Aurel restored broken bridges with ancient magic.

Selene carried children to safety.

They all organized frightened soldiers into rescue teams.

Instead of choosing one life...

They fought to save them all.

The shadow roared in fury.

"THAT WAS NOT THE CHOICE!"

Kael looked toward the sky.

"No."

"It was your choice."

"Not mine."

The illusion shattered.

The burning city dissolved into countless particles of blue light.

The valley returned.

The flowers bloomed once more.

The rivers became crystal clear.

Lysara smiled.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"After four hundred years..."

"Someone finally understood."

Kael looked confused.

"What?"

"The Fifth Trial was never about compassion."

"It was about refusing false choices."

She walked toward him.

"So many kings accepted that they must sacrifice the innocent."

"But a true Sovereign..."

"...first searches for the path no one else can see."

Blue light surrounded Kael.

His Blood Sovereign Mark glowed.

A fifth ring formed around it.

A voice echoed inside his soul.

"Fifth Inheritance Accepted."

"Ability Unlocked..."

"Heart of the Sovereign."

Kael suddenly felt every heartbeat around him.

Selene's determination.

Caelan's courage.

Elara's quiet hope.

Even the tiny birds in the valley.

He could sense every living soul nearby.

Lysara nodded.

"The Heart of the Sovereign allows you to feel the lives entrusted to you."

"It is the greatest gift..."

"...and the greatest burden."

Without warning...

The First Watcher's golden eye appeared above the valley.

But this time...

It was not alone.

A second eye opened beside it.

This one...

Crimson.

Ancient.

Filled with endless hatred.

Lysara's face lost all colour.

"No..."

"It cannot be."

Aurel looked up in horror.

"What is happening?"

Lysara whispered words that chilled everyone.

"The Hollow King..."

"...has begun to awaken."

At that same moment, far beneath the Black Citadel, Emperor Malachar drove his sword into the floor to reinforce the weakening Eighth Seal.

Lord Varyn laughed as the darkness spread around him.

And the First Sovereign slowly closed his eyes.

"The final war..."

"...has begun.”