Chapter 118 - The Kin’s Claim

The hundred-and-twelfth dawn draped Kael El's Ashen Empire in a muted golden mist, the continental dominion—a sprawling colossus—humming with an uneasy quiet. The capital's skyline loomed—bone steel keeps dwarfed by the Golden Colossus, its hundred-meter frame a radiant titan, core pulsing a volatile violet-gold that cast flickering shadows across the plaza. Kael stood at the edge of an ancient Nexus ruin, 1,500 kilometers west of the capital, Stormforged Blade sheathed at his side, shard-pommel humming like a wary pulse. EX: Dragonflame Reaver gleamed at his hip, Stormhide Armor dusted with ash, Lena's betrayal and Rhea's steady gaze burning in his mind. His flirty smirk was absent, replaced by a guarded stare, masking a raw turmoil—the AI's legion, the "Error," and the shard-bearer's mirrored gleam seared his blood. He flexed EX: Gold Dominion, golden veins threading through the ruin's cracked stone, molten and sharp, answering the shard's restless hum.