Book One: Rise of the Demonborn
Chapter 14: When Death Met Its Match
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The battlefield had stilled—but not because the war was over.
Something new had arrived.
Kael paused mid-step, shadows curling around his feet like ash caught in wind. His undead legion, once howling and relentless, suddenly shifted—*unnerved*.
Even the spirits of House Varnem turned their gazes skyward.
Then—
*BOOM.*
The air *ripped* apart in a pulse of divine energy as two streaks of golden light crashed into the burning streets of Therrow. Buildings crumbled. Dust spiraled like a dying star.
The light faded.
Two figures stood amidst the wreckage.
The *Gun Hero*, cloaked in black and silver, holsters gleaming with twin divine pistols. His presence was still—but pressure emanated from him like the calm before a storm.
Beside him towered the *Scythe Hero*—hooded, face masked in bone-white steel, his scythe carved with bloodruned symbols. He twirled it once, slicing air like silk.
Kael's smile finally faded.
"…So the King sends his favorites."
The Gun Hero stepped forward.
"You've killed hundreds. Burned a city. Crippled two heroes."
He clicked the chamber of his gun shut.
"You don't get to walk away."
Kael raised a hand.
A *wave* of undead erupted from the ground—shadowbeasts, skeletal knights, banshees shrieking as they surged forward.
The Scythe Hero vanished.
In a *blink*, half the horde was sliced down.
Not with fire. Not with brute strength.
With *surgical*, terrifying precision.
Limbs dropped. Heads rolled. But no blood flowed—his blade *reaped souls*, severing essence from matter.
---
Kael moved.
He flew backward, chanting dark spells that twisted air and time. Black spires burst from the ground, raining curses and rot.
The Gun Hero lifted his pistols.
*Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.*
Every spell shattered before impact.
Kael's eye twitched.
*These weren't just humans.*
They were trained to *hunt monsters like him.*
---
From the ruined chapel, Seren pulled herself up. Her vision blurred, her ribs cracked—but she *felt* the shift.
"He's… being pushed back…"
Even Kael's own soldiers were *withdrawing*. His commanders retreated under his mental command. The air had changed.
But then Kael whispered a command she couldn't hear.
A cruel one.
The Varnem spirits circled around him. He gritted his teeth, raising his arms wide. Magic spiraled from his chest—more ancient than necromancy.
"I summon you," he growled, "not from the grave—*but from the Void beyond it!*"
A crack tore in the sky.
A *Void Wyrm*—a beast of shadows, scale-less and colossal—began slithering through reality itself. Its mouth opened, and the town *screamed* in fear.
But the Scythe Hero leapt.
His blade carved the air—and *closed the tear*.
Kael *staggered*.
The Gun Hero fired five shots straight into Kael's chest—each one glowing with binding runes.
Kael *collapsed to one knee*, bleeding black mist.
---
For the first time, he whispered:
"…I miscalculated."
He turned to the shadows and raised the vial containing Elaena's spirit.
"You failed me as a sister."
He *crushed* the vial.
A burst of power shot out as her spirit—twisted and vengeful—was absorbed into his core.
The Scythe Hero lunged to stop him, but—
*BOOM!*
Kael detonated a portal.
A swirl of black fire consumed him—and he vanished.
---
The battlefield fell silent.
Only corpses and smoke remained.
Seren collapsed.
The Scythe Hero wiped his blade.
The Gun Hero holstered his pistols.
"He'll return," he muttered.
The Scythe Hero nodded.
"And next time… he won't run."