Recap:
Kael and Lyria fought and defeated a divine-engineered Skyfire Abomination. In doing so, Kael unlocked a deeper level of power from within his Shadowblood, consuming divine essence to destroy the beast. However, the sigil embedded in the creature revealed it wasn't made by Heaven—but something older. As Kael stood victorious, the sky cracked, revealing a burning eye beyond the veil of reality. Something ancient has noticed him.
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The eye lingered only for a moment.
But in that sliver of impossible time, Kael felt completely seen—his blood, his soul, every secret laid bare.
Then it vanished.
Kael stumbled back, clutching his chest. "That… wasn't Heaven."
Lyria said nothing. She stared skyward, knuckles white around her glaive.
Then, a voice—not from above, but from within—whispered in Kael's mind.
> [System Activation: Shadowblood Core Recognized]
[Initializing Sovereign Protocol…]
[Title Acquired: Eclipse Heir]
[Forbidden Trait: "Blood of the Null Star" — Unlocked.]
Kael froze. "What… was that?"
Before he could process it, a blue-gold interface blinked before his eyes. Floating symbols danced like digital glyphs, yet etched in an ancient tongue. He instinctively understood it—as if it had always been a part of him.
Lyria turned sharply. "You activated a system?! That's not normal—only divine agents are allowed to—wait..."
Her eyes narrowed. "Is that… the Sovereign Class?"
Kael looked at her, confused. "You know what this is?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, someone else did.
A third voice echoed across the ruins.
"That is not meant for mortal hands."
A ripple in space unfolded a few meters away, and a man stepped through—dressed in ragged celestial robes, with a chain of severed halos dragging behind him.
He had no eyes.
Just burning voids.
Lyria cursed, "Watcher-class exile!"
Kael stood, the shadow around him twitching. "Who are you?"
The man grinned. "I am what remains of those who once tried to stop the Eclipse. I am called Ashen Veris."
He raised a hand. Kael and Lyria were both instantly paralyzed—frozen mid-breath, mid-thought.
Veris walked closer.
"I came to destroy you before you awakened fully. But I was too late. The Eye has already marked you."
He touched Kael's forehead.
The system interface glitched, then stabilized.
> [WARNING: Interference Detected. Null Path unlocked ahead of schedule.]
Veris sighed. "You are the vessel. The Sovereign's Echo. I don't know whether to kill you… or kneel."
Kael growled, breaking the paralysis by force. Black lightning danced around him. "Try either. I won't go quietly."
Veris chuckled. "Good. You shouldn't. You'll need that defiance when the real war begins."
And then, he vanished—leaving only a scorched brand in the earth: a broken crown.
Lyria helped Kael to his feet. "He was a Nullblood. One of the first cursed by the pre-Eclipse gods."
Kael looked at his trembling hands.
> [System Notice: Your path is no longer bound by fate. You walk the Eclipse Line.]
[Next Evolution: Shadowblood Awakening – 43%]
Whatever he had become—it wasn't human anymore.
But it wasn't divine either.
It was something in between.
Something the world wasn't ready for.
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