The square was a graveyard.
Bodies lay strewn like broken dolls, their armor cracked, their weapons twisted, their blood staining the stones black beneath the flicker of dying torches. Smoke still coiled in the air where Kael's lightning had torn through flesh and steel alike.
Only the captain remained standing—barely. His spear was split in half, his body swaying like a tree in the storm. His men were gone, his command shattered.
Kael approached, each step ringing against the cobblestones. His crimson aura burned like fire in the dark, crackling with sparks that hissed against the ground. The air itself bent around him, heavy, suffocating.
The captain lifted what was left of his weapon, his eyes wild. "Y-you're not human…"
Kael's sword came down.
The clash lasted less than a breath. Steel shattered, flesh split, and the captain fell lifeless to the ground.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Kael stood alone amidst the corpses, his chest rising and falling as the crimson glow slowly dimmed. His sword dripped with blood, and his reflection in the steel was something unrecognizable—eyes sharp, jaw set, a figure of wrath incarnate.
For a long moment, he didn't move. The storm inside him threatened to rise again, to consume everything. But then he let out a sharp breath and forced the blade down, grounding its edge into the stone.
"…It's done."
His aura began to recede, though the scars it left on the battlefield would remain.
Somewhere beyond the ruined square, his companions would be moving through their own battles, perhaps even feeling the echo of his fury. Whether they would still recognize him when they saw what he had done… was another question.
The Sovereign's grip on the city was broken, but Kael knew this was only the beginning. His enemies were many, and each fight dragged him closer to the edge of something darker—something he was not sure he could return from.
The wind blew through the square, carrying with it the stench of death. Kael raised his sword once more, wiped the blood from its edge, and sheathed it with a steady hand.
The storm had passed.
But in the distance, thunder still waited.