The air felt heavier without Kael. Selene stood rooted where he had vanished, her heart pounding as if the shadows he left behind had wrapped chains around her chest.
Lyra broke the silence first, her voice sharp, cutting. "We can't keep following him blindly. You both saw it. He's not Kael anymore."
Selene's eyes snapped toward her, filled with tears but blazing with defiance. "Don't you dare say that. He's still in there. I felt it, Lyra. Just for a moment… he looked at me the way he used to."
Arion flinched, unable to meet her gaze. Guilt ate at him like acid. He clenched his fists, forcing words past the weight in his throat. "I caused this. If not for me, the Guild wouldn't have cornered him. Maybe he never would've—"
"Stop." Selene's voice cracked. She wiped her eyes, then looked between them, her resolve hardening like steel. "We don't get to give up on him. I don't care what he's becoming. I'll drag him back if I have to."
Lyra studied her silently. For all her cold pragmatism, even she couldn't ignore the fire in Selene's voice. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. But know this—if Kael turns on us completely, I won't hesitate."
Selene's heart twisted, but she nodded. "Then I'll just have to make sure it never comes to that."
The three of them began moving, their path uncertain, but their fates tied inescapably to the man they had once called their leader.
The wasteland stretched endlessly, scorched black where his battle had torn open the earth. Kael walked slowly, each step sinking into cracked soil, the night sky fractured with faint veins of red lightning.
The voices of the abyss whispered all around him—sometimes in his own voice, sometimes in Selene's, sometimes in tongues older than time.
"They fear you. They will betray you."
"Why cling to them when you are beyond them?"
"Embrace us fully, and none—not even gods—can stand against you."
Kael stopped, his cloak of shadows swirling. He stared at his hand, flexing it. Power bled from his skin in threads of black fire, curling into the air. He should have felt invincible. Yet, deep in the hollow of his chest, a weight pressed—loneliness, heavier than chains.
For the briefest instant, Selene's face flashed in his mind, her trembling voice: "Kael… you're scaring me."
His lips curled into a bitter smile. "Good. They should be scared."
The abyss surged in agreement, drowning out the last remnants of doubt.
The air shifted. The sky above shimmered, as if a curtain of reality itself was being torn open. Golden light speared through the darkness, scattering shadows like frightened birds.
Kael narrowed his eyes. "So… they've noticed."
A figure descended slowly, their form wreathed in radiance. Wings of living starlight spread wide, their face veiled, their presence crushing. When they spoke, their voice resonated with both male and female tones, layered like a choir.
"Kael of the Abyss," the emissary intoned. "You are an affront to the balance of realms. You are neither man, nor god, nor devil—you are a corruption that must be purged."
Kael tilted his head, smirking. "Corruption? No. I am evolution."
The emissary raised their hand, a blade of pure celestial flame forming. The heat of it split the air, burning away the abyssal mist clinging to the ground. "Then evolution ends tonight."
Kael's aura exploded outward, a tidal wave of shadows and flame. His wings stretched, horns glinting with infernal light. The ground beneath him shattered into floating shards, drawn into orbit by his sheer power.
The emissary struck first. A beam of holy fire carved through the air, tearing a canyon into the earth where it passed. Kael met it head-on, raising his hand. Shadows clawed upward, devouring the beam until the light sputtered into nothing.
Their battle began.
Every clash warped reality. Divine flame against abyssal fire, starlight against void. The sky cracked, stars themselves flickering as if the heavens couldn't withstand their duel.
Kael laughed—a deep, terrifying sound—as he hurled chains of shadow that coiled like serpents, snapping at the emissary. The celestial cut them down, every strike singing like a choir, but Kael only pressed harder. His power surged higher, the abyss feeding him, intoxicating him.
"You're strong," Kael admitted, his grin widening, fangs glinting. "But you're only a messenger. Who sent you?"
The emissary did not answer, only raised their burning sword once more. But in that silence, Kael understood. This was not the true enemy. This was only the beginning.
Their final clash shattered the night—an explosion of light and shadow so vast it illuminated the entire horizon. When the dust cleared, the emissary was gone, their flame extinguished.
Kael stood alone again, his aura flickering violently, the abyss within him hungering for more. He tilted his head toward the sky, speaking to the unseen watchers above.
"Send your gods. Send your devils. I'll devour them all."
The heavens, for the first time in eons, trembled.