The bells of Lumina rang for seven days and seven nights.
Their sound carried across kingdoms, echoing through shattered valleys and barren fields — a divine command spreading like fire.
"The Heretic of Ash has risen.""The Deathlord walks again.""Cleanse the shadow, in the name of the Light."
The Holy Alliance had named him.And the world had begun to tremble.
Far from the shining towers of Lumina, in the heart of the ruins, the Obsidian Spire pulsed with violet light.
Kael stood on its highest terrace, cloak whipping in the cold wind. Below, the City of Ash breathed faintly — a skeletal reflection of life. Pale lights moved through the streets: his servants, once-dead scholars and soldiers reanimated by purpose, not slavery.
Each soul had a name. Each remembered its past.They were not an army of monsters.They were the echoes of history he had restored.
Behind him, Ardis approached silently. Her once-human aura had stabilized, now interwoven perfectly with his necrotic presence. A faint violet shimmer traced her form.
"My lord," she said softly. "Reports from the outer ruins. The holy envoys have crossed the river at dawn. Two legions — one of light, one of flame."
Kael didn't move. His gaze was fixed on the horizon, where faint golden glimmers marked the edge of the world.
"The Light moves faster than I expected," he murmured.
"They will not parley," Ardis continued. "Their Inquisitors burn everything touched by death. Even the soil."
Kael's tone remained calm. "Then let them burn. The ashes always remember."
The Scripture of Returning Ashes hovered beside him, its pages turning on their own. The runes glowed faintly, forming new text — lines that pulsed with hunger.
[Phase Two Initiated: The War of Faiths.][Cycle of Bone nearing completion. New Command unlocked.][Command of Bone – Legion of Silence.]
Kael closed his hand, and the air around him thickened. Faint ripples of energy spread outward like waves across the ruins.
In response, the ground beneath the city stirred.
From within the soil, countless skeletal remains rose — not clattering or chaotic, but orderly, synchronized, kneeling before the spire. Their eye sockets glowed faint blue as the Death Sovereign's will touched them.
Ardis stepped back, eyes wide. "They… respond without ritual."
"They remember obedience," Kael said simply. "The ones buried here once served the scholars of Verradin. Knowledge doesn't fade — it waits."
He extended his hand, and the undead army lowered their heads in silent devotion. No moans, no screams, no fear — only discipline.The Legion of Silence had awakened.
Night fell.
The holy armies encamped at the edge of the ruins, their banners blazing with divine radiance. The sky above shimmered gold as priests prayed to their god, Serion, seeking blessing for the purge.
Within their camp, Inquisitor-General Dareth knelt before a silver altar.His face bore dozens of rune-scars, each one etched with divine fire.
"Grant us your sight, O Light," he whispered. "Guide our blades to cleanse the impure."
A warmth spread through the air — the unmistakable presence of a higher being.From the altar, a soft glow formed, taking shape: a humanoid figure made entirely of light.
The soldiers fell to their knees, trembling.
"You kneel before me," the voice spoke, cold and pure. "The one you call Light does not forgive twice. The Shadow reborn must not rise again."
"Yes, Divine Emissary," Dareth replied. "We shall deliver his ashes to you."
"No," the light answered. "Deliver his soul."
Then the figure vanished.
At dawn, the sky bled gold.
From the walls of the Obsidian Spire, Kael watched the light swell across the valley like a tide of fire.Ardis stood beside him, her hand clutching the railing.
"They bring an emissary," she whispered. "A fragment of divine will."
Kael's gaze sharpened. "Then the heavens have noticed."
The tome shivered in response, glowing with defiance.
[Warning: High-tier divine interference detected.][Countermeasure Unlocked – Deathveil Domain.]
Kael lifted his palm toward the horizon. Black energy gathered around his hand, rippling outward like smoke across water. The air grew cold. The first rays of dawn dimmed, smothered by a spreading darkness.
A barrier unfolded across the valley — not solid, but alive.An invisible ocean of whispers rose with it, thousands of voices chanting in unison.
"The dead do not kneel.""The dead remember.""The dead obey."
Ardis shivered. "They… sing."
Kael's eyes glowed faint silver. "They always have."
The holy army's advance slowed. Priests stumbled, clutching their chests as the weight of countless spirits pressed upon them. The light from their banners flickered under the suffocating dark.
Inquisitor Dareth raised his sword, shouting above the fear.
"Hold the line! The Light will not falter!"
Then, the first ripple hit.The ground beneath their feet split open. From it rose Kael's undead — not rotting corpses, but immaculate forms of bone and shadow, wielding spectral weapons, moving as one.
The Legion of Silence marched forward soundlessly.
Their presence crushed prayers mid-chant. Their blades cut through holy barriers like paper. The battlefield turned gray, drained of color, as the Deathveil spread wider.
At the center of it all stood Kael, cloak rippling, eyes calm.
"I warned you," he whispered. "You cannot kill what already died."
With a simple motion, he raised his hand — and the front line of priests collapsed, their souls torn from their bodies, absorbed into the mist.
Dareth roared, his sword blazing with golden light.
"Blasphemer! You dare defy the will of heaven!"
Kael's gaze met his. For a moment, time itself seemed to pause.The Deathveil hummed. Shadows and light intertwined, two opposing forces balanced perfectly within his aura.
"Heaven made a mistake," Kael said coldly. "It gave death a voice."
The two powers collided.
Light and darkness exploded across the valley, shaking the heavens themselves.
When the smoke cleared, the golden banners of the Holy Alliance lay tattered. The divine fire had dimmed, its emissary's light shattered and fading into the storm clouds above.
Kael stood amidst the ruin, untouched. His cloak was torn, but his eyes burned brighter than before.The tome floated beside him, its runes alive.
[Cycle of Bone – Completed.][Advancement to Cycle of Shade Initiated.]
The wind whispered through the ashes, carrying with it the fading cries of the defeated.
Kael looked to the sky, where cracks of golden light still shimmered — the remnants of a gate to the divine realm.
"Soon," he murmured. "I'll see the world that hides behind your light."
The City of Ashes remained silent, but its people — the dead, the forgotten, the reborn — now knelt in reverence.
For the first time since the Cataclysm, a Sovereign had risen.And this one commanded death itself.
End of Chapter 6 – Shadows of Lumina