The night was unnaturally still.
Not even the wind dared move, as though the world itself was holding its breath in fear of what was about to unfold. The fractured ruins of the battlefield stretched for miles—collapsed spires of stone, earth scorched black, and craters formed by the clash of powers that mortals could never hope to understand. And at the center of it all… stood Kairos.
Or what had once been Kairos.
His body convulsed violently, sparks of unstable energy dancing across his skin. The boy who had once fought beside them, who had laughed with them, who had sworn to protect humanity… was now breaking apart before their eyes. Black veins crawled across his arms like roots of corruption, his chest glowing with an inner storm that wasn't his own. His screams had long since lost their humanity—they were roars, guttural and deep, reverberating across the battlefield like thunder given voice.
The air thickened, heavy, foul. It was more than magic, more than simple elemental imbalance. This was corruption itself—an intrusion of something that did not belong in this world. The stench of burning ozone filled every breath, and every spark of lightning that burst from Kairos's form carried with it a malicious intent, eager to destroy.
And then it happened.
With a deafening crack, lightning black as night erupted from Kairos's body and split the heavens open. The sky bled with shadows, twisting the moon into a red eye that glared down upon them all.
The members of Celestial Tempest could do nothing but watch in horror.
Bolt, the leader, clenched his fists so tightly blood ran from his palms. The blue arcs of his lightning flickered violently around him, instinctively reacting to the corrupted energy in the air. His heart pounded—not out of fear of battle, but out of dread for the friend he had already begun to lose.
Akane, the fiery warrior whose flames once brought warmth, felt her fire sputter and dim. She had always been the first to charge into danger, her spirit unbreakable, but now her hands trembled. What use was her fire against lightning that devoured even the light?
Aether, calm and composed as the master of wind, pressed a hand against the ground to steady himself. His sharp eyes scanned Kairos, analyzing, searching for the faintest crack in this growing nightmare. Yet even he, the strategist, found only despair in the corrupted storm.
Sylva, guardian of earth and nature, felt the land beneath her cry out in agony. The soil withered, the grass shriveled, and the once-living battlefield turned hollow under Kairos's presence. Her lips parted in a whisper, "The land… it's dying."
Darian, wielder of water, felt his connection to the rivers in the distance falter as if the very lifeblood of the earth recoiled. His calm demeanor was cracked, his composure broken by the overwhelming aura pressing on his chest like an ocean's weight.
Damian, the shadow-user, usually one with the darkness, stepped back in shock. He had always felt comfortable in the shade, confident in bending it to his will. But this corruption? This abyss? It was not darkness as he knew it—it was something deeper, hungrier, and far more terrifying.
Ren, the swordsman with a heart sharpened like his blade, had already drawn steel. His spirit burned with resolve, but even he couldn't deny the cold sweat dripping down his back as he felt his very soul quiver under Kairos's aura.
Valea, calm and radiant with her celestial magic, whispered a prayer under her breath. The light around her hands flickered as if resisting her command, shivering in fear of what Kairos was becoming.
And Kaori, the newest member, the girl who had just begun to master her spirit energy, froze. She felt it before the others, deeper than any elemental reaction—a rupture in the balance of life and soul. Her eyes widened as tears burned their edges. "He's not… he's not just changing. He's being replaced."she had joined immediately after the battle against the lightning warborn amazed by the faction's abilities
Bolt turned sharply. "What do you mean?"
Kaori's voice shook, her spirit energy resonating with the corruption before them. "That isn't Kairos anymore. The Abyssal Monarch… he's forged something inside him. Not a vessel for himself, but a right hand—a corrupt Warborn, reborn from Zelthar's legacy, but ten times more powerful. He's remade Kairos into his blade."
The words struck harder than any blow.
Suddenly, Kairos's body arched backward, his screams reaching a crescendo before cutting off in eerie silence. His head lowered slowly, strands of black hair falling across his face. The lightning dancing around him no longer crackled wildly—it pulsed with steady rhythm, controlled, alive. His eyes lifted, glowing not with human resolve, but with abyssal hunger.
And then he spoke, his voice layered with echoes, distorted and wrong.
"Do you feel it?" His lips curved into a twisted grin. "The Abyssal Monarch has chosen me. I am the new storm, the wrath of corrupted skies… the Abyssal Warborn."
The ground split beneath his feet, jagged cracks racing outward as if the world itself was shattering under his aura. Each step he took forward brought silence, crushing silence, as though every living thing dared not breathe in his presence.
Bolt grit his teeth, forcing himself to step forward, even as his body screamed in resistance. "Kairos—listen to me! This isn't you! Fight it!"
Kairos tilted his head, almost mockingly. "Kairos?" His voice dripped with venom. "That name belongs to the weakling who failed. I am reborn. And when the Monarch descends, I will be his right hand, his thunder, his executioner."
He raised his hand, and black lightning surged skyward, ripping through the heavens. The shockwave alone knocked the Celestial Tempest back, sending Akane and Sylva tumbling across the broken ground. Ren stabbed his sword into the earth to keep from sliding, and Valea's light flickered desperately to shield them from the raw force.
The sky screamed with thunder. The battlefield trembled like a dying beast.
And deep within their hearts, every member of Celestial Tempest realized one truth.
The boy they once called their comrade was gone.
What stood before them now… was the Abyssal Warborn.