The bodies still twitched on the bloodsoaked soil as Kael turned his back to the massacre His shadow dragged behind him distorted by the flames of the crumbling fortress The wind carried the scent of scorched flesh and broken curses yet Kael breathed deeply as if savoring the agony around him
He stepped over a knight whose armor cracked like dry bark beneath his foot The knight coughed blood his one remaining eye pleading for mercy Kael did not stop He crushed the skull beneath his heel and moved forward
Voices called from the shadows not human voices but snarls echoes of corrupted magic The northern wall of the fortress split apart revealing a hidden chamber carved from obsidian and bone From within emerged the Thornborn fiends towering beasts of muscle and sinew their bodies laced with glowing veins of dark runes They had once been kings and generals twisted by demonic contracts now bound to the will of the Abyss
Kael raised his hand and black flame poured from his palm like water Fire did not erupt in a burst but flowed like a river carving paths through the stone The Thornborn shrieked as their skin boiled but they did not fall They charged through the inferno blades of bone and metal swinging with enough force to cleave towers
Kael leapt back and summoned three of his active skills at once Blade Surge rained down spectral daggers from above each exploding into smaller shards upon impact Lightning Break split the chamber in half with a crackling line of raw electricity finally Poison Maelstrom conjured a vortex of toxic wind that melted the flesh of the first two Thornborn who entered
Despite this the third fiend reached him its massive claw aiming for Kaels chest Kael caught it with both hands and the ground beneath them shattered from the force His skin tore at the edges of contact but he refused to release his grip A second later a pulse of pure shadow burst from his core and blew the beast backward where it landed in a pool of bubbling black rot
Kael looked down at his own arms scorched bruised bleeding yet still steady His magic was evolving more quickly now more feral with each enemy slain The symbols etched into his back burned like brands His mind no longer flinched at the sight of death or the feel of blood
He entered the chamber and found a staircase spiraling downward into complete darkness He descended without hesitation Each step whispered memories not his own forgotten voices of those who once ruled this cursed land
Below the fortress lay a sanctuary of the damned Rows of cages hung from the ceiling each containing a different kind of monster grotesque experiments failed warriors and lost souls Kael raised a finger and whispered a word The locks turned to ash and the cages fell open The creatures crawled free blinking into freedom but Kael did not spare them He walked between them like a god and with each glance they either bowed or dropped dead from overwhelming dread
A mirror stood at the far end of the sanctuary not made of glass but of cursed crystal that rippled like water In its surface Kael saw not himself but his former self pale weak eyes full of sorrow and hesitation The image looked back then vanished and in its place came a vision of a throne room carved from the bones of dragons
A voice slithered from the mirror You are not yet complete
Kael touched the surface and it shattered revealing a portal of living flame From it stepped a new enemy A warrior dressed in robes of stitched skin wearing a crown of thorns and carrying a blade forged from the spine of a god His eyes were pits of white void and his breath froze the air itself
I am the King of the Hollow the warrior said I was promised a worthy soul to devour
Kael did not reply Instead he launched forward his form cloaked in chaos energy Their blades met and the sanctuary exploded outward Walls crumbled creatures fled as Kael and the Hollow King moved like shadows and fire A hundred strikes exchanged in seconds each blow sending shockwaves through the earth
Kael was faster but the Hollow King was ancient His magic bent time slightly turning Kaels attacks into near misses Kael gritted his teeth and activated his star tier skill Soul Rend A sphere of black energy enveloped them both dragging them into a pocket dimension filled with the cries of the damned
Here Kael held the advantage Every scream in this realm fed his power and he became a storm of movement carving into the Hollow Kings flesh with precision and fury Still the Hollow King would not fall His blood was not red but silver and it sizzled on Kaels skin like acid
Their battle lasted for hours the dimension itself beginning to tear under their fury Until finally Kael slammed his hand into the Hollow Kings chest and invoked every star skill he had mastered Fire Lightning Poison Blade and the cursed essence of Requiem together
The Hollow King roared and his body split from within exploding into spirals of white ash and bones Kael stood alone breathing hard his skin cracked with burns and wounds but he remained standing
The sanctuary behind him had collapsed Nothing remained but ruins and corpses Kael stepped back through the broken mirror which now reflected nothing and stood atop the fortress once more
The sky above had turned crimson A new army waited at the edge of the valley A legion of death priests soulbound giants and ethereal beasts A commander rode at the front carrying a black standard marked with Kaels old name
They come for you whispered a voice behind Kael
He turned and saw a girl standing there Her eyes glowing green Her body human but wrapped in enchanted chains Her presence was neither hostile nor afraid
Who are you Kael asked
I am what you abandoned she said Your mercy Your weakness Your regret
Kael looked into her eyes then turned back to the army marching toward him
Good he said I was growing bored
And without waiting Kael walked toward the battlefield alone each step shaking the cursed earth his aura blacker than night hungering for the next slaughter