The air fractured.
A thousand cracks spiderwebbed across the sky as the Executioner began its descent. The world didn't shake—it wept.
Kael stood at the center of the empty plaza, every breath pulling searing heat into his lungs. His skin still smoldered from the clash with the Herald. His divine aura flickered like a dying star.
But he didn't run.
He couldn't.
> "So this is what judgment feels like," Kael muttered, staring at the approaching godlike entity.
The Executioner's body wasn't flesh. It was a shifting mass of blades and light, shaped into a faceless being. Its eyes were a twin eclipse, and its hands were long, silent blades that sang without sound.
> System Alert:
"High-tier divine pressure detected. Engage survival protocol."
Warning: Core Stability below threshold. Risk of soul collapse: 73%.
---
Kael's knees nearly buckled.
> "Shut up," he hissed. "I already know."
He couldn't rely on the Fragment's power. The burst from "Wrath of the Forgotten God" had drained most of his soul energy. His fingers trembled as he reached into the air and summoned his remaining fragments.
Only two still pulsed.
The third had shattered during his transformation.
> "One more spark…"
He clutched them tight.
> "Just one more and I might have a chance."
---
The Executioner touched down.
Its feet didn't stir the ground. Its presence simply overwrote reality wherever it walked.
Around it, gravity warped, sound bent, and light slowed to a crawl.
> "Kael Solas," it finally spoke, in a voice that was both code and prophecy.
> "You have been marked. You have deviated. You have touched that which is forbidden."
Kael raised his hand, summoning a broken spell-circle. It flickered like a torn page.
> "And you tried to erase me three cycles ago. I guess we're even."
The Executioner didn't respond. Instead, it moved.
Not walked. Not dashed.
Moved.
From one place to another, crossing the space in an instant.
Kael blocked just in time—barely forming a shield of light that shattered the moment it made contact.
> BOOOOM!
The ground exploded behind him as Kael was hurled through the air. His back crashed through three buildings before he rolled to a stop in a crater of molten dust.
---
> System Warning:
Spinal integrity compromised. Right arm disabled. Vital flow erratic.
Host survival probability: 9%
---
Kael coughed blood, pushing up on one hand.
> "I… don't care about probability."
He reached into his tattered cloak—and pulled out a fragment.
But it was dim.
> "Not enough…"
> System Notification:
External force detected. Attempting synchronization with latent shard memory…
Suddenly, the fragment lit up with a pulse.
Kael was blinded.
---
[Flashback – Unknown Memory Shard]
He stood in an ancient hall—pillars crumbling, stars visible through the ceiling. A woman floated before him, eyes blindfolded, wings chained to her back.
> "You carry our failure," she whispered. "The burden of the last rebellion."
Kael's hand glowed. A name was whispered to him—Solineth.
> "You must awaken the Fourth Spark. The path of Descent. Use it not to rise—but to fall so deep you shake the heavens."
---
Kael gasped.
He was back in his body.
The Executioner hovered above, charging its divine blade with molten justice.
> New Fragment Acquired: Descent of the Broken Flame
Passive Skill Gained: Infernal Surge
Active Skill Gained: Divine Collapse (One-time use)
Kael stood.
His injuries didn't heal—but burned away.
His blood turned gold.
His broken arm reknit with embers curling along his bones.
> "I've had enough of running."
The Executioner launched forward again.
Kael struck first.
---
The world shattered.
A wave of black-red flame exploded from Kael's body, coating the square in inverted light. The Executioner was knocked backward—its first stagger.
Kael soared upward, fists alight, cloak turning into threads of fire behind him.
> Command Seal: Divine Collapse!
He slammed his hand onto the Executioner's chest.
> "I'll fall so deep that you can never reach me again!"
A symbol blazed across the sky.
Time broke.
Reality glitched.
And Kael's body ignited as the attack landed.
---
For a moment—there was silence.
Then—
> BOOOOOOM!
The explosion flattened the entire city district. A crater a mile wide formed in an instant. Mountains cracked in the distance. The Executioner was gone.
Kael drifted down, his skin charred, his eyes glowing with residual divine power.
> System Alert:
Divine Entity suppression successful. Status: Inert. Time before reactivation: 72 hours.
Warning: Host stability at critical level.
Kael dropped to one knee.
> "I… did it…"
---
But before he could collapse, something else happened.
A rift opened in the sky above him—different from before. No Tribunal signature. No divine code.
It was dark.
A pulsing, churning abyss, from which something watched.
A voice whispered—not in divine code—but in primordial tongue.
> "He has survived judgment. The puppet is broken. The stage must now be rebuilt."
Then, without warning—a tendril shot from the rift and embedded into Kael's chest.
He screamed.
> System Error! Unknown foreign power detected! Classification: Eld-Class Entity
Host synchronization beginning… Override in progress…
---
Kael's eyes turned pitch black.
A new mark burned on his chest—an ancient sigil, older than gods, older than systems.
> "Kael… Solas…" the voice growled, "You will walk my path now…"
The world turned upside down.
Kael fell unconscious.
And the stars blinked out—one by one.
---
[TO BE CONTINUED]