The sword fell like judgment from the heavens.
Kael jerked his head aside just in time. The edge grazed his cheek, slicing a thin line of blood, before slamming into the marble floor with an impact that split the stone like glass.
The shockwave rattled the temple's pillars. The crowd screamed, but none dared to flee. All eyes locked on the boy in chains, caught between divinity and death.
Kael's chest heaved. His wrists ached where the shackles dug into his skin. He stumbled backward, but Serath advanced without hesitation — a storm of steel wrapped in blinding light.
"Stand and face judgment!" the knight roared. His blade shimmered as he slashed again.
Kael twisted, but the strike was too fast. The sword cleaved through his chains, severing them with a hiss of molten metal, before biting into the ground. The force hurled Kael across the floor, his back smashing into the altar steps.
Pain exploded through his body. He coughed blood, forcing himself upright as Serath's boots echoed toward him, each step precise, merciless.
"You call this justice?" Kael spat, his voice raw. "You don't even know what I am!"
"You are nothing." Serath's voice cut sharper than his blade. "A Hollow who dares mock the gods. That alone is enough."
The knight raised his weapon skyward. His Oath flared — and the temple floor erupted.
From the ground surged a forest of spectral swords, hundreds of glowing blades stabbing upward in radiant fury. Each one hummed with killing intent, their light searing Kael's eyes.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Priests fell to their knees in worship, their cries of devotion drowning out Kael's ragged breath. To them, this wasn't murder. It was divine cleansing.
Kael staggered to his feet, blood dripping down his chin. His legs trembled, but something inside him burned hotter than fear. The shard.
It pulsed within his chest like a second heartbeat. Symbols ignited behind his eyes, chains snapping in his mind's vision. He could feel it — Serath's Oath, the rhythm of the blades, the flow of power.
The shard whispered: Take it. Tear it from him. Make it yours.
"No…" Kael groaned, clutching his head. The whispers grew louder, coiling around his thoughts like serpents. If I give in, I'll become what they say I am…
"Kael!"
His head snapped up.
Lyra was there — golden wings blazing as she shoved past the guards. Her voice cracked with desperation.
"Don't give up!" she cried, her eyes wet with tears. "You're not Hollow! I know you're not!"
The haze faltered. Kael's chest clenched. In that instant, the whispers seemed… quieter.
Serath sneered, lowering his sword toward her. "A priestess who pities the condemned. Pathetic." His blade's aura surged, brighter than ever. "This ends now."
The knight swung.
And the shard answered.
Light erupted from Kael's chest, shattering the marble beneath him. He thrust out his hands — and the spectral blades Serath had conjured cracked midair, their radiant edges splintering like glass.
"What—?!" Serath's eyes widened. His Oath stuttered, faltered.
The crowd gasped in horror as Kael's chains shattered, molten fragments scattering like sparks. The aura that once belonged to Serath now coiled around Kael's arms, burning, alive, reshaping itself into streams of silver fire.
"You—" Serath choked, staggering back. His once-glorious swordlight guttered like a dying flame. "You severed my Oath…!"
Kael's entire body shook as the stolen power surged through him. The whispers roared in triumph: Claim it! Strike him down!
His reflection flickered in the shards of broken marble — no longer Hollow, no longer empty. His eyes blazed with stolen light, his body wrapped in an aura of blades not his own.
For the first time in his life, he didn't feel cursed.
He felt alive.
Kael stepped forward, each movement echoing with power. "Not Hollow. Not cursed. I'm—" He raised his glowing fists, aura howling like a storm.
"I'm alive!"
The stolen Oath erupted outward in a sweeping arc of swordlight. Serath's defense shattered. The blast hurled the knight across the temple, crashing him through the golden altar. Sacred relics toppled, flames scattering as the crowd shrieked in terror.
When the light cleared, Kael stood in the center of the ruin — his body trembling, his hands glowing with stolen fire, the temple split open around him.
And from the terrified lips of the High Priest came the words that would haunt him forever:
"The Hollow is no more. He is… the Destiny Thief."