Kael stared at the tears on his own hands as though he did not understand where they had come from.
Lyra's heart twisted at the sight.
For all his swagger, for all the stupid boasts and reckless grins, he was still just a young man clinging to her in the middle of a darkening lake while the armies of heaven closed around them.
She lifted slender fingers and gently wiped the wetness from beneath his eyes.
"Fool," she murmured softly. "The Empyrean Throne has long kept friendly ties with the Covenant. They won't dare push me too far."
"But you killed one of their Thunder Court generals not long ago." Kael's voice caught hard in his throat.
Lyra glanced upward at the thickening masses of violet cloud creeping across the heavens. Anxiety sharpened behind her beautiful eyes.
"That thing was barely more than a hairy little bastard wearing divine armor," she said. "And these heavenly soldiers are clearly hunting you. They may not even know about that incident."
The clouds drifted closer.
Too close.
Her voice became urgent.
"Go. Now. If the Heavenly Net Formation seals this place, we'll never escape alive."
Kael's jaw tightened stubbornly.
"I'll summon the Skeletal Dragon and fight them!"
"No." Lyra immediately shook her head. "Prince Thalven isn't some common celestial officer. He's one of the Empyrean Throne's great war gods. He broke the seventy-two demon caverns beneath the northern skies. Even the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas bowed before him." Her fingers rose to her hair, slowly drawing free the dark-violet pin hidden there. "Your dragon is fierce, yes. But how could it compare to the Dragon Kings?"
Moonlight gleamed coldly across the smooth curve of the Violet Aurochs Pin.
"If I were uninjured," she continued quietly, "I could probably hold him off for a while. As things stand now, I can only try to delay him. You must seize the chance and run."
Kael shook his head violently.
"No. No damn way. I'm not leaving you here alone."
Panic hammered through him.
His thoughts spun wildly, searching desperately for some answer.
Any answer.
Lyra's expression darkened.
"If you keep dithering like this," she warned, "I really will get angry."
Kael's chest tightened painfully. Sweat gathered across his brow.
Then suddenly—
An idea flashed through his mind.
His eyes lit up.
"I've got it!" he blurted excitedly. "Maybe this thing can save us!"
Lyra blinked.
"What thing?"
Kael immediately yanked open the Wardian Satchel hanging at his waist. His hands rummaged frantically through its hidden space until he finally snatched out a folded ward-script.
He began chanting under his breath.
The script ignited with pale light.
Kael flung it upward.
At once the world around them twisted.
The air rippled like water disturbed by unseen fingers. Waves spread outward in slow circles as space itself bent and folded around the little boat.
Then a transparent bubble swallowed them whole.
It looked almost liquid.
Countless tiny ward-runes surged across its surface like silver fish beneath clear water, appearing and vanishing in the span of a heartbeat.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"A concealment ward?"
Kael nodded quickly.
"It's called the Void Ward. It's supposed to hide people and objects completely." He swallowed nervously. "I don't know if it'll work against heavenly soldiers, though."
Lyra stared closely at the flowing rune patterns.
The longer she looked, the more astonishment filled her face.
"What an incredible ward…" she whispered. "The spiritual structure is impossibly intricate. This is a supreme-grade script. Where did you get something like this?"
Kael answered honestly.
"The girl from the Verdant Artificers gave it to me. The one I met in the Great Verdant Vale."
Recognition flashed through Lyra immediately.
"The Fell Sage's lineage…" she breathed. "No wonder it possesses such strange power."
Before Kael could respond, the violet clouds above suddenly split apart.
Purple radiance spread across the sky like spilled ink.
Both of them tensed.
Lyra lowered her voice to almost nothing.
"They're searching for us."
Kael immediately clasped his hands together.
"High Emperor, anybody listening, please don't let them find us—"
Then his face abruptly froze.
The High Emperor was the ruler of the Empyrean Throne.
Very possibly the one who had sent these armies after him in the first place.
Kael spat into the lake.
"To hell with you, old bastard."
A cluster of purple cloud descended slowly from above.
It hovered less than fifty feet overhead.
Kael could clearly see the heavenly soldiers standing upon it now—gold armor gleaming faintly beneath the dusk, long beards fluttering in the wind, axes and halberds resting in their hands while they peered downward with sharp predatory eyes.
Kael stopped breathing.
Beside him, Lyra remained utterly motionless.
Neither of them dared move even slightly.
The next few moments stretched endlessly.
Kael trusted Eya's ward, but these were heavenly soldiers of the upper realms. Divine hunters.
What if the ward failed?
What if they could smell him?
What if they sensed the Primordial Sigil beneath his navel?
His heart pounded so violently he thought the soldiers above might hear it.
Several pairs of eyes swept directly across the place where the boat floated hidden beneath the Void Ward.
Nothing happened.
No alarm.
No reaction.
The heavenly soldiers merely continued circling overhead for a while before slowly drifting elsewhere.
Relief exploded silently through Kael.
He leaned toward Lyra and whispered excitedly,
"It worked! We fooled them!"
Lyra immediately pressed a finger against his lips.
Silence.
More time passed.
The various cloud formations searching the lake gradually rose higher into the night sky, gathering together once more. Apparently none of the search parties had found anything.
At last the purple clouds slowly drifted away into the distance.
"They're leaving!" Kael blurted.
He started to rise.
Lyra instantly grabbed his arm and dragged him back down.
"Don't move," she whispered sharply. "They haven't gone far enough yet. Any disturbance within dozens of miles will still reach their senses."
Kael obediently sat back down.
The wind strengthened again through the reed fields.
Endless white reed blossoms rose into the air and danced around them like snowfall beneath the night sky. Some drifted directly through the transparent barrier, settling softly upon their shoulders and hair.
At first Kael remained tense.
But gradually, beneath Lyra's quiet gaze, calm returned to him.
He moved closer.
Wrapped his arms around her soft, warm body.
Lyra said nothing.
She simply allowed him to hold her.
Her head rested lightly against his shoulder while her eyes narrowed in content silence, listening to the whisper of wind through the reeds.
Kael wished the moment would never end.
The scent surrounding her was intoxicating.
Not merely her natural sweetness—lush and feminine and maddeningly rich—but something deeper now. Something thick and heavenly.
Like warm nectar.
Like forbidden wine.
The smell of her Breast Essence still lingered faintly upon her skin from earlier.
Kael inhaled deeply before he could stop himself.
His entire body went weak.
Lyra immediately realized what he had noticed.
A rosy flush spread across her cheeks.
Without a word she buried herself deeper against his chest, hiding her burning face against him.
Kael leaned back and looked toward the darkening heavens.
Clouds drifted slowly above them.
Reed blossoms floated endlessly across the lake.
He wanted this moment to last until the seas dried and the mountains crumbled.
The sun slowly sank westward.
Its fierce brilliance softened into amber gold, then crimson fire.
At last it vanished beneath the rippling horizon of the lake.
Darkness swallowed the water.
Only the sound of the wind remained.
"Cold?" Kael asked quietly.
Lyra shook her head.
"There's been no movement for a long time. They've probably gone far enough away now." She slowly sat upright. "We should leave too."
"Back to the fishing village?"
"No." Her expression turned serious again. "We can't stay here anymore. I'm taking you somewhere else."
Kael frowned.
"But your injuries—"
"There's no time to worry about them." She cut him off softly. "We need to reach Vessel Town as quickly as possible. You'll be safer there."
"Vessel Town?" Kael blinked. "What kind of place is that?"
Lyra only said,
"You'll understand when we arrive."
She rose carefully within the little boat.
"Summon your dragon carriage," she said. "But keep the Skeletal Dragon small. We don't want unnecessary attention."
Kael suddenly grinned.
"Oh right. I forgot." Excitement returned to his eyes. "I've got another carriage now. Let me show you."
He opened the Wardian Satchel again and muttered another incantation.
A series of bright, musical cries echoed through the night.
Then a carriage burst forth from the satchel's hidden space.
Four strange antlered beasts stamped the air before it, their bodies sleek and powerful beneath silver-black fur.
Lyra looked genuinely surprised.
"A Griffin Carriage?"
Kael puffed himself up proudly.
"Better than the dragon, right? Fast enough to outrun most things, but not flashy enough to draw attention."
Lyra studied the beasts carefully.
"Where did you get this?"
"Hadrian Corvel gave it to me." Kael smirked. "I saved his life in the Great Verdant Vale."
Lyra shot him a sidelong glance.
"He's nowhere near generous enough to simply hand this over." Her lips curved knowingly. "You extorted him, didn't you?"
"I prefer to think of it as collecting repayment from a grateful survivor."
He laughed.
Then he scooped Lyra into his arms and leapt smoothly onto the carriage.
As he moved, the Eight-Claw Flamescourge burst spinning from his sleeve.
The whip cracked through the air like a dragon's roar.
A flower of fire exploded overhead.
The four beasts instantly surged upward.
The carriage lifted from the lake and shot into the night sky.
Wind screamed around them.
"The hell direction is Vessel Town anyway?" Kael asked.
Lyra pointed ahead through the darkness.
"A few hundred miles from here. These beasts are fast enough. We should reach it within two or three hours."
The carriage accelerated harder.
Faster and faster.
Then suddenly—
A burst of violet light flared ahead.
"WHO GOES THERE?"
The roar thundered across the sky.
Kael and Lyra both looked forward sharply.
A cloud of purple fire emerged from the darkness ahead of them.
More heavenly soldiers.
More gold armor.
More divine weapons.
Kael's face turned pale.
"Oh gods… they're still here."
Lyra silently drew the Violet Aurochs Pin from her hair again, hiding it within her fingers.
"Prepare yourself," she whispered. "We break through."
The lead heavenly general stepped forward atop the cloud.
"We are soldiers of the Empyrean Throne!" he thundered. "Stop your carriage immediately!"
"Go!" Lyra snapped.
Kael lashed the Flamescourge viciously.
The carriage veered sharply downward, trying to slip beneath the cloud formation.
But the heavenly soldiers reacted instantly.
Several leapt directly from the cloud with weapons raised, descending in intercepting arcs.
"Impudent wretch!" the leading general roared. "How dare you flee before heaven!"
The Griffin Carriage charged straight toward them.
Too late to turn.
Kael gritted his teeth and drove forward anyway.
The heavenly soldiers shouted furiously.
Cold flashes erupted through the darkness.
Several halberds thrust toward him at once like lightning strikes.
Kael instantly drew up his Fire Vitae.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded with a deafening roar.
Fire erupted down its length.
The whip expanded monstrously in his grip—thick as a burning pillar—and smashed across the incoming halberds with terrifying force.
Weapons flew wildly aside.
Several heavenly soldiers staggered backward in shock.
Kael froze for half a heartbeat.
What the hell?
Why was the Flamescourge this powerful?
He had no time to think.
His foot kicked against the carriage seat and his body launched upward onto the back of one of the antlered beasts.
The whip screamed through the air again and again.
Flames tore across the sky.
The heavenly soldiers scattered before him.
The carriage burst directly through the gap.
An enraged heavenly general charged from the side, enormous sword raised overhead. Blue divine light blazed along the blade as it descended like a thunderbolt.
"Kael!" Lyra shouted.
Her fingers tightened around the Violet Aurochs Pin, ready to strike—
But Kael moved first.
He spun with startling speed.
The Flamescourge lashed outward like a living fire-dragon.
CRACK.
The divine sword flew spinning away into the darkness.
The heavenly general's face filled with disbelief.
He tried to retreat.
Too late.
The burning whip smashed directly into his chest.
A thunderous metallic explosion rang through the night.
The polished chest armor protecting the general shattered apart instantly.
The heavenly soldier convulsed once—
Then dropped screaming from the sky.
In the next instant the Griffin Carriage had already shot far beyond the heavenly soldiers, racing into the darkness like a comet.
Wind battered Kael's face.
Behind them, furious roars faded rapidly into the distance.
Kael stared blankly at his own hands.
"What the hell?" he muttered. "Since when are heavenly soldiers this weak?"
Lyra gazed at him silently for several moments.
Then she said slowly,
"They aren't weak."
Concern clouded her beautiful face.
"You've become much stronger."
Excitement surged through Kael immediately.
Pride spread recklessly across his grin.
"Hah! Looks like even heaven's soldiers aren't shit in front of the Little Saint-Lord!"
Lyra did not smile.
Instead her expression darkened further.
"That may not be a good thing," she said quietly. "I think the Sevenfold Shroud is affecting you."
Kael blinked.
"The Sevenfold Shroud?"
The Griffin Carriage tore through the night like a hunted beast.
Cold wind slammed against Kael's face hard enough to sting his eyes. The mountains below passed in dark blurs while distant clouds drifted beneath the moon like shredded silver cloth. Behind them, the furious shouts of the heavenly soldiers had finally faded into nothing.
Only the pounding of Kael's heart remained.
Lyra sat across from him inside the rattling carriage, one hand resting lightly against her abdomen where blood still stained her robes beneath the folds of cloth. Even wounded, she looked impossibly beautiful. Moonlight painted pale lines across her cheeks and throat. Loose strands of black hair fluttered around the sharp curve of her jaw.
"The Sevenfold Shroud?" Kael repeated.
Lyra nodded slowly.
"Legend says the Sevenfold Shroud can absorb seven kinds of evil from the world itself," she said. "Rage. Hatred. Cruelty. Despair. Slaughter. Greed. Madness. It feeds those things to the wearer as power."
She paused.
"I think when you wore it during the battle at Mirekeep, the battlefield filled it faster than ever before. Thousands died there. The killing intent alone could drown a city."
Kael stared blankly.
Now that she said it aloud, he realized she was right.
Ever since the battle at Mirekeep, something inside him had changed.
Power surged through his body constantly now. It rolled through his Channels like a flood tide crashing through a broken dam. Sometimes he felt as though his flesh could barely contain it.
But his thoughts had changed too.
Restlessness.
Violence.
A strange hunger he could not fully explain.
And then there was the dream from the night before.
That burning world.
That endless blood-red sky.
Kael swallowed.
"The damned thing really is dangerous..." he muttered.
Lyra watched him carefully.
"Your strength has increased," she said quietly. "But it comes from corrupted power. Sooner or later that leaves scars."
Kael forced a grin.
"Power's power. Long as it helps me survive."
Lyra's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What worries me isn't only your cultivation." Her voice lowered. "I'm afraid the Shroud may slowly twist your mind. Push you somewhere you can't come back from."
Kael's smile stiffened.
For a moment the howling wind seemed colder.
Then he laughed loudly to cover the unease crawling under his skin.
"Easy solution." He waved a hand. "I just won't wear the damn thing anymore."
Lyra studied him several silent seconds before finally nodding.
"Unless you're desperate," she said, "don't touch it again."
She lifted a hand and slid the Violet Aurochs Pin back into her hair.
Then she looked toward the horizon.
"We turn east," she said. "We'll make a wide circle before heading into Vessel Town."
Kael understood immediately.
They were still being hunted.
Without another word he cracked the reins and guided the Griffin Carriage toward the darker mountains far ahead.
---
The next two hours passed peacefully.
Too peacefully.
The carriage glided over rivers shining under moonlight. Endless forests rolled beneath them like black oceans. Jagged cliffs rose and vanished behind drifting clouds.
Lyra spent nearly the entire journey seated cross-legged inside the carriage with her eyes closed, quietly circulating Aether to heal her injuries.
Kael tried not to stare at her too much.
He failed repeatedly.
Even injured and exhausted, she carried an almost terrifying grace. The faint rise and fall of her chest beneath her robes distracted him far more than it should have.
He finally cleared his throat.
"Looks like we lost them," he said cheerfully. "So... how much farther till Vessel Town?"
Lyra opened her eyes.
"We're here."
Kael blinked.
Ahead stood only a massive mountain range.
Stone.
Forest.
Dark cliffs.
No town.
"No offense," Kael said, squinting ahead, "but I'm not seeing much besides rocks."
"The town sits inside the valley," Lyra replied. "Take us higher. Once we clear the peak, you'll see it."
Kael guided the Griffin Carriage upward.
The beast pulling the carriage let out a low growl as they climbed through drifting fog. The wind sharpened. Then suddenly they crossed the summit—
—and Kael froze.
The mountains opened into an enormous hidden valley.
Mist floated softly across the basin below. Countless waterways crossed through the valley like silver veins under moonlight. Buildings spread between them in dense clusters, glowing lanterns scattered across the darkness like fallen stars.
A city hidden inside the mountains.
Kael's jaw slowly dropped.
"What the hell..." he whispered.
The entire valley was sealed by towering cliffs on all sides.
"How does anyone even get in there?" he asked. "There's no road."
"There is," Lyra said. "A large one. Big enough for merchant caravans. But it's hidden inside the mountain itself and guarded heavily. Ordinary people never find this place."
Kael glanced at her.
"That makes me even more curious," he admitted. "What kind of place is Vessel Town?"
Lyra smiled faintly.
"If I mention another place, you'll understand immediately."
"What place?"
"The Crystal Basin."
Kael nearly jumped.
"The Crystal Basin?" he blurted. "One of the nineteen great ley-veins?"
Lyra nodded.
"It lies directly beneath Vessel Town."
She pointed downward toward the center of the valley.
"There. That reflection."
Kael leaned forward.
Far below, buried within the city lights, he saw a tiny gleaming point reflecting moonlight like a star trapped inside the earth.
A pool.
Or perhaps a lake.
Impossible to judge from this distance.
Kael sucked in a breath.
Every cultivator in the Mortal Realm knew the legends of the nineteen great ley-veins. Entire sect wars had been fought over lesser spiritual grounds.
But this place—
This was one of the true veins of the world.
"I heard every ley-vein has guardians," Kael said. "The Dream Nest belongs to the Covenant. Gladspring Essence belongs to the Fell Realm. The Sevenfold Dominion controls The Ancient Reed..." He looked at her. "Who controls the Crystal Basin?"
"For the last thousand years?" Lyra answered softly. "An old ally of the Ascendant Covenant. A master known as the Hollow Sage."
Kael felt his scalp tingle.
"The Hollow Sage?"
Even he had heard that name before.
The stories surrounding the old monster bordered on myth.
"They say during the Ten-Thousand Ordeal," Lyra continued, "the Hollow Sage foresaw the destruction coming long before the other great powers did. While countless immortals marched to war and died, he sealed his gates and never stepped outside once."
Kael stared.
"And he survived?"
"He was one of the only great masters of that era who did."
Kael whistled softly.
"Damn..."
Lyra's gaze drifted toward the valley below.
"Some say his cultivation was not inferior to Primus Valder himself. Others claim he joined the Covenant only to study higher mysteries before leaving again." She shook her head faintly. "No one truly knows."
Kael grinned.
"Sounds like a terrifying old bastard."
"That he is."
Lyra continued quietly.
"After the catastrophe, the Covenant declined for centuries. But once the Hollow Sage claimed the Crystal Basin, no faction in heaven or earth dared touch this place again."
Kael scratched his chin.
"Shreve... have you actually met him?"
Lyra gave him a flat look.
"I've never even seen him."
"Oh."
That somehow made the old monster even scarier.
Kael looked back toward Vessel Town again.
"So this place really welcomes anyone?"
"Not exactly." Lyra folded her hands calmly. "The Hollow Sage loves rare treasures more than anything else in existence. He built Vessel Town around the Crystal Basin to attract craftsmen, merchants, alchemists, wardsmiths, beast tamers, artificers... anyone capable of bringing strange things into his domain."
As she spoke, the valley below seemed almost unreal.
"Over the centuries," Lyra continued, "the town became famous across all three realms. Gods. demons. spirits. wandering adepts. Everyone comes here to trade."
Kael blinked.
"Using the Crystal Basin as bait?"
Lyra nodded.
"The basin produces Crystal Mire Clay. One of the greatest forging materials in existence. Like the Ghostlight Moss from the Dream Nest."
Kael listened carefully.
"But that isn't the true reason craftsmen come here." Her voice lowered slightly. "Something about the ley-vein affects the entire valley. Materials that normally reject each other... stabilize here."
Kael's eyes widened immediately.
Weaponsmiths dreamed of such a place.
So many materials violently repelled one another during forging that creating advanced artifacts often bordered on suicide.
Suddenly Kael remembered the disaster back on Vane's Summit.
The Unbreakable Marshal.
The backlash.
Sylva telling him afterward that the serpent marrow and flame crystal he used had fundamentally conflicted.
If he had built it here—
Kael nearly groaned aloud.
That damned construct might actually have succeeded.
"I get it now," he muttered excitedly. "No wonder this place became famous."
Lyra smiled faintly at his reaction.
"Still," she said, "not everyone is allowed inside."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Who's banned?"
"Anyone tied to the Aureate Sanctum. The Empyrean Throne. Or the old orthodox heaven factions."
Kael opened his mouth—
Then immediately understood.
"The Ten-Thousand Ordeal."
Lyra nodded.
Kael frowned thoughtfully.
"The Aureate Sanctum and the old heavenly factions hated the Covenant back then, right? That part I understand." He tilted his head. "But why ban the Empyrean Throne too?"
"Because the Throne is already controlled by those same powers," Lyra answered coldly. "Most of the great divine offices belong to their people now."
Kael suddenly slapped his thigh.
"Wait..."
He stared at her.
"You brought me here because heaven can't touch me inside this place."
Lyra finally smiled.
"That's part of it."
"Part?"
Her gaze drifted toward the distant lights of Vessel Town.
"We're also here to find someone."
"Who?"
"If that person agrees to protect you," Lyra said quietly, "many of the people hunting you will no longer matter."
Kael's heart jumped.
Someone powerful enough to make even heaven hesitate?
"Who is it?" he demanded immediately.
Lyra merely said:
"We're almost there."
Then suddenly—
FLASH.
A streak of fire lit the distant horizon.
Kael jerked upright.
Another flash erupted seconds later.
Closer.
Much closer.
Lyra's expression changed instantly.
"Move," she snapped. "Someone caught up to us!"
Kael reacted immediately.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded outward from his arm in a blazing lash as he cracked it through the air, urging the Griffin Carriage downward toward the valley.
But before they could descend—
A line of fire ripped across the sky overhead.
Something shot past them like a falling meteor.
Then stopped directly in front of the carriage.
The night went still.
Two burning wheels slowly spun beneath a small figure hanging in midair.
Flames curled around them.
Heat rolled outward in waves.
Kael's blood went cold.
"P-Prince Thalven..." he whispered.
Lyra quietly inhaled.
Her hand drifted toward the Violet Aurochs Pin hidden in her hair.
Prince Thalven floated silently before them, spear lowered.
His youthful face looked almost beautiful beneath the firelight.
But his eyes—
Cold.
Ancient.
Merciless.
"The Primordial Sigil," he said. "Is it with you?"
Kael's mouth twitched.
"N-No idea what you're talking about." He forced a grin. "And who might you be, little brother?"
Thalven's expression did not change.
"Do not play games with me." His voice rang sharp as steel. "The High Diviner already located the Sigil through heavenly calculation. Otherwise I would never have tracked you this far."
Kael's heartbeat thundered.
So they really knew.
No point denying it anymore.
He grit his teeth.
"Fine," he snapped. "Yeah. I've got it. What now?"
"Hand it over."
Kael stared at him.
Then anger slowly burned through his fear.
"The hell I will."
Thalven remained expressionless.
"The Primordial Sigil is a sacred relic of the upper realms," he said coldly. "It was stolen long ago by corrupted beings and lost among mortals. Heaven merely reclaims what belongs to it."
Kael almost laughed from rage.
"Bullshit!"
His shout echoed across the mountains.
"I was born with this thing!" he roared. "It's mine! You people just want to steal it!"
The air suddenly grew hotter.
Thalven's eyes sharpened.
Slowly, he lifted the Flame-Tip Lance.
The crimson tassel beneath the spearhead began to dance wildly despite the still air.
Fire leaked from the tip in thin streams.
Kael felt his throat tighten.
So this was the legendary Flame-Tip Lance...
Even from a distance its pressure felt monstrous.
Kael glanced around quickly.
No heavenly army.
No Thunder Generals.
Only Thalven.
Understanding struck instantly.
The prince's Sky-Wheels were too fast. He had outrun the others.
Kael's fear eased slightly.
His own power had risen enormously after Mirekeep.
Maybe—
Just maybe—
He could survive this.
A reckless grin spread slowly across his face.
"Looks like you came alone," Kael said.
The flames around Thalven intensified.
"One final time," the prince said coldly. "Will you surrender the Sigil?"
Kael's answer came instantly.
"No."
Fire Vitae erupted through his Channels.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge coiled around his arm like a living dragon as blazing heat flooded through the weapon scale by scale.
Across from him, Lyra quietly lowered her eyes.
Her breathing slowed.
Tiny strands of gathered Aether began rising from her Sanctum.
Then—
Thalven moved.
The Flame-Tip Lance trembled once.
A dragon of fire exploded into existence.
The blazing serpent crossed the distance instantly.
Heat slammed into Kael's face hard enough to scorch his skin.
And in that terrifying instant—
Kael suddenly realized the truth.
His newfound power meant nothing.
Compared to Prince Thalven—
They were not even fighting on the same level.