Darkness swallowed Kael.
It wasn't the emptiness of a void, nor the simple loss of light. This was deeper.
A silence that suffocated. A weight pressing on his chest.
Then—a spark.
And suddenly, Kael was not himself.
---
A Vision of the Past
When the darkness lifted, Kael stood in the middle of a battlefield.
But this was no ordinary battle.
Armies of mortals and gods clashed, the sky burning with divine fire.
The air smelled of ash and blood, and in the distance, a figure stood atop a mountain of corpses.
Kael's breath hitched.
It was him.
Or rather… it was Ashur.
The warrior of legends, the betrayer, the one who had once challenged the heavens themselves.
Clad in black armor, wielding a sword that dripped with the essence of fallen gods.
His face was grim, his eyes burning with a fire Kael didn't recognize—rage, sorrow, and something deeper.
And then, he spoke.
Not to Kael—to the gods themselves.
"You swore to protect them."
His voice shook the heavens.
"And yet you let them die."
Kael's heart pounded.
Ashur raised his blade to the burning sky. A defiance that shattered the world.
"If the gods will not change… then I will burn the heavens to the ground."
---
The Sin of the Black Sun
A figure stepped forward from the celestial army.
A god draped in silver, his presence radiating raw divinity.
"Ashur."
His voice was filled with both sorrow and judgment.
"Your war ends today."
Ashur laughed—a sound filled with something broken.
"Does it? Or is this just the beginning?"
With a single step, he vanished.
No—not vanished.
He moved faster than light itself.
Before the god could react, Ashur's blade sank deep into his chest.
A god.
Falling.
At the hands of a mortal.
The heavens screamed.
And the sky was consumed in black flames.
---
Kael Awakens
Kael gasped, jerking awake.
He was back in the chamber.
Liora was shaking him, her eyes filled with panic. "Kael! Say something!"
His head spun. His heart raced.
The Guardian's voice rumbled.
"Now you understand."
Kael looked up at the ancient beast.
His hands were shaking.
Because he knew the truth now.
He was not just Ashur.
He was the first mortal to kill a god.