---
Nothing.
No air.
No pain.
No light.
Just the endless, echoing dark.
Kael floated in that place, his consciousness drifting like shattered glass across an ocean of silence. The world—the pain, the rooftop, the laughter, the betrayal—was gone.
And then…
It came flooding back.
> The boots.
The pipe.
The rooftop.
Draven's cold voice: "No one will miss you."
A scream tore out of him, but there was no sound. Just trembling, suffocating emptiness.
---
Then something moved.
A glimmer. A spark.
Kael's mind snapped toward it—desperate, terrified.
Two shadows appeared before him, solidifying from the void like ancient statues made of fire and light.
One stood tall, clad in shimmering white-gold armor, his face noble and cold, his presence overwhelming. Behind him, a celestial glow of wings and law.
The other sat lazily on a throne formed from jagged obsidian and bone, wrapped in flowing black robes, eyes burning behind a cracked porcelain mask. Around him curled shadows that whispered secrets too old to speak.
Kael couldn't move. Couldn't think.
They spoke.
> "So, the soul awakens at last."
"Pathetic. He was supposed to be the one?"
"We were promised a vessel worthy of balance."
"Instead, we get a child who dies from a kick."
Kael's fists clenched—surprised to find he could move in this space.
"Who… who are you…?" he demanded, though his voice trembled.
> "We are what was."
> "We are what will be."
> "The Hero who saved the world from destruction."
> "The Demon God who nearly ended it."
> "And now, we are you."
---
Kael's mind screamed.
"No," he said. "No, that's not me. I'm just a student—I'm nothing. I'm not—"
> "You were nothing."
> "But now you are everything."
> "You died, Kael Ardyn. But we will not die with you."
The void shuddered, light and darkness colliding like twin storms.
A system prompt shimmered into existence:
---
> [Soul Authority System Awakening…]
[Analyzing Host Condition: Fatal]
[Mana Veins: Cracked]
[Consciousness: Stable]
[Dual Soul Core Detected: Hero – Alaric Dawnbringer / Demon God – Veyrion the Calamity]
Initiating Emergency Resurrection Protocol…
Soul Fusion Progress: 1.8%
Core Stability: Critical
Host Integrity: Low
Warning: This vessel is unworthy. Proceeding anyway.
---
Kael screamed as something entered him.
Light exploded in his chest, burning every cell. Darkness slithered through his spine, wrapping around his heart. His nerves sizzled, and his bones snapped and rebuilt.
And still—he didn't die.
> "This pain…"
"This… is rebirth."
He saw visions—Alaric's sword raised to the heavens, shining like the sun, as armies knelt behind him.
He saw Veyrion's hands drenched in the blood of gods, laughing as the skies fell.
And both of those visions were now inside him.
---
The void began to collapse.
Kael dropped, breath returning in ragged gasps.
A light formed below—brighter than anything he'd ever seen.
And in that final moment before consciousness returned, he heard one final whisper:
> "You are the key, Kael Ardyn. The world will rise or fall by your hand."
---