"The gods fear silence. For in silence, even truth dares to whisper."
— Archive Fragment, Unknown Origin
Scene 1: The Vordrakar Estate – Family Banter & Unspoken Power
Morning broke over the Obsidian Citadel, bathing the palace in streaks of crimson light reflected from the black star orbiting above the Eternal Dominion. Kaien sat alone in the massive dining chamber, sipping from a steaming obsidian chalice laced with Voidroot spice.
The doors burst open.
"KAIEEEEN!"
A blur of silver hair and wild energy dove into him. His youngest sibling—Aeyra Vordrakar, age 10, future seer, total chaos gremlin—wrapped her arms around his chest.
"You almost blew up the universe again!"
Kaien coughed into his drink. "Morning to you too, Aeyra."
Behind her, another voice: cold, mature, and tired of everything.
"She's not wrong," came Valenya's voice as she entered. Her black armor shimmered, a war briefing already in hand. "You made six Dominion Factions panic. And that was before breakfast."
"Technically, it was yesterday," Kaien said.
"Technically, you're adopted," Valenya deadpanned.
Aeyra giggled. "Ooooooooh, burn!"
"You're both insufferable," Kaien muttered, hiding a grin.
Suddenly—
CRASH!
A chair exploded as Aren Vordrakar, Kaien's 13-year-old little brother, sprinted in with a blast of unrefined mana.
"Did you see the arena explosion!? Are you gonna marry that girl!? Did she really shoot starlight from her eyes?!"
"Go train," Valenya muttered.
"I am!" Aren said. "I just broke a chair with pure enthusiasm!"
Kaien sat back, watching them bicker. The world was trembling outside—fracturing at the seams—but for this moment, with his siblings bickering and chaos erupting over breakfast…
He smiled.
Scene 2: Celestial Archives – Olivia's Discovery
Elsewhere, Olivia stood in the Celestial Mirror Hall, staring at a glyph that pulsed with Rahul's name — though none else could see it. Only she and Kaien seemed to be catching these traces. Like flickers in time.
"Your ancestor... he's not gone, is he?" she whispered.
The glyph pulsed again. This time, it whispered.
"I am what stars fear to become."
She gasped.
"You're watching us… aren't you?"
Scene 3: Ash Becomes Vaeyra
Back on the distant fringe, Ash lay in her broken servant's quarters, sweat soaking her sheets. Her visions were getting stronger.
Rahul's voice haunted her dreams.
"You are Vaeyra.
They made you forget.
But the cosmos will remember."
The glowing brand on her wrist cracked open — golden light spilling out like blood. A stone beneath her shattered. And a royal emblem — the crest of a lost empire — began to reforge itself in the floor.
Her eyes burned gold for three seconds… and she whispered:
"Kaien…"
She had never met him.
Never heard his name.
But her soul knew.
Scene 4: Cosmic Interlude – One of the 7 God-tier Beings Stirs
In a palace made from the skull of a slain titan, a figure woke from 5,000 years of slumber. He stretched, yawning, a sun collapsing behind his back like a dying ember.
Name: Xal'Vorr the Indivisible
Rank: God-tier
Title: The Architect of Ends
Status: 1 of the 7 God-tier beings above SSS rank.
"Who's breaking fate this time…" he grunted. "Voidflame blood again?"
He stepped from his throne—and the sky tore open behind him.
Scene 5: Kaien & Olivia – The Walk of Truth
That night, Kaien and Olivia walked alone in the Memory Gardens, a quiet place where timelines converged in echoing petals.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Olivia finally said:
"Do you think we were meant to destroy each other?"
Kaien glanced at her, then looked up at the stars.
"No. I think we were meant to destroy everything else... if we don't learn to control it."
She smiled softly.
"That's comforting."
"Wasn't trying to be," Kaien muttered.
She laughed.
And for a moment, even fate held its breath.
Chapter End: The Seal Begins to Crack
Far beneath the Dominion, in a place sealed away even from Eon Thalor, a sigil pulsed red.
It read only one word:
RAHUL
And then, for the first time in 10,000 years, a voice whispered back:
"Let them come."