The sky over Eldrath Academy wasn't the same.
The colors had changed — streaks of gold and violet tore through the clouds like veins of power. Every time I looked up, I could feel them pulsing with divine energy. The gods were close now. Not here, not yet — but watching.
When we returned through the academy gates, the wards flared around us. The guards looked shaken, their armor pulsing faintly with blue light. Even the massive spires of the academy were humming, reacting to some unseen energy.
Lyra whispered beside me, "Kael… it feels like the whole world's waking up."
"It's not waking," I said quietly. "It's preparing."
Inside the main hall, chaos reigned. Students, professors, adventurers — everyone was arguing, shouting, panicking. Dozens of holographic system notifications filled the air like swarming fireflies.
> [World Message: Celestial Rift Detected — Northern Sky Range.]
[Divine Influence: Level A anomaly approaching the mortal realm.]
[Warning to all nations — contact with the rift is forbidden.]
Amara grabbed my arm. "Kael. This isn't random. It's starting."
I didn't answer — because I already knew.
The vision still haunted me: the gods turning our world into a battlefield. The Celestial Heir wasn't chosen to destroy or rule — but to stop this. To preserve what the gods saw as expendable.
We made our way to the central tower, where the academy's leaders gathered — masters, sages, even a few high-ranking system bearers. When they saw me enter, the room fell quiet.
"Kael," said Master Rynor, the head of the academy. His voice carried the weight of centuries. "You returned… but you bring heavy light upon us."
I bowed slightly. "We came as fast as we could. The world's changing faster than we expected."
Rynor's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, what did you see out there?"
"The truth," I said. "The gods aren't planning to destroy us. They're planning to fight each other here. Our world is their chosen ground."
Gasps rippled through the chamber.
One mage slammed his staff down. "Impossible! The divine realms are bound by pact — they cannot interfere with mortal planes!"
"They already are," Amara said sharply. "Their influence is in every dungeon now. Their essence leaks through the rifts. The laws are breaking."
I stepped forward. "That's why I exist. I'm the Celestial Heir — but not to ascend like them. My purpose is to prevent the divine war from touching this domain."
Rynor studied me for a long moment. "And what does your system call this… role?"
"Domain Protector."
The room fell completely silent.
Even the floating notifications froze, flickering faintly as though the system itself hesitated.
Rynor whispered, "Impossible… a Domain-class rank hasn't existed since the First Collapse."
"Maybe it's returning because the collapse is about to happen again," I said.
---
That night, I stood on the academy's outer terrace, overlooking the training fields. Below, thousands of students trained harder than ever — their ranks rising faster than the academy could measure.
> [Global Update: Mass Rank Ascension Detected.]
[Mortal to Superhuman ratio increased by 40%.]
The air itself was charged with power. Lyra was already C-rank, Arden had become B, and Amara was climbing toward A.
But I… remained "Domain Protector."
No letter. No limit. No ceiling.
I could feel the world's veins, the mana lines that ran beneath the earth like rivers of light. The Domain was alive — and I was its guardian.
Lyra approached, her aura shimmering blue. "You're quiet tonight."
I smiled faintly. "Just listening. The earth speaks differently now."
"What do you mean?"
I looked out toward the northern sky, where a faint golden tear glowed — the first Celestial Rift. "It's scared," I said. "The world knows what's coming."
She stepped beside me, silent for a moment. Then she asked softly, "Kael… if the gods are really coming, can we even stop them?"
"Not as we are," I said. "But that's why we train. Why we keep balance. The gods can fight in their own realm — not here. Not on ours."
---
The next morning, the academy bells tolled — deep, slow, resonant. Every student, teacher, and soldier gathered in the central courtyard.
Rynor raised his staff, projecting his voice across the field. "A rift has opened above the Northern Sky Range. A divine envoy has descended. We do not know which pantheon it belongs to — but its arrival has already altered reality around it."
Murmurs erupted through the crowd.
Rynor continued, "A team will investigate — under the command of Kael, the Celestial Heir."
Every eye turned toward me.
Even after all this time, I wasn't used to that title. It sounded too heavy — like a prophecy I hadn't agreed to carry. But as I looked at the faces around me — young, frightened, hopeful — I knew I couldn't refuse.
---
Hours later, we stood before the northern sky.
The air was thick with divine light — reality itself bent around it. The rift pulsed like a wound in space, pouring energy into the world.
And from it, a figure emerged.
Tall, armored in radiant metal that seemed to hum with the stars themselves. Its wings were torn — half light, half shadow. When it spoke, its voice was layered — one tone human, one godly.
> "Mortal plane acknowledged… Domain activation incomplete."
I drew my sword, the air rippling around me. "Who are you?"
> "Envoy of the Tempest Pantheon," it said. "We come to prepare the battlefield."
There it was. Confirmation.
The gods weren't coming to guide us — they were setting up their war ground.
"Not here," I said, stepping forward. "This world isn't your arena."
> "Irrelevant," it replied. "The decree has been signed. The mortals shall witness the end of their era."
Its aura flared — divine energy burning the grass beneath its feet.
> [Warning: Divine-class combatant detected.]
I didn't wait for another word. I raised my hand — and the ground itself answered.
Light exploded beneath me as my domain expanded — threads of energy radiating outward, forming a shimmering circle that covered the valley.
> [Domain Activation: "Protector's Veil" Initiated.]
[All divine interference nullified within radius.]
The envoy froze mid-step. Its wings faltered, sparks scattering.
"This is my world," I said. "And you don't get to touch it."
With a single motion, I unleashed a wave of light. The envoy staggered, its armor cracking as my energy forced it back into the rift.
> "Impossible… a mortal cannot wield—"
"Then consider me something else."
The rift screamed — a sound like tearing fabric and thunder — then collapsed in on itself, sealing shut.
Silence fell across the mountains.
Lyra, Arden, and Amara ran up behind me, breathless.
Amara looked at the faint shimmer of my domain still glowing under the ground. "Kael… what was that?"
I looked at the horizon, the fading ripples of divine energy dissolving into the wind.
"My duty," I said. "The first of many."
---
That night, the system spoke again — not cold, but almost alive.
> [Domain Protector Status: Confirmed.]
[Celestial Mission: Prevent the Mortal Plane from becoming the Warfield of the Gods.]
[Warning: More rifts detected across other continents.]
I closed my eyes. "So it begins."
The war of worlds wasn't a storm waiting on the horizon anymore.
It had already started — and I was the only barrier standing between the divine and the living.