The abyss shattered around Kael.
One moment, he was drowning in endless darkness the next, he was standing back in the ruins, Lyra at his side. But everything felt… different.
The world was clearer, sharper. He could hear the breath of the wind, feel the pulse of existence itself. The very fabric of reality whispered to him.
And in the distance, Sylas floated above the ruins, golden energy still churning around him. A newborn god, reshaping the world as he saw fit.
Kael's fists clenched. He could feel the abyss still inside him, a vast, endless power unlike anything before. Not light. Not dark. Something beyond both.
Lyra watched him cautiously. "Kael… are you still you?"
He turned to her, and for a moment, she stiffened.
His eyes were no longer mortal. They swirled with the void, endless and unknowable.
But then he smirked. "I'm still me. Just… more."
A crack of thunder split the sky.
Sylas had seen them.
His expression was unreadable, but Kael could feel his confusion, his intrigue. His golden form radiated raw divinity, but something about Kael's presence seemed to unsettle him.
"You survived," Sylas mused, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "Impressive."
Kael rolled his shoulders, and shadows coiled around him like living tendrils. He took a step forward, and the very air warped beneath his feet.
He didn't answer Sylas with words. Instead, he simply lifted his hand and darkness surged forward.
A shockwave of abyssal energy ripped through the battlefield, crashing against Sylas's golden aura with an explosive force.
For the first time since his ascension, Sylas was pushed back.
His eyes narrowed. "What did you do, Kael?"
Kael smirked. "I balanced the scales."
The final battle had begun.