Kael's breath rasped in his throat, each inhale raw and sharp against the weight pressing down on him. The Tier 2's presence was suffocating—an oppressive, heavy blanket that seemed to crush the very air from his lungs. The woman behind him had dropped to her knees, gasping, her hands pressed against the ground as if the sheer force in the air had pinned her like an insect under a boot.
Kael stood.
His legs trembled. Sweat slicked his back. His arms ached from the strain of holding the Ashen Eye's power for too long.
But he stood.
Because there was no other choice.
Because the burden on his back—the weight of the Xelvor name—left him no room to fall.
The Tier 2 took another step forward, and the ground itself seemed to groan beneath the force of it. His eyes glinted, dark and sharp, like blades catching the last light of a dying sun.
"You're a stubborn one," the man said, voice low, almost amused. "Weak. Broken. But stubborn."
Kael didn't respond. Words felt like a waste of breath when every heartbeat counted.
Instead, he focused—felt—the Ashen Eye still pulsing behind his vision, the threads of the man's aura still flickering in the air like veins of light woven through the dark.
There—the fracture.
Kael's fingers twitched, the black emblem burning in his pupils.
The pressure crushed harder, but Kael's mind sharpened in defiance. The Ashen Eye didn't just see the surface; it dug deeper, stripping back the layers, peeling away the illusions of power to reveal the weak points—the hidden flaws even the strong tried to bury.
Kael could see it all.
The Tier 2's lips curled into a slow, predatory smile.
"I wonder… how many bones will I have to break before you scream?"
He moved, faster than Kael could follow with his body alone—but the Ashen Eye tracked him.
A blur of motion, a heavy fist arcing toward Kael's chest.
Instinct screamed at Kael to dodge, but his body was too slow.
The impact landed like a hammer, driving Kael back. His breath tore from his lungs, ribs cracking under the force. He stumbled, nearly falling—nearly—but his foot caught, the burden anchoring him.
No.
The Ashen Eye flared hotter, searing into the fracture, burning it into his mind.
Kael moved.
He twisted under the second strike, angling just enough that the blow grazed his shoulder instead of breaking it. Pain lanced through him, white-hot, but he pushed through it, teeth gritted.
The Tier 2's grin sharpened.
"Still standing?"
Kael's vision blurred at the edges, but the threads of the man's aura burned clear—and there, again, the fracture point, hidden beneath layers of strength, a flaw waiting to be broken.
Kael lunged, fast, reckless—but precise.
His fingers lashed out, striking the fracture with the edge of his palm.
A crack.
Not loud, not dramatic—but the man's grin faltered. His aura wobbled, a subtle shift, but Kael felt it.
The woman behind him gasped, her breath catching as if she could sense the tension snapping.
Kael's heart pounded, each beat a drum of defiance.
He wasn't stronger.
He wasn't faster.
But the Ashen Eye let him see.
And seeing was enough.
The Tier 2's expression darkened. The amusement drained from his eyes, replaced by something colder, sharper—focus.
The air thickened, the weight doubling, tripling, crushing down.
Kael felt his knees buckle, the world tilting sideways, stars sparking at the edges of his vision. The woman cried out, barely able to stay conscious beneath the pressure.
But Kael clenched his fists tighter, his fingers digging into his palms until blood welled between them.
The burden didn't break.
It held.
The Tier 2's voice came, low and dangerous.
"You see too much, boy. That eye of yours… it's not natural."
Kael's lips twisted into a thin, fierce smile.
"Neither is surviving what I've survived."
For a moment, the man paused, a flicker of… not respect, but recognition in his gaze.
Then it was gone, replaced by the cold hunger of a predator.
Kael moved first.
He launched himself forward, every muscle screaming, every breath a struggle, but the Ashen Eye burning clear, threads of weakness etched into his mind.
He struck—again, again—targeting the fractures, the hidden points where the man's power wavered.
Each hit wasn't enough to topple the giant, but they chipped away, wore down the edges.
Kael's vision swam, his body screaming in protest, but he pushed.
Because if he stopped—if he faltered for even a breath—he would die.
The Tier 2 roared, a sound that cracked the air like thunder. His power surged, a tidal wave of force slamming into Kael.
Kael flew backward, crashing into the wall of a crumbling building. Stone shattered under the impact. Dust filled the air.
For a moment, there was only pain.
Pain in his ribs, his arms, his skull—splitting, sharp, drowning.
But the Ashen Eye pulsed, steady and insistent.
The threads of the Tier 2's aura burned behind his eyelids.
Kael coughed, blood spilling from his lips, but he stood.
He rose from the rubble, shoulders squared, fists clenched, the white glow of his eyes burning brighter than before.
The crowd watching from the shadows whispered louder now, voices hushed and fearful.
"He's still standing…"
"That eye… what is that eye?"
"He's insane. He's going to die—"
Kael tuned them out.
They didn't matter.
Only the burden mattered.
Only the name of Xelvor.
The Tier 2's grin had returned—but it was thinner now, strained at the edges.
"You're a stubborn little thing, aren't you?"
Kael's voice was hoarse, rough as gravel.
"You're not the first to call me that."
His hands trembled, but the Ashen Eye's glow didn't dim.
If anything, it burned hotter.
Sharper.
Stronger.
The Tier 2 lunged again, and Kael saw it.
The flaw.
The opening.
The fracture that had been there all along—hidden, buried, but waiting for the one with eyes to see.
Kael stepped forward to meet the blow, his own strike rising like a blade in the dark.
The Ashen Eye blazed, a storm of threads illuminating the path.
And Kael moved.
Not faster than the Tier 2.
Not stronger.
But perfectly.
His strike landed—not in brute force, but in precision, driving into the core of the man's aura where the weakness lived.
For a heartbeat, the world held its breath.
Then the Tier 2 staggered.
A sharp, choked sound left his lips.
Kael's chest heaved, his vision blurring, the world tilting on its axis.
But he had done it.
He had hurt him.
This wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
But Kael had proven it:
He wasn't just a boy with a burden.
He was a Xelvor.
And the multiverse would remember.