Midnight prayers echoed through the Ninefold Hall as inner disciples bowed to the Grand Illumination Statue. Incense curled upward, carrying whispered mantras and silent hopes into the heavens.
Kael watched from the shadowed stairway, arms folded. His eyes flickered, and once again, he saw them.
Chains.
Hundreds of them. Glowing with polished reverence. These ones were different though...they weren't rusted or cracked. They were golden. Perfect. Shimmering like they'd been forged by the gods themselves.
But he knew better.
> Golden doesn't mean free. It just means expensive slavery.
The disciples bowed deeper, chanting names of ancient Sovereigns, praying for breakthroughs, guidance, inner peace.
And every time they spoke a name...the chains tightened.
Kael's voice was quiet, but the venom in it hissed like cold lightning.
"They don't worship the gods. They worship the chains the gods left behind."
He stepped forward.
The stone beneath him didn't creak. The wind didn't stir. But the golden chains noticed him instantly.
And they hated him.
> [System Alert]
[Forbidden Chain Vision Detected]
[Protocol Override...Pending]
He blinked it away.
Too late.
The statue cracked.
A single fracture ran from the crown down to its foot. Disciples froze in shock. The incense flames flickered.
"Who did that?!"
Elder Varn appeared instantly, robes snapping in the wind. His aura erupted outward like a tidal wave, and the other disciples fell to their knees from sheer pressure.
Only Kael remained standing.
Varn's eyes narrowed. "It was you...wasn't it."
Kael's gaze didn't flinch. "That thing binds minds, not grants blessings."
The elder's voice dropped. Cold. Lethal. "That thing is a sacred anchor from the Sovereign Era."
Kael stepped closer.
"And what do anchors do?"
Varn didn't answer.
"They hold ships in place."
Kael raised a finger, pointing at the cracked statue.
"That's what u've been doing for a thousand years...keeping everyone docked while pretending the sea is too dangerous."
Power flared. Varn launched forward with a roar, lightning laced with time essence.
Kael didn't move.
He exhaled.
Just a breath.
But every chain in the hall trembled.
And the golden ones?
They shattered.