For three days after the Watcher battle, Max did not speak.
He trained alone in the wastelands beyond the Heart of Azarath, where the earth was cracked and the sky bled thin gray light.
The Blade of Fivefold Dawn stood stabbed into the ground beside him —
a silent witness to his war within.
He fought not monsters, but himself.
The rage was always there now.
Coiled in his chest.
Breathing in sync with his heart.
When he moved, it whispered.
When he faltered, it snarled.
It wanted freedom.
It wanted destruction.
And Max... wasn't sure he could deny it much longer.
---
Talon watched from a distance.
He saw Max's muscles ripple with unnatural strength.
Saw his steps leave blackened footprints in the dust.
Saw the faint shimmer of horns under his hair when he thought no one noticed.
Talon's hand never strayed far from his sword now.
He didn't hate Max.
He feared what Max would become.
And he hated himself for it.
---
The others trained too —
harder than ever.
Aria refined her fire into spears of pure sunlight.
Luna learned to fly without wings.
Dante crafted storms that bent to his fingers like tame wolves.
Mira wove living rivers around her wrists.
They had been resurrected by the Doors.
They were stronger than any warriors Azarath had ever known.
And yet —
Every single one of them knew:
If Max turned against them,
none of it would matter.
---
On the fourth night,
Max dreamed.
He stood before a Mirror of Black Glass.
In its reflection, he saw himself —
horned, cloaked in elemental fury, a crown of shattered stars on his brow.
The figure smiled.
"Why fight it?" the mirror-Max whispered.
"You were born for this."
"Born to conquer."
"Born to reign."
"Born to break the chains of weak, dying worlds."
Max said nothing.
He simply reached out —
and shattered the mirror with a touch.
But when he woke, the scent of blood was thick on his hands.
---
That same morning,
the earth itself trembled.
A dark army marched from the east —
beasts of stone and rot and bone, thousands strong.
And at their head —
a figure wrapped in black chains.
The first true General of the Oblivion King.
KARDAS, THE CHAINED PRINCE.
A traitor once human, now little more than rage and power made flesh.
He carried no weapon.
He was the weapon.
---
Max stood atop the ruins, watching the army approach.
The others gathered around him, tense.
"We can't win this," Mira said, voice low.
"They'll wipe the Heart clean," Dante growled.
Talon said nothing. He just stared at Max.
Waiting to see what he would choose.
Max gripped the Blade of Fivefold Dawn.
He could feel the rage inside him — coiling, ready.
Let me out, it begged.
Let me burn them.
Let me break them.
---
Max turned to his friends.
"You don't have to follow me," he said quietly.
Aria shook her head fiercely.
"We ride with you."
Sylas grinned, slamming a fist to his chest.
"To the death."
Mira and Dante nodded.
Luna said nothing, but the wind stirred protectively around her.
Even Talon... after a long moment, unsheathed his sword and said:
"One last time."
Max smiled — a small, broken smile.
Then he drew the Blade.
The sky answered with a crack of black thunder.
And the rage inside him unfurled its wings.
---
The battle was carnage.
The Heart of Azarath became a slaughterhouse.
The warriors fought like demons —
wind and flame, stone and storm, river and wrath — tearing through the endless ranks of monsters.
But the enemy was relentless.
For every beast they killed, two more rose.
For every inch they gained, they lost ten.
And at the heart of it all, Kardas strode forward —
chains lashing out, dragging souls into the earth.
Unstoppable.
---
Finally, bleeding, exhausted, surrounded,
Max made his choice.
He let go.
He called the rage.
And for the first time...
he embraced it.
---
The transformation was instant.
A pulse of black fire ripped from his chest, sending soldiers flying like leaves.
His horns solidified — crystalline, sharp, terrible.
His cloak became a living storm of elements.
His blade burned black with the fivefold fury of the world.
Max — or what remained of him — roared into the heavens.
The enemy army hesitated.
For the first time, they feared.
---
Kardas laughed — a deep, broken sound.
"Yes," the Chained Prince whispered, opening his arms wide.
"YES. Show me your true face, Doorwalker."
Max answered by moving.
Faster than sight.
Stronger than any mortal.
They collided with a sound like mountains shattering.
---
Max vs Kardas.
A clash of kings.
A battle to decide not just victory —
but whether Max would lose himself forever.
---
[End Of Chapter 9]