The impossible happened.
The Sovereign—he who had ruled unbroken for an age—stumbled. His boots scraped fire across the void, his halberd's brilliance flickering under the storm.
Gasps tore from Kael's companions below. Serenya covered her mouth, eyes wet with disbelief. Darius shouted hoarsely, as if sheer voice could carry Kael forward. Even the Sovereign's own courts, watching from afar, faltered in silence.
Kael pressed the advantage. His crimson aura howled like a living beast, his strikes chaining with inhuman speed. Ashrend lashed and carved, black arcs fracturing the Sovereign's flames.
The Sovereign's voice thundered, louder than the quake of dying stars. "Insolence—!"
His halberd surged, fire flaring brighter, forcing Kael back. Yet the image of his stumble remained, seared into all who witnessed it.