The storm outside had stilled.
But inside the throne hall, a different kind of storm gathered — quiet, invisible, yet heavier than thunder.
Kael stood unmoving before Kaelen, the corpse of the Sovereign still faintly glowing behind them like a dying ember. The red aura around Kael's body flickered, then steadied into a slow, pulsing light — like the heartbeat of something ancient trying to break free.
The companions formed a half-circle behind him. Serana's staff glowed faintly with her healing sigils; Alaric's blade was drawn, though it trembled in his grip; Lira's eyes darted between Kael and Kaelen, her mind racing faster than words could follow. No one dared to speak.
Kaelen, by contrast, looked perfectly calm. Too calm. His expression was the still surface of a deep ocean — beautiful, endless, and deadly.
"You shouldn't have come back," Kael said at last. His voice was low, tired, but beneath it burned a thread of pain. "Not like this."
Kaelen chuckled softly, tapping the end of his staff against the marble. "And yet, here I stand. Death couldn't hold me, Kael. You of all people should understand that."
Kael's crimson gaze flared. "Don't compare us."
"Oh, but we are the same," Kaelen said, stepping closer. "Do you not feel it? The storm within your veins? That hunger that comes when you draw your blade? You think it's your will alone that gives you power?" His tone darkened. "No. You're a vessel. Just as I was."
A low hum filled the air — the lingering resonance of Kaelen's staff. Its crystal pulsed, and the shadows in the hall seemed to breathe, stretching toward Kael like tendrils of smoke.
Serana's voice broke the stillness. "Stop this. Both of you! Haven't we lost enough?"
Her plea echoed, fragile and desperate, but Kaelen only gave her a brief glance.
"Lost?" he said softly. "You've seen nothing of loss, girl. The Sovereign's reign was only the veil. The true storm lies beneath. The abyss remembers all things — and it wants its children back."
Alaric stepped forward, blade raised. "Then go back to it, old man."
Kaelen's eyes glinted. "Do you think I left it behind?"
A burst of black energy erupted from his staff, slamming into Alaric's blade. The warrior was thrown backward, crashing into a shattered pillar. Dust and fragments rained down, and Serana gasped as she rushed to his side.
Kael didn't move — but his aura changed. The red light darkened to near-black, arcs of crimson lightning crawling up his arms like veins of fire.
He lifted his sword, and the air itself groaned.
"Enough," Kael said, each word like iron. "If you've returned just to bring more ruin, then I'll end this now."
Kaelen's mouth twitched into something that might have been a smile. "You'll try."
The two moved at once.
Steel met shadow.
Light collided with darkness.
Kael's first strike shattered the marble underfoot. Kaelen deflected it with a swirl of his staff, sending a wave of black energy that Kael cut through with a single swing. Sparks of crimson and violet lit the chamber like falling stars. The companions scattered as the air rippled with force.
Kael lunged, blade spinning in a deadly arc. Kaelen vanished — reappearing behind him, the tip of his staff grazing Kael's shoulder. The red aura flared and absorbed the impact, but pain flashed in Kael's eyes.
"You've grown strong," Kaelen said, circling. "But strength without understanding is still weakness."
Kael turned, his expression sharp. "Then teach me. As you once did."
And then he vanished.
The sound that followed was thunder — not from the sky, but from Kael's movement. He reappeared behind Kaelen, his blade wreathed in black-red lightning, and struck with enough force to splinter the floor. Kaelen blocked, but the power of the blow drove him to one knee. For a brief heartbeat, the two were locked — teacher and student, mirror and reflection.
Their auras flared, colliding — Kael's red light against Kaelen's black flame.
The pressure cracked the walls, shattered what remained of the throne, and sent dust spiraling upward like a cyclone.
Serana screamed something — words lost in the roar — and Lira dragged her back as another shockwave tore through the hall.
Kaelen pushed back with a surge of energy, forcing Kael to slide across the floor.
"You've surpassed my lessons," Kaelen said, voice half-proud, half-sad. "But you've also inherited my curse."
Kael steadied himself, panting. "Then maybe it's time to end both."
Kaelen's expression softened for just an instant — a flash of something human, before it faded back into steel.
The next moment, they clashed again.
Blades and staff blurred into streaks of light.
Every strike carved craters into the stone, every deflection sent shockwaves rippling through the broken throne room. The storm outside reignited, lightning flashing through the shattered ceiling as if the heavens themselves were watching the duel.
Kael struck low, feinted high, and brought his blade down in a brutal overhand slash. Kaelen parried — but Kael's aura exploded outward, wrapping around the old sorcerer's defenses and slamming him backward into a wall. The impact left a crater.
Kaelen laughed — genuinely, wildly — blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Good! You finally fight without holding back!"
Kael lowered his stance, aura blazing. "Then stop holding back too."
Kaelen's eyes turned black.
The temperature in the hall plummeted. The shadows rose like waves, twisting, roaring, and forming shapes — faces screaming in silence, the remnants of all he had absorbed. His staff ignited with voidfire, its crystal pulsing like a heart.