The wind screamed through the jagged cliffs of the Redrift Gorge as if nature itself sought to mourn or warn. Kael stood at the edge, boots scuffing against loose gravel, his cloak billowing like a war banner behind him. Below, the fractured terrain twisted like a scar across the land, glowing faintly with traces of dormant mana veins. His breath fogged in the cold, but it wasn't the air that stole his warmth—it was the anticipation.
Behind him, Arin emerged from the winding trail, eyes shadowed by the hood of her obsidian cloak. Her gaze locked onto Kael, then drifted to the abyss beyond him. "This place," she said softly, "feels like it remembers pain."
Kael nodded, not trusting his voice. This was the place where the first Kingslayer had been born—and now, where Kael would finally face the remnants of the Covenant of Chains.
The system's latest mission pulsed faintly in his mind:
[Main Quest: Sever the Final Chain]Status: ActiveLocation: Redrift Gorge, Depths of the WoundObjective: Confront the Soulbound Warden. Liberate the Anchor of Aetherius.Reward: ???
He wasn't sure what unnerved him more—the finality of the wording or the fact that the reward was blank.
Arin joined him at the edge. "Do you think it's a trap?"
"Of course it's a trap," Kael replied. "But sometimes the only way out is through the fire."
They descended in silence, the narrow trail winding deeper into the canyon. As they walked, the world changed around them. The rocks began to shimmer with unnatural hues, and the temperature dropped steadily, frost gathering even in the crevices of molten-looking stone.
Kael felt the shift before it fully manifested—a ripple in the veil, the kind of disturbance that made the hairs on his neck stand up. His hand went to the hilt of his sword automatically.
The ground trembled slightly. Then a voice echoed—not from any throat, but from the canyon itself.
"You who come with the scent of rebellion… why do you seek the root of chains?"
Kael raised his head. "Because chains are meant to be broken."
Laughter—low, metallic, ancient—rattled the rocks.
"Then enter, fool. Let the last link wrap around your soul."
With that, the gorge opened.
The cliffside split, revealing a massive, circular chamber—unnaturally smooth, lit by a dim violet glow that seemed to come from the walls themselves. At the center stood a throne made of fused bone and iron, twisted and cruel, and upon it sat the Soulbound Warden.
His form was colossal, yet emaciated—like a statue carved from punishment itself. Chains wrapped around his body like a second skin, and where his eyes should have been, two burning runes floated in eternal orbit.
Kael stepped forward, heart thundering.
"You're him," he said. "The one who betrayed the Twelve to guard their crimes."
The Warden didn't rise. He merely pointed, and the ground shook.
Six chains, each thicker than Kael's torso, lashed out from behind the throne. They anchored into six monoliths arranged in a circle—each one glowing with runes Kael had seen only once before: in the ruins of Aetherius, during his first real trial.
"This is the anchor," Kael whispered. "This is what kept them tethered to this world."
Arin placed a hand on his shoulder. "We destroy that, and the last of their hold is broken."
Kael didn't respond. The Warden was rising now.
When he spoke, it was less speech and more command. "You wear the Protocol like a crown of defiance. But you are not its master."
Kael raised his sword—Voidrend, reforged with the blessings of the Ashen Dragon and tempered in the black fires of Underspire. The blade hummed in his hand.
"Maybe not," Kael said. "But I'm the one standing here."
The Warden moved.
He didn't charge. He simply stepped—and the entire chamber rippled with the force of his motion. One of the chains detached from its monolith and lashed toward Kael.
He dodged, barely, and countered with a sweeping arc that sent a pulse of disruption through the link. The chain shrieked as if alive and recoiled.
"Arin, the monoliths!" Kael shouted.
She was already moving. With a flick of her wrist, her spectral daggers appeared, and she sprinted toward the closest anchor point.
Kael squared off against the Warden, who now wielded two broken greatswords in his massive hands, their edges stained with the blood of centuries.
The clash was like thunder made solid.
Steel against soulbound metal. Force against will. Every blow Kael landed sent feedback through his arms. Every strike he blocked felt like stopping a landslide.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Arin reached the first monolith and plunged her dagger into the rune at its core. There was a flash, and the chain tethering it to the Warden snapped, recoiling with a scream.
The Warden howled—more in anger than pain—and spun, hurling one of his blades at Arin.
Kael blurred into motion, activating [Temporal Break], and caught the blade mid-air. It nearly drove him into the ground, but he held fast, skidding across the chamber.
"Two down!" Arin called, dashing to the next.
Kael's HUD flickered.
[Chain Severed: 1/6][System Integrity Disruption: 3%]Warning: Protocol Awakening Tier-4 Suppression Engaged
He grit his teeth. The system was resisting. It wanted these chains intact.
The Warden's next strike landed square on his shoulder, driving him to one knee. His vision blurred—but not with pain. With clarity.
Suddenly, he saw the Warden not as a monster, but as a man—a warrior bound to duty, lost to time. There was something tragically noble about his curse.
"I see you now," Kael muttered. "You didn't want this. You were made into this."
The Warden hesitated. Just for a moment. And in that breath of doubt, Kael activated [Memory Shatter].
A pulse of will exploded from him, tearing through the illusions around the chamber. The bone throne cracked. The runes on the monoliths flickered.
Three chains now snapped in succession as Arin used the opportunity.
[Chain Severed: 4/6]Warning: Protocol Breach Detected]Aether Lock Level 5 Lifted]
Kael stood again, body screaming, soul alight with rebellion. He charged.
Each step was agony, each breath a victory.
The Warden met him head-on—but this time, Kael didn't fight with anger. He fought with understanding. With purpose.
Their blades met—and then Voidrend pierced straight through the Warden's chest.
Kael whispered, "Be free."
The last two chains exploded as Arin brought down both daggers at once, light erupting from the monoliths like solar flares.
The Warden looked up at Kael—eyes empty, lips forming a final word Kael could not hear—and then he crumbled into dust.
Silence fell.
[Quest Complete: Sever the Final Chain]Reward Unlocked: Crown of the Broken SovereignSystem Notification:Legacy of the Forsaken Line unlocked. Limiters lifted. Ascension Tier: Sovereign Pathway Initialized.
Kael fell to his knees.
The chamber around them began to collapse—not destructively, but peacefully. The magic dissipated. The pain lessened.
Arin approached him, her face pale but determined.
"You did it," she said softly.
Kael looked up at her. "No. We did."
She smiled. "What now?"
He stood, slowly. The Protocol interface shimmered before his eyes—new paths, new powers, new enemies.
Kael tightened his grip on Voidrend.
"Now?" he said. "Now we stop running. Now we rise."
And somewhere, far above, the stars trembled.