The storm hadn't ended. It only changed.
The rain grew heavier, pounding against stone and skin alike, but Arhaan barely noticed.
He walked deeper into the mountain — guided by whispers no one else could hear.
The tunnel walls pulsed faintly with red veins of energy, ancient and alive. Symbols written in forgotten tongues glimmered faintly under the lightning flashes.
> "Deeper…" the voice murmured. "Beyond the light that blinds, beyond the truth that binds."
Arhaan followed. Each step echoed with the sound of chains dragging behind him — but now, the chains didn't resist. They led.
At the heart of the mountain lay a cavern so vast it could swallow the heavens themselves.
A black lake stretched endlessly before him, its surface still as glass. Floating above it — a single shard of crimson crystal, pulsing with the rhythm of a heartbeat.
The voice spoke again, stronger this time, layered and inhuman.
> "Long have I waited for the one who defied the sky."
"You wear the chains of Heaven… yet your soul rejects their song."
Arhaan stepped closer, his reflection rippling across the black water. "Who are you?"
The air rippled — and from the lake's depths rose a figure, tall and draped in shadows, eyes burning like dying suns.
Not flesh, not spirit — something in between.
> "I am Azrakar, the Fallen Oath."
"Once, I was Heaven's sword. Now, I am its scar."
Arhaan's breath caught. The pressure from the being's presence nearly crushed him, yet his heart beat with fierce steadiness.
He did not kneel.
Azrakar's shadowed face seemed to smile.
> "Good. The first to stand before the Abyss and not break. You will do."
Arhaan's chains snapped tight, glowing crimson. "I don't need your power."
> "You already hold it," Azrakar said simply. "Those chains you wear — they were forged from my fall."
A shock coursed through Arhaan's body. The chains pulsed violently, reacting to the truth.
> "Heaven chained me to silence," Azrakar continued, "and in doing so, they bound you to my soul. You are my echo… my successor."
Arhaan's eyes burned gold-red. "Then teach me how to break them."
> "To break Heaven's chains… you must first break yourself."
The crystal shattered. The cavern erupted in blinding crimson light. Energy surged through Arhaan's body — pain, power, rage, freedom, all at once.
And for the first time… his chains sang.
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🔥 This chapter reveals the source of Arhaan's mysterious power — the soul of Azrakar, the Fallen Oath, once Heaven's weapon turned rebel. Their bond marks the true beginning of Arhaan's ascent toward godhood.