Chapter 965 – The God of Light Descends
The air burned white.
The cathedral's ruins were gone — consumed in radiance so pure it scoured every shadow from existence. The very stones screamed as the divine light sank into them, turning what remained of Saint's Gate into a floating crown of molten halos.
Kael could only watch as the hero — as Eiden — ceased to exist.
His mortal form cracked open like glass. Gold bled from every fissure in his flesh, his veins turning into threads of sunlight. His body was a vessel no longer built to contain the power pouring through it.
Eiden's mouth opened in a scream — but the voice that came out was not his own.
"I AM THE LIGHT THAT WAS BEFORE DAWN."
The sound shattered the sky.
Kael's teeth ground together as he felt the surge of divine pressure crush the air from his lungs. His chaos aura snarled in protest, a living flame against the smothering purity of the god's presence.
"Eiden," Kael hissed through clenched teeth, lowering his blade and bracing himself as the ground quaked beneath his boots. "You fool. You actually let him in."
The being lifted its head — or what remained of Eiden's head. His face was gone, replaced by an ever-shifting brilliance that made the eyes ache to look at. A halo burned behind him like a miniature sun, lines of holy fire trailing from his shoulders like ribbons of judgment.
When it spoke again, the voice was layered — countless tones overlapping, harmonizing in an impossible choir.
"He begged for purity. He offered his flesh. I accepted."
Kael's grip on his sword tightened. "Then I'll kill a god today."
He started forward—
—and the air tore open behind him.
"KAEL!"
Lyria's voice.
He spun to see his people pour into the ruins. Lyria at the front, her hair whipping in the wind, spear already ignited in violet flame. Eris followed, chaos energy thrumming around her like a storm made flesh. Fenrik and Varik flanked them, shields raised, while Zerathis and Serenya leapt to the cathedral's flanks, blades and spells already at the ready.
They had answered the surge of divine power the moment it had risen.
And they'd come straight to their commander.
Kael's chest tightened — not in fear, but in warning. He raised a hand. "Stay back!"
But it was too late.
The god turned.
Its faceless visage regarded Kael's people as if seeing insects for the first time. The light dimmed for a single heartbeat — and then exploded outward in a wave of divine wrath.
"TRESPASSERS IN MY RADIANCE—BE UNMADE."
The blast struck like the fist of creation.
A dome of burning light rippled out from the god's form, faster than sound. Zerathis barely raised his arm before he was thrown back through the wall, armor shattering. Serenya screamed a spell that tore itself apart mid-cast, her body sent skidding across the ground. Varik and Fenrik took the brunt of the blast on their shields — only to be flung into the rubble like ragdolls, groaning in pain.
Lyria lunged forward, planting her spear and dragging up a wall of ethereal fire — it shattered almost instantly, sending her crashing back into Eris. The two tumbled to the ground in a whirl of scorched light and chaos flame.
When the blast faded, only Kael still stood.
The god floated above the ruin, its feet never touching the ground, the light around it bending and warping the world.
Kael's chaos aura roared to life, flaring from his back like the wings of some infernal beast.
He looked past the glowing form, past the rivers of molten stone and falling ash — to where, bound and half-conscious, his aunt, the true dragon, lay chained in celestial runes of gold.
And between them — between Kael, his fallen companions, and his captured blood — stood the radiant figure, the god of light reborn through the ashes of its own worshipper.
Kael's lips curled into a feral snarl, voice low, trembling with fury.
"Move," he said.
The god tilted its head, the sound of distant bells echoing through its motion.
"You would challenge the divine for those beneath you?"
Kael's eyes flared, his chaos flames pulsing violently. "For them? For her?" His voice broke into a growl. "I'll burn the heavens down."
He stepped forward, every motion radiating killing intent.
The god raised its hand, and the sky began to glow again.
And as the light swallowed the battlefield, Kael met the god's faceless gaze head-on — daemon lord against divinity — standing alone between his family, his blood, and annihilation.
The air split with the sound of their power colliding.
And the war between chaos and light began anew.