Chapter 966 – Fall of the Dawn
The first strike split the sky.
Kael's blade met the god's radiant arm in a detonation that turned air into sound and sound into fire. The ground beneath them cratered, molten light and crimson chaos exploding outward in a maelstrom of clashing powers.
Kael pushed forward, teeth bared, every inch of his being screaming in defiance. "You're not welcome here!"
The god didn't answer — it simply pressed, each motion slow, deliberate, terrible. The weight of its power was beyond measure; its strikes weren't swings or blows, but judgments, each one carrying the authority of the divine.
Kael parried one — barely — and still felt his bones rattle from the force. His boots carved trenches through the molten ground as he slid back, eyes narrowing.
"Kael!"
Lyria was the first to rejoin the fray, her body scorched but still burning bright. She hurled her spear like a comet of violet flame — it struck the god's shoulder, bursting into a sea of fire that could have leveled a fortress.
The god didn't even flinch.
A flash — and Lyria was gone, flung through the air like a broken arrow. Kael caught only a glimpse of her before she disappeared into the haze.
"Stay back!" Kael roared, but the others were already moving.
Eris surged forward, chaos energy spiraling around her form like an unstable sun. Her eyes glowed red as she screamed, thrusting both arms out — a beam of chaotic light ripped through the battlefield, clashing with divine radiance in a catastrophic explosion that lit the horizon.
The shockwave turned stone to dust.
When it cleared, the god still stood. Its arm was gone — obliterated — but in an instant of blinding brilliance, it reformed from pure light. The god simply tilted its head, almost… curious.
"YOU WIELD HIS GIFT AGAINST ME. FOOLISH CHILD."
A single finger raised — and Eris was struck by a pillar of light. She cried out as her chaos shield shattered, flung backward into the rubble, motionless.
"ERIS!" Kael roared.
He lunged — and the god met him with open hands, pressing his chaos down, inch by inch. Sparks of white and crimson erupted with every contact. Kael's vision blurred, his armor glowing red-hot from proximity alone.
Fenrik and Varik charged from the flank, shields raised and swords gleaming. Zerathis emerged from the smoke, demonic wings unfurled, face twisted in rage. Serenya unleashed a tidal wave of azure magic.
The god turned.
"ENOUGH."
The divine aura pulsed outward, a silent scream that made the world stop.
The ground shattered beneath them.
Fenrik and Varik hit the earth like meteors, shields splintered. Zerathis's wings burned away in an instant, his body thrown against the ruins. Serenya's spell disintegrated before it even reached its mark — and then she too fell, struck by the invisible weight of divinity.
And then, there was only Kael.
He staggered, his knees nearly buckling, yet his eyes burned brighter than ever.
He looked around — his family, his soldiers, his friends — all of them scattered, broken, bloodied. Eris lay still, her form flickering with unstable energy. Lyria tried to move, her hand reaching toward her spear but failing.
The god's voice was a whisper across eternity.
"You cannot win, child of chaos."
Kael's head lifted, slowly, a strand of silver hair falling over his eyes. His aura flared, red lightning arcing off his body as he straightened, defiance written in every motion.
He spat blood onto the molten stone. "I don't need to win."
He lifted his sword — the edge glowing black and red — and shouted across the ruin, voice raw and powerful enough to pierce the roar of the storm:
"Zerathis! Lyria! Eris! Everyone—fall back! Take my aunt and get out of here! That's an order!"
Zerathis groaned, trying to rise, his eyes widening. "Kael—"
"GO!" Kael barked, chaos flaring so violently it sent a shockwave through the air. "That's not a request!"
Lyria, bleeding and barely conscious, met his eyes — and for a heartbeat, they said everything they couldn't in words.
She nodded once.
"Everyone—move!" she shouted, pulling herself up with her spear. She grabbed Eris's arm, dragging her back toward the dragon's bound form. Varik and Fenrik limped forward to help, Zerathis spreading the remains of his wings to shield them as they moved. Serenya conjured a barrier behind them to slow pursuit.
Kael turned back to the god.
"You won't touch them."
The god's light dimmed slightly, the vague shape of a smile in the radiance.
"You cannot stop the dawn."
Kael's aura erupted into full chaos flame, a burning storm of red, black, and silver that turned the god's light to steam.
"Then I'll burn the dawn out of the sky."
Their powers collided again — divine and chaos, creation and destruction — shaking the heavens themselves.
And as his friends escaped into the night, Kael stood alone in the ruins of Saint's Gate, his sword clashing with the hand of a god, the world trembling beneath the fury of both.