The great hall still trembled after the failed assassination attempt.
Broken daggers lay scattered across the marble floor, glinting under the chandeliers.
Nobles whispered in shock, fear choking the air.
To raise a blade against the Heir of the Gravity Household was unthinkable… suicidal even.
Yet, it had been done.
For a moment, Kael said nothing.
His crimson eyes swept across the room, reading the fear, the hidden motives, the envy that clung to every noble's heart.
He could feel it most were terrified, but some lingered on greed, on the thought of what it might mean if Kael were gone.
Behind him, his guards had already moved, shields raised, surrounding him in a protective circle.
Their armor shone with the faint pulse of mana different from the elemental glow of the royal houses.
At their center stood their commander, a broad-shouldered man in his forties, sword drawn and gleaming with quiet menace.
His name was Darius Valenor.
To Kael, he was more than a commander,
He was uncle, mentor, shield, the man who had watched over him since his first steps.
Mana,
Not all in this world were born to wield the sacred elements.
For common men and women, the gods had given a different gift: mana.
Where elements were inherited through bloodlines, mana was carved through the body and spirit.
It was raw, untamed energy drawn not from nature, but from one's own will.
Warriors trained to bind it to their blades, to strengthen their flesh, to shield themselves against death itself.
Few ever mastered it, fewer still survived its toll.
A sword infused with mana could parry
an elemental strike for a heartbeat… but against a wielder of five elements, even mana might not be enough.
Kael looked at Darius, who stood poised like a mountain about to fall.
The guards around him burned with fury, their mana thrumming, ready to unleash hell on anyone who dared move against their young master.
Kael simply raised a hand.
"Calm down, Uncle,"
The words cut through the rage like water over fire.
One by one, the guards lowered their weapons, bowing their heads, leaving the center stage to Kael alone.
He stepped forward, slow, deliberate.
Then he raised his right hand toward the vaulted ceiling.
His fist closed!
"Gravity."
The word echoed through the palace like a decree from the heavens.
Instantly, an invisible weight spread outward, crushing, relentless.
The entire palace shook.
Windows shattered, chandeliers swayed violently, the marble floor cracked under the unbearable pressure.
Beyond the walls, the very kingdom quivered glass burst in homes, carriages toppled in the streets, men and women stumbled in terror as the unseen force pressed down on them.
For one heartbeat, every soul in the Air Kingdom felt death closing in.
Aelina's breath caught, her hands clutching her chair as she fought to stay upright.
Her heart raced not from fear, but from awe.
He's holding back,
Even now… he's holding back.
Darius bowed his head, his sword trembling in his grip.
He had stood in the boy's shadow all his life, but never before had he felt this.
He's not the heir anymore.
He's the storm itself.
The King of the Air Household clutched his armrest, knuckles white, sweat beading on his forehead.
"This… this is power no throne can command…"
Queen Serenya's eyes narrowed, a thousand thoughts racing.
So this is what the world will face if he loses control.
The same fear… the same path as Benjamin.
Kael's gaze shifted,
Lightning coursed into his boots, crackling with restrained fury.
In a blur, he vanished air bending around him as he leapt toward the balcony.
He landed silently, hands in his pockets, cape snapping like a war-banner in the wind.
Then, with a flash of lightning, he was gone again.
The hall gasped,
In the next instant, Kael stood before the man who had sat in silence during the banquet, the man whose eyes had betrayed an intent Kael had felt long before the daggers flew.
His crimson gaze locked onto the stranger's.
His hand snapped forward, fingers curling around the man's throat.
The intruder only smiled,
With one motion, Kael lifted him and smashed him into the palace wall.
The impact thundered, marble exploded, dust billowed in thick clouds.
For a moment, Nothing moved.
Then the moonlight spilled through the shattered stone, casting Kael in silver glow.
His cape whipped around him, the dust storm painting him in shadows and light.
Slowly, he unclasped his cloak and let it fall, revealing the warrior beneath calm, unshaken, lethal.
On the other side of the wall, the man floated mid-air, suspended in the ruins, his grin unfading.
Kael's voice broke the silence, low and sharp,
"I sensed your killing intent during the banquet.
I thought no one could be this stupid… right,
Calamity?"
The hall erupted in whispers, gasps, terror.
Nobles shrank back, guards shifted uneasily, and even the King stared in disbelief,
Dust drifted down like falling stars,
The moon burned bright overhead,
The palace was no longer a hall of celebration.
It was the battlefield where Gravemont's heir would clash with calamity.
To be continued…