The masked man plunged his dagger into the ground.
The earth trembled.
The crack in the sky grew wider, darkness rushing through like ink in water. The air hummed low, unnatural, rippling through the battlefield.
Then, he began to chant.
"O fractured time, O endless tide,
Unseen god, break your stride.
With stolen blood, my voice resounds,
Grant me strength, unchain these bounds!"
The air twisted. A crushing weight pressed down on everything. Liz's heart pounded as the very air thickened, like the world itself was suffocating them.
Caius's breath hitched. He grabbed Vander and Rowan, pulling them back. "We need to move—NOW!"
Liz barely had time to react before Kael's lifeless body collapsed in her arms.
"Kael—!"
She pressed her hand against his chest. No heartbeat. No breath. His skin was cold.
But the masked man kept chanting.
"By tenfold hours, by shattered fate,
Let power surge, let time mutate!
I call the past, I bind the now,
Let future kneel and heed my vow!"
The ground split apart beneath him. Black flames erupted from the cracks, licking at his feet. The air grew impossibly dense, as though gravity itself had been torn apart and put back together wrong.
Liz's legs trembled beneath the crushing force. Even Caius—who had withstood powerful divine magic before—struggled to keep his footing.
Then, the monster crawled out.
A growl—deep, guttural, wrong.
The Chimera rose from the abyss.
A lion's head, its mane wreathed in black fire, its fangs dripping molten ash. The goat's head in the center, unnervingly twisted, its golden eyes glowing like something trapped inside. The serpent tail, thick and muscular, moved with eerie intelligence, venom dripping from its fangs and sizzling against the cracked earth.
Liz's breath caught. Caius stiffened.
For the first time in his life—he looked truly afraid.
Liz shook Kael harder. "Kael, please wake up!"
Nothing.
Caius readied his spear. "Take them. I'll handle this."
Liz turned to him, startled. Since when did he sound noble? "Why are you suddenly acting heroic?"
Caius exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "I don't care about Kael, but Vander and Rowan… they're my team. I protect them." His grip tightened. "Now go."
Liz hesitated.
Then—she clenched her jaw. "No. We can't run. If we run, we die tired."
Caius smirked. "Fine. Then we kill it."
The masked man chuckled. "How touching." His voice wasn't human anymore—warped, distorted, layered with something ancient.
"Kill them all, my Chimera."
The Chimera moved.
Caius lunged first, his golden spear crackling with lightning as he drove it into the beast's side.
BOOM!
The ground split apart beneath the impact. Divine electricity surged through the Chimera—
It didn't even flinch.
The lion's head turned.
Then—it roared.
The shockwave sent Caius flying.
Liz notched an arrow, flames trailing behind it. She loosed the shot—
A direct hit.
The fire fizzled into nothing. No burn marks. No pain. The Chimera barely acknowledged the attack.
Liz's hands trembled. "That's impossible…"
The masked man laughed. "Oh, did I forget to mention? Every time you damage it—"
The Chimera's goat head shrieked. Its wounds vanished.
It grew larger. Stronger. Its eyes burned even brighter.
The masked man smirked.
"It evolves."
Liz gritted her teeth. Caius cursed under his breath.
They couldn't win.
Liz's fingers curled into Kael's torn cloak. "Wake up," she whispered. "Wake up, Kael."
Nothing.
"Please…" Her voice cracked. "We need you."
Still, nothing.
Kael drifted in the dark.
He didn't know where he was.
Cold. Heavy. Empty.
Like drowning in ink.
No light. No sound. No feeling.
Alone.
He had lived his whole life alone. In the slums. A nobody. Forgotten.
It would be easy to just stay here. To let go.
Then—
Warmth.
It pulsed in his veins. A familiar warmth.
A blessing.
He felt it, thrumming in his blood. A reminder of who he was.
Then he saw them—
Liz. Orion. The Holy Knights.
A family. His family.
He wouldn't go back to nothing.
He wouldn't be alone again.
Liz's voice reached him, her hand outstretched in the darkness.
"Wake up, Kael."
His eyes snapped open.
Kael gasped, air flooding his lungs like he had been drowning.
Cyrus, his shadowy companion, nudged his side. "You're back."
Kael sat up, eyes flicking toward Liz and Caius.
They were barely standing.
The Chimera moved impossibly fast now, weaving through their attacks like a phantom.
It slammed its tail into Caius's spear, knocking it away. The tail coiled around his leg, whipping him into a tree with bone-crushing force.
Then—it lunged at Liz.
She had no time to react.
The Chimera's claws came down—
Kael vanished.
Liz squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain.
Nothing.
Her eyes flickered open.
Kael stood before her, his arms wrapped around her, shielding her from the strike.
He looked down at her, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Hey, Sunshine." Kael smirked. "Miss me?"
Liz's breath caught. "Idiot…" she whispered.
The masked man stumbled back. "No—you should be dead!"
Kael shot him a cold look. "I'll deal with you later."
He turned back to the Chimera. "Sit."
The Chimera froze.
The battlefield went silent.
Kael called out to Cyrus. "Take them all to safety. Now."
Liz grabbed his arm. "No! You can't die again—"
"I won't." He smiled. "Trust me."
Caius gritted his teeth, dragging the unconscious Vander and Rowan onto Cyrus's back. Liz hesitated, then climbed on too.
"Thanks," Caius muttered.
Kael nodded. "Take care of them."
Liz's screams faded as Cyrus carried them away.
The masked man grinned. "No one left to save you, Son of Hades."
Kael rolled his shoulders.
"Save me?" His shadow pulsed. "You think I need saving?"
The masked man's grin faltered.
Kael raised his hand. The shadows at his feet stirred.
"I'm not going to kill you because you tried to end me." His voice was calm. Cold.
"But you hurt someone important to me."
His shadow surged—waiting.
Kael smirked.
"So now I'll return the pain. Ten times over."
The masked man stepped back. "You can't—"
Kael snapped his fingers and began to chant.
"From the abyss where shadows sleep,
Chains of darkness, coil and creep.
Bind their limbs, steal their breath,
Drag them screaming into death!"
The battlefield shuddered.
A sword rose from the darkness.
The same sword from his father's throne.
Shadowbind. The Cursed Blade of Shadows.
Kael caught it effortlessly. The dark steel gleamed in the firelight.
The masked man's breathing quickened. "You—"
Kael twirled the blade, shadows curling around him like living things.
"Let's talk about your punishment."