Kael sank deeper into the River Styx. Slowly, his vision began to fade.
He found himself dreaming.
"Damn it, I've been dreaming way too much lately," he murmured.
But this was different. He recognized this place.
It was the same place where Kael had seen that man when he picked up his father's sword. The figure still sat alone in the distance, unmoving. But this time, something was different. The unknown man got to his feet and walked toward Kael slowly.
With each step, his face became clearer.
His eyes were dead. Hollow. They carried the weight of someone who had lost almost everything. His expression had no warmth—only the remnants of a soul long worn out. His armor hung poorly on his body, damaged. He looked like a man who had fought numerous battles and won.
Kael looked at the man and mumbled, "Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?"
His voice came out quieter than he intended.
At first, the man said nothing. He just stared at him. Then, with a disgusted look on his face, he asked, "What are you doing?"
Kael frowned. "Do I know you?"
The man ignored his question. "You were born, given the power to do anything, and this is how you use it?" He scoffed, his gaze burning into Kael like a brand.
Kael was annoyed. "Dude, what are you even talking about?"
"You fool. You're letting some second-rate god beat you into the ground. You are pathetic."
He walked toward Kael, anger in his voice. He grabbed Kael by the throat, lifting him to eye level.
"Let go of me," Kael muttered, his eyes beginning to glow. "Who the hell are you?"
The man's grip only tightened.
"How could you be this weak? Pathetic." His voice was laced with poison. "Your weakness will kill everyone you care for."
The shadows around Kael rose, taking the shape of spikes, lunging toward the man, but at the last moment, they stopped.
The shadows that had always protected him stopped.
Instead of attacking, they crawled around his body. They liked him, like they had a connection.
"You traitor," Kael muttered.
The man sighed and released him, then said, "They will protect you, Kael, when you are in danger. Right now, you are not."
"Dude, you tried to kill me like a second ago," he replied.
"Shut up and listen. I don't have much time."
"First, you choke me without buying me dinner, and now you're telling me to shut up? Dude, this relationship is moving too fast."
The man, losing his patience, softened his voice. "You are our only hope. We need you to survive and get strong."
"What do you mean, 'we'?"
"When the time comes, you will see."
Kael was even more confused.
The man's face turned serious. "Kael, what is it that you want in life?"
Kael thought about it for a second.
"I want to live a normal life, a path that I can choose. I don't want to be a king or anything. I just want to be in a world where I have my mother, Liz, Orion, and others—even Hades. I want to experience the things I couldn't in my whole life. And now I got them all. I don't want to lose any of that," he said as tears flowed from his eyes.
"Then what will happen if someone takes that away?"
Kael gritted his teeth. "Say that again," anger in his voice.
"You think you can prevent that? Especially the way you are now?" The man smirked.
The shadows around Kael began to boil.
"Wanna try that again, old man?"
Kael's shadows wrapped around the man, forming a giant hand, squeezing tighter and tighter.
"That's it, Kael. Just embrace it. Let it out," the man whispered.
"I will kill you," Kael shouted.
"You can't kill me. Listen well and listen good, Son of the Cursed God. There are gods far stronger than the Olympians. When the time comes, they will take everything from you, like they did to me. Get stronger. Take what belongs to you."
"I said shut up. You talk too much." Kael tightened his grip.
"When the time comes, you will understand the pain of not being able to save the people you love. Don't make the same mistakes as us." His voice softened.
Kael loosened his grip. "How?"
"Trust your shadows. They have been with you since birth. They will listen to you, and you must listen to them. They are part of you."
Before the man disappeared, he stepped closer to Kael.
"I will save you just this once. Don't make the mistake we made. Get strong. You are our only hope."
The man dissolved as he flicked Kael's forehead, waking him up.
Kael found himself submerged in the black water of the River Styx. He was not wet. He felt dry. His thirst had not gone away. His mouth felt like sandpaper. He had no energy left.
"I guess I have no choice," he muttered to himself.
He took a deep breath and started to drink the River Styx water.
Then—agony.
It burned through his throat, clawing its way into his chest. His lungs were on fire, the heat exploding through his ribs like molten lava. His stomach twisted in pain, as if thousands of spikes were exploding from the inside.
But he didn't stop. He continued to drink.
The liquid spread through his body, black water running through his veins. His whole body felt like it was being burned alive.
Kael couldn't scream.
His skin burned. His muscles tightened. His bones felt like they were breaking and reforming all at once.
Memories flooded into his mind, but they weren't his. Millions of souls surrounded him, their voices screaming, begging, cursing. He could hear their pain, sadness, sorrow. He could feel it.
"Is this what death feels like?"
The thought barely came to his mind before it was ripped away, replaced with more screams. The wails of countless souls clawed inside his head. His vision blurred. His fingers twitched. He wanted to stop—he wanted it to end—but stopping meant death.
No, worse than death.
Then, in an instant, it was gone.
The pain vanished. His hunger disappeared.
He felt good.
He could feel the River Styx, as if it was trying to push him up. So he let it. The black water of the River Styx swirled around him like an arm, and with a single motion, it threw him upward, sending him flying.
"Damn you!" He screamed at the water.
He shot out of the water, now standing above the water. Shocked but ignoring it, he glared in Charon's direction.
The shadows around slithered toward him, coating him like a second skin, then slowly forming into a long coat made entirely of shadows.
"Yes, yes, there you go. Embrace—"
Before Charon could finish, Kael disappeared, reappearing above him.
"You talk too much."
He swung his sword downward, but Charon blocked it with his staff, which he had pulled from thin air. The impact shattered the ground beneath Charon.
"That's it, Son of Hades. That's good."
Kael twisted his body and kicked him in the side of the head, sending him flying and skidding across the ground.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
He vanished and appeared next to Cyrus. "I'm sorry, buddy. Now rest up."
He absorbed Cyrus into the shadows so he could rest.
Enraged, Kael pointed his sword at Charon.
"Now get up."
"Okay, okay, let's do this."
Chains erupted from Charon, lunging toward Kael like a snake.
Every time the chains struck him, he turned into smoke, appearing around them. Each time they struck, they passed through him, and he reappeared somewhere else.
It started to annoy Charon.
He unleashed even more chains, exploding out of him.
As the chains surrounded and struck him from all directions, Kael turned into a shadowy smoke, reappeared next to him, and, with a vertical strike, sent Charon flying into the River Styx.
Kael finally understood what that old man meant. He muttered, "The shadows were always there with me, protecting me. They were never a separate entity. I was never meant to fight alone—I was meant to fight with them."
Charon got up, opening both his arms.
"Yeah, yeah, Son of Hades. You have done it."
Kael glared at him. "Do you ever shut up?"
"Your father does say I have a big mouth," Charon laughed.
Kael cut him off. "Are you done? I'm gonna kill you now."
"We are not done yet. The fun has just begun."
He laughed maniacally.
Charon raised his staff, then slammed it onto the water.
The ground started to shake.
The water rippled.
Waves formed.
Slowly, something began to rise from the water.
A giant skeletal arm emerged behind Charon.
Kael stepped forward, his shadowy coat flowing with grace. Shadows danced in the air, flickering like dark flames.
Charon's smile widened.
"Let the real fun begin."