The sky bled. A deep crimson dusk swallowed the heavens as Kael stumbled across the dying forest. Each breath he took burned like fire, his body still reeling from the divine spear that had struck him days ago. The wound should've killed him—would have killed him—if not for the voice that now lingered in the corners of his soul.
> "You're not alone anymore, Kael.
I'll carry your pain…
But if they touch you again—
I will burn their heavens down."
Azrion's voice echoed like thunder within him, colder than frost, yet burning with wrath. Kael clutched his chest. The once-faded symbol on his skin now pulsed with a dark violet hue, like it was breathing with him. Like it was watching.
He was no longer a boy.
He was no longer weak.
But he was still hunted.
In the Hall of Ether, the gods sat in trembling silence. The ancient god with one eye and a shattered arm—Orion the Broken—stood before them.
"Fools…" he whispered, voice like crumbling stone.
"You've awoken the last sin of the gods. The demon you thought was myth… walks again."
The young gods, once arrogant, now avoided his gaze. They had seen what Azrion did—how he ripped the soul from their brother and left the body to burn in silence. No mercy. No warning.
Orion's one eye blazed.
> "I fought him.
I watched him slaughter gods like insects…
I screamed as he ripped the stars from the sky…
And still… I couldn't kill him.
You threw a spear at his vessel?
You might as well have thrown a whisper at a storm."
The gods paled.
Back on Earth, Kael knelt beside a dying river. His reflection stared back—hair wild, eyes dull, blood-streaked face barely recognizable. He wasn't afraid anymore… he was angry.
But then…
A presence.
She stepped from the trees like a shadow wrapped in silver flame. Long hair like starlight. Eyes that bled sorrow. Her voice—soft, but carrying truths heavy enough to break mountains.
"You don't know what you are yet… do you?"
Kael's breath caught. "Who are you?"
She knelt before him and placed a hand on his chest—over the symbol that now glowed with Azrion's energy.
"I am the last Seer of the Old World.
And your symbol… it doesn't belong to this era.
It's older than the gods.
Older than Azrion.
You are not just his vessel, Kael.
You are his curse... and his redemption."
Kael stood silently, the winds howling.
And inside him… Azrion whispered.
> "She speaks truth…
But even she doesn't know what we are yet.
The gods fear me.
But they'll kneel before us."
Kael closed his eyes.
For the first time, he didn't feel broken.
He felt like a storm about to break loose.
Final scene – deep forest ruins…
A thousand celestial eyes opened in the heavens. The Divine Hunters were being summoned. Kael looked up, fists clenched.
And far away, Orion spoke again:
> "This boy… is the beginning of the end.
He carries the voice of wrath…
And one day soon…
he will make even Death beg for silence."
END OF CHAPTER 9