Kael's heartbeat pounded louder than the crumbling echo of the Revenant's lair.
His eyes locked onto the figure standing beyond the fractured pillars. Clad in obsidian-scale armor scorched with ember-like cracks, the man was unmistakable—same ash-gray hair, same sharp jawline, but older, harder. His presence burned. Not just in aura—but in memory.
"Drayke?" Kael breathed.
The figure didn't move at first. His gaze drifted over Kael's blade, then to Lyra and Drayke Norr behind him. When his eyes finally met Kael's, there was silence.
Then a slow smirk cracked across his face.
"Still alive, huh, little brother?"
The air seemed to stop. The rift's unnatural storm dimmed behind them, as if even it paused to hear.
Kael took a step forward, fists clenched.
"You're supposed to be dead."
"Supposed to be," the elder Drayke said with a shrug. "But you know me—I've always been too stubborn to stay down."
Kael's mind raced. He remembered the Ember Brood collapse, the mass burial at Emberdeep. His brother had led the frontlines against the first Eternal incursion—and vanished.
The guild assumed he died.
Kael assumed he'd died.
But there he stood.
Wearing the crest of the Ember Brood.
"Impossible…" Lyra murmured.
Drayke Norr narrowed his eyes. "You should've burned."
"I did," Drayke Arclight replied with a quiet chuckle. "And I was reforged in the flame."
Kael's voice cut through the moment.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Silence again.
Drayke's smile faded. His eyes darkened.
"Because coming back would've meant watching Aurenya fall from the inside out. I've seen what lies beyond these dungeons. The real war isn't with monsters—it's with the ones who made them."
Kael's breath caught.
"The Eternals."
Drayke nodded. "And not just them. There's a faction. One that broke from the Eternals. They're trying to unchain something… older. I went after them."
"You left me."
"I protected you," Drayke snapped, voice rising. "You think I wanted you involved in this war? You think I wanted you fighting phantoms and Revenants in rift zones?"
Kael stepped closer. "You don't get to decide that for me."
There was weight in his tone now. Not just rage—but will.
"I fought my way out of a corrupted dungeon. I awakened Ashen Aura on my own. I carved through beasts and broke S-class barriers—because you weren't there. I became what I had to be."
"And now look at you," Drayke said, half proud, half pained. "Wielding the Fangsoul Edge. Do you even know what that blade is tied to?"
Kael stayed silent.
Drayke raised a hand, and with a gesture, summoned his own weapon—a massive blade forged in molten black, jagged and heavy, etched in glowing runes.
"Then let me show you."
Without warning, he lunged.
Kael barely raised his blade in time, sparks exploding as the two weapons clashed. Lyra shouted, preparing to shield him, but Kael barked:
"No. This is mine."
Clash of Blades – Kael vs Drayke Arclight
— Skill Unlocked: Ashen Pulse – Echo aura after parry
— Trait Activated: Brood Sigil (Locked resonance with bloodline)
— Enemy Status: Unreadable. Aura Fluctuation—God-tier Potential
Every strike Kael made was met with overwhelming pressure. Drayke's style was brutish but refined—every swing tested Kael's limits.
"You've improved," Drayke said mid-combat. "But you're still just awakening. You don't know what the Fangsoul is truly for."
"Then teach me!"
Drayke's next blow knocked Kael off his feet, sending him sliding across bone-tiles. Blood trickled down his lip. But he didn't stop.
He launched himself forward, chaining Phantom Step with Soul Scorch, blade humming with adaptive fury.
His aura burned black and silver.
Drayke's brows lifted.
"That's it. Show me."
They clashed again—and this time, Kael's aura surged beneath Drayke's.
The Ashen Aura grew in combat—evolved.
The Fangsoul Edge shifted shape mid-strike, its tip blurring into a scythe-like hook. Kael used the moment to disarm Drayke, blade locking behind his brother's back.
One wrong move—and it would pierce through.
Drayke stopped.
Then laughed.
"Well damn," he whispered. "Maybe you really are ready."
Kael held the blade tight. "Then talk."
Drayke slowly raised both hands in surrender. "Fair enough."
Lyra and Drayke Norr ran up, still wary.
Drayke Arclight looked at them, then back to Kael.
"There's more than one rift. More than one Eternal. They're waking up—some already moving through high-tier guilds in disguise. Aurenya's fractured. The Vanguard's not enough."
He looked at Kael dead-on.
"We need a force that isn't bound by the system."
Kael exhaled. "A guild?"
"No," Drayke said. "A creed. One that doesn't kneel to the Council. One that remembers what Aura really is."
He looked at the trio.
"I'm rebuilding the Ember Brood. And I want you in it."