The clash echoed through the crypt like a funeral bell.
Kael lunged forward, blade drenched in ashen light, clashing against his other self—the Vestige. The impact fractured the throne's remains, aura shrapnel scattering like obsidian stars. Sparks flew where steel met steel, but it wasn't just a contest of strength—it was identity unraveling.
The Vestige looked identical to Kael—same silver-white hair, same ember-glow in his eyes—but twisted by time, by loss. His aura bled apathy. Purpose drained long ago, replaced by cold precision.
"You think you can stop me?" Kael shouted, twisting mid-air, lashing a streak of Ashen flame.
Vestige Kael caught it with bare hands, aura flaring around him like a dying star. "I don't need to. I am you. I already made every choice you're afraid to."
"Then let's rewrite them."
Outside the Crypt –
Drayke, Lyra, and Zera stood at the edge of the gate, unable to follow.
"Why can't we move in?" Drayke growled, fists clenched.
"The moment he crossed the threshold," Zera said, eyes narrowed, "the trial began. It's an internal domain now. A soul duel."
"Ash versus ash," Lyra whispered, watching the swirling vortex of energy inside. "But if he kills that version of himself…"
Zera nodded grimly. "He doesn't just win. He inherits everything. Power, memory, weight. Even his regrets."
Within the Trial – Ashen Domain Unleashed
Kael soared backward as the Vestige erupted into motion. Chains of aura snaked out from his arms—Ashen tendrils turned into solid whips, each one tipped with blades forged from despair. They danced like serpents, striking with impossible speed.
Kael activated Burnout Dash, vanishing in a streak of scorched shadow. He reappeared behind the Vestige—slashing a clean arc—but his blade passed through mist.
"Miststep Echo."
Vestige Kael appeared behind him instead, driving a crimson dagger toward Kael's spine. Kael barely twisted aside, feeling the blade graze his ribs.
He's faster. Better. Smarter.
But Kael smirked.
Good.
"I've fought worse," Kael muttered, voice darkening as his aura roared to life.
He activated Soul Scorch.
A wave of blazing spectral fire erupted from his chest, taking the shape of a skeletal dragon wreathed in ashen flame. The domain trembled. Even the crypt walls flickered, warping from the sheer intensity.
Vestige Kael didn't flinch.
Instead, he opened his arms.
"Then burn with me."
And he let himself be consumed.
Flashback Within the Vestige's Memories — Fragmented Echoes
Kael staggered mid-fight as his mind was suddenly torn into a stream of visions:
Drayke falling to a sword not his own.
Lyra, impaled by radiant chains.
Zera crumbling into mist, betrayed.
A world drowning in Eternals, and Kael standing atop their corpses—alone, monstrous, victorious... and utterly hollow.
The vision shattered.
Back in the real domain, the Vestige was bleeding, but still smiling.
"You think you can keep them safe without losing yourself?" he asked, voice like broken glass. "You'll have to sacrifice more than your humanity."
Kael didn't reply.
He tightened his grip on his sword and stepped forward, slowly.
"No," he said. "I just have to remember who I'm fighting for."
Kael's Domain Shifts
The Ashen Domain trembled—and then evolved.
It no longer resembled a crypt. It transformed into something else.
A field of ruins under a dying sun. But this time, there were voices.
Drayke. Lyra. Zera. Their echoes stood behind Kael—not illusions, but memory bonds. His version of them. Not dead. Not lost.
Kael's aura exploded upward.
New Skill: Ashen Reclaim — Draw power from bonds preserved in memory, reinforcing soul core against existential corruption.
He surged forward, empowered by their echoes, his aura spiking higher than it had ever gone.
He roared, blade raised. "I won't become you. Not ever."
Final Clash
The Vestige met his charge head-on, aura snapping into a skeletal crown and full-blown wings made of scorched resolve. Both Kaels collided, shockwaves tearing through the soul-space.
Time fractured. Every slash was a debate of futures.
Every parry was a denial of fate.
Every wound bled history.
In the final moment, Kael inverted his grip—feinting low, then slamming his sword into the Vestige's chest as he uttered a single word.
"Ashen End."
Boom—
The blast engulfed the chamber. The echo screamed.
And then silence.
Aftermath – Reclamation
Kael stood in the stillness, trembling, blade still glowing.
The body of the Vestige faded—not into ash, but into starlight. It streamed into Kael's core, absorbed, accepted.
He didn't reject that part of himself.
He integrated it.
Level Up: Soul Tier Evolution Unlocked.
Ashen Aura Advanced to Phase II: Eclipse Form.
New Skill Acquired: "Vestige Chain" — Temporarily channel the strength and foresight of alternate selves during high-risk moments.
He stumbled forward—exhausted, soul-raw, but victorious.
Outside the Crypt – Moments Later
The sealed gate split open.
Kael walked out, steam rising off his shoulders. His blade was sheathed, his aura calm—but deeper, darker, and more refined.
Lyra ran to him immediately. "Are you…?"
"I'm here," he said.
"Which you?" Drayke asked with a grin.
Kael looked up.
"The only one left."
Zera just smiled faintly. "Then we can move on. The Vault deeper in Noctheron waits—and now, you have what it takes."
Kael nodded.
No more fragments. No more hesitation.
The war against the Eternals was far from over.
But he had just passed the first trial of godhood.