Kael never thought saving the world would mean breaking it first. With Kara's truth exposed and Ress struggling to understand it, everything hangs by a thread. But before any choice can be made… destiny kicks down the door. Solmari, the Thronebreaker, arrives — and declares the beginning of the Cycle. One final challenge. One impossible duel. One last chance to reshape the Realms… or fall into legend as a failed Catalyst.
The Cycle Begins Again
Kael's hands trembled.
He stared at Kara, at the thirteen-ringed mark still glowing on her arm. The air around them pulsed, every second dragging like an hour. Ress stood off to the side, arms crossed, face drawn tight in disbelief.
"You're saying you're not human?" Ress asked, voice low and uncertain.
Kara didn't answer. She didn't have to — the proof was burned into her skin, etched in her blood. The thirteen Realms whispered through her now, every word layered with cosmic weight.
Kael tried to breathe. "All this time… the missions, the Fragments, the resistance — was it all just… a countdown to your death?"
"No," Kara said, looking him dead in the eye. "It was a countdown to choice. Yours."
Ress turned away. "We've bled for this. You knew and you said nothing."
"I didn't know until Time cracked me open," she replied, voice hardening. "You think I wanted this?"
Kael stepped between them. "Enough. We don't have time for this."
And as if summoned by the very words, reality screamed.
The air outside shattered.
The sky — already warped from the chaos of war — tore open like paper, revealing a tear in the fabric of existence itself. Through it descended something not even divine glyphs could describe.
A god.
But not just any god.
Solmari.
The Thronebreaker.
He did not fall. He descended. Like gravity had finally remembered who he was and dared not resist.
Wreathed in solar flame and time-light, his presence pressed against the world like an ancient memory. The ground trembled. The air turned gold. Kara fell to one knee. Ress staggered.
Kael just froze.
Solmari's voice cracked across the sky like thunder breaking a cathedral.
"You've found four Fragments."
His eyes — stars behind bone — locked onto Kael.
"That was the trigger."
"The Cycle begins again."
Kael's mouth went dry. "What do you mean… Cycle?"
Solmari extended one finger.
"The Realms are not broken by chance. They fracture, fall, and rise again. Always by design. Always by a Catalyst."
"You are this age's."
"And you are not yet worthy."
And then he moved.
One motion.
Ress didn't even get to raise his blade.
A flash of light.
A ripple in time.
A scream swallowed by silence.
Kael barely had time to register what happened before Ress collapsed — his body cracked, his core shattered. Divine light leaked from his chest like smoke from a dying flame.
"RESS!" Kael screamed, rushing to him.
But Ress's eyes — once full of steady rage and quiet loyalty — now only held shock. And then… stillness.
Kara lunged for Kael, glowing with echofire. "We have to get out—"
But time stopped.
Literally.
The entire chamber froze in place.
Kara's outstretched hand hung motionless. Her tears suspended in the air like glass pearls. Only Kael could move. Only he was left breathing.
Solmari stood alone in the stillness, his cloak made of molten time.
He looked at Kael.
Not with hatred.
Not with pity.
But with expectation.
"You want to save the Realms?" he asked. "Then earn the right."
"Prove yourself. In the Cycle Arena."
Kael's breath caught. "What arena?"
Solmari's hand lifted — and Kael felt his body unravel.
Not pain. Not teleportation. Disassembly.
He screamed as light broke from his chest, splitting him into motes of memory, essence, and will. Kara's scream echoed through frozen time, too late, too far.
"No friends. No allies," Solmari declared.
"One-on-one."
"Win… and you reshape the Realms."
"Lose… and you die. And the 13th stays sealed forever."
The world exploded into light.
Kael hit the ground hard, but it wasn't ground — it was an endless obsidian arena floating in a void the size of a continent.
Above him floated twelve thrones. Empty… for now.
At the far end of the arena, a figure appeared. Wreathed in ancient flames. Carrying a blade made from broken timelines.
Kael's heart dropped.
Aeon's First Blade.
Returned from death. Eyes blazing with eternity.
Kael stood, alone, blade drawn, the Fragment pulsing in his chest.
This was it.
No turning back.
No more running.
Just him, the Cycle, and the gods who decided what came next.
[End of Chapter 21]
As the arena pulses with ancient power, Kael sees a vision flash across the void — Kara, screaming, chained between Realms. The seal around her shattering one ring at a time.
Solmari's voice echoes once more:
"This is not the end, Catalyst. It is the beginning… again."
Kael tightens his grip.
And the duel begins.
[END OF VOLUME 1]
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Volume 2: RE: Ascension – Echoes of the Forgotten Flame
Kael faces the Arena and the gods who rule it — but every victory reveals a darker truth: the Cycle was never about saving the Realms. It was about who controlled them. As Kara's body begins to fail and echoes of Ress haunt Kael's every step, one thing becomes clear:
To break the Cycle… Kael may have to become the villain history has always warned about.