Silence fell over the village square.
Smoke curled lazily into the night sky, and the glow of burning homes cast an eerie hue across the stone streets. Veyrith stood over Kael and Yuna, triumphant, the firelight reflecting in his eyes like a devil basking in victory.
Dreskan stood beside him, sword dripping with energy, silent as ever.
"This," Veyrith said, crouching before Kael, "is what happens when children play at war."
He reached out, fingers crackling with flame, aiming for Kael's chest—right where his sigil pulsed faintly under torn fabric.
But then—his hand stopped.
A sudden tremor pulsed through the air. Faint at first. Then stronger. Like the beat of a drum buried deep beneath the earth.
Kael's body shifted.
His right hand twitched.
Then… light exploded from it.
Veyrith reeled back as a blast of radiant energy erupted from Kael's palm, forcing both him and Dreskan to shield their eyes. The air shimmered. Dust lifted. And Kael began to rise—slowly, shakily, his body surrounded by threads of golden light.
"W-What is this?" Dreskan hissed, stepping back.
Yuna stirred beside him, eyes widening. "Kael…?"
But Kael wasn't speaking.
He was changing.
The glow of his sigil intensified—no longer the steady shine of a Glow Sigil, but something flickering, unstable. A resonance of something deeper.
His eyes opened, and for the first time… they weren't just Kael's. They held the glint of something ancient—powerful.
He stepped forward, bleeding and bruised, but his presence sent ripples through the air.
Veyrith gritted his teeth. "No. Not now."
Kael raised his hand—and with a flick of his fingers, time itself slowed. The wind stopped. Fire paused mid-flicker. Veyrith and Dreskan moved like statues trapped in syrup.
Kael looked around, breathing hard, fighting the pain.
"I can't beat them," he whispered to himself. "Not like this."
So he did the only thing he could.
He grabbed Yuna—held her close—and warped.
In a flash of light, the two vanished.
And just like that, time returned. Veyrith's punch hit nothing but air.
He roared in frustration. "Coward!"
Dreskan watched the space where Kael once stood, frowning. "He's not a coward. He's learning."
Veyrith narrowed his eyes. "Then next time… he dies before he gets the chance."
He turned to the burning houses, his voice cold.
"Let the village burn."
And it did.