The silence that followed Kael's awakening was deafening.
No one dared to breathe.
The sword in his hand burned with crimson flame, snaking upward like it craved destruction. His silver eyes scanned the stunned crowd of Black Fangs. His white-and-black aura pulsed steadily, intimidating and surreal.
Veyrith stumbled back, sweat beading his forehead. "This… this isn't the same boy…"
He wasn't.
Kael took one slow step forward, the ground beneath his foot cracking like glass.
"You came for a sword," Kael said, his voice deeper, layered with something… not human. "Now face the one who wields it."
"ATTACK!!" one of the higher-ranked Burn Sigils yelled, rallying the others in desperation.
They surged forward.
But Kael didn't move.
Not at first.
When the first warrior lunged at him, he simply vanished—then reappeared behind them.
A blur of speed.
One swift slash.
Flame and light erupted from his blade, engulfing the fighter in a controlled burst.
The warrior dropped instantly.
Then Kael dashed again—super speed at full throttle. He danced between enemies like a storm, the air cracking with each flash-step.
Every movement was precise.
He didn't fight like someone who had just awakened.
He fought like someone who had remembered.
"Yuna," Kael called mid-battle without turning.
She snapped out of her daze. "Y-Yes?!"
"Don't let them leave."
Her eyes narrowed. "Gladly."
She threw her arms out, flames bursting from her palms, forming a wall of searing fire behind the enemy ranks.
No escape.
The Black Fangs were trapped.
Flames raged behind them, cutting off retreat. In front of them stood a being of overwhelming power—Kael, suspended in a dance between light and shadow, his sigil now evolving. The Eclipse Sigil had awakened, its design black and gold, pulsing with steady power. A mark only seen once in a century.
Veyrith, ever proud, drew his twin blades and charged.
"Don't think a new glow makes you a god!" he shouted, lunging with phantom speed.
Kael turned slowly to face him, his expression unreadable.
Veyrith's strike never landed.
Kael parried it with a single upward tilt of his sword, the force sending Veyrith flipping backward through the air. He crashed hard into the stone, groaning as cracks spiderwebbed under his body.
Before he could rise, Kael was already there—hovering inches off the ground.
Veyrith coughed. "What are you…?"
Kael said nothing.
But then, a tremor echoed through the battlefield.
A new pressure swept the field.
From the shadows stepped a figure cloaked in bone-like armor, taller and broader than any present. His sigil glowed a deep red-black—a corrupted variant of the Glow Sigil.
"Dreskan…" Yuna whispered, backing away. "Not him…"
Veyrith smirked weakly from the ground. "You're finished now…"
Dreskan's voice rumbled like thunder. "I'll deal with this anomaly."
Without warning, he clapped his hands together and the entire battlefield shook. Black spikes erupted from the ground, chasing Kael's position. Kael narrowly avoided them, dashing forward with supernatural speed, engaging Dreskan directly.
The clash was violent.
Dreskan's strikes were relentless—each movement refined through years of battle. He anticipated Kael's angles, countered his footwork, and hammered his blade like a titan.
Kael was fast, but inexperienced.
Dreskan landed a heavy punch to his gut, sending Kael crashing through a crumbling pillar.
Kael wiped blood from his lip and stood slowly, his white and black aura flaring brighter.
He gripped his sword tighter.
"This power… it's still stabilizing…" he murmured.
"Then die while it's incomplete," Dreskan said, and surged forward again.
They met in a chaotic exchange—light versus shadow, flame versus steel. Every impact shattered stone, upended earth, and scorched the sky. The air rippled from the force of their blows.
Kael was knocked back again, but this time, he didn't fall.
He hovered.
His Eclipse Sigil pulsed brighter—its black and gold pattern glowing intensely, etched firmly into his skin. His silver eyes gleamed with fierce clarity.
"Enough," Kael whispered.
Then he vanished.
Time bent.
The world slowed.
In this frozen moment, Kael moved calmly through the still battlefield, stepping past Dreskan's strike.
He floated behind him, raised his sword, and drew in both essences—Umbra and Lumen swirling around him in a vortex.
Flames ignited.
Light pulsed.
The blade began to glow, neither white nor black—but gold.
Kael whispered a final word.
"Eclipse Divide."
He brought the sword down in a devastating arc.
The moment it connected, time resumed.
A flash of divine gold tore through Dreskan's body. The explosion that followed wasn't fire or light—it was pure energy, essence unleashed at its peak.
Dreskan's eyes widened.
And then he fell—his body breaking apart midair before crashing to the earth in ruin.
Silence fell again.
Ashes floated where Dreskan once stood.
Kael slowly descended, his aura flickering… then fading slightly. His breath was heavy. His body exhausted.
But he was still standing.
Yuna ran to his side, grabbing his arm to steady him.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
Kael nodded. "Yeah… but that was close."
Behind them, the remaining Black Fangs either fled or collapsed to their knees, defeated.
Kael stared at the blade in his hand.
"It's only just beginning," he said.
Yuna looked up at him. "Yeah. But you're not alone anymore."
They both turned toward the smoke-cleared horizon.
The path ahead was uncertain… but Kael was no longer the same boy who stumbled into this world blind.
Now, he walked with purpose.
And power.