Chapter 72 – Emissary of Storm and Silence
The next morning, the winds shifted.
It wasn't natural.
Whitney noticed it first—how the birds had gone quiet, how the clouds spun against their usual current.
Jean and Silvia stood on the ridge, Luxclade in hand, ready to begin Spiral Two.
But then a lightning bolt split the sky.
And from the crack of thunder stepped a figure.
Cloaked in storm-gray, with a crescent spear strapped to his back and hair like braided silver lightning, he walked across the sky as if it were solid earth. His presence pressed against the mountain, and even Silvia's eyes narrowed.
"Emissary," she muttered.
Jean raised her sword instinctively.
The man's eyes—icy and ancient—locked onto Jean's.
"So it's true," he said. "The Lightborne Spiral has returned."
He stopped ten paces from them, standing atop the air.
"I am Kael of the Stormveil, Emissary of the Thunder God Orien. Guardian of the Sky Gate, and the last wielder of the Crescent Storm."
Jean stepped forward, cautious but composed. "Jean Luther. Emissary of Celeste."
Kael studied her a moment longer, then gave a curt nod. "I mean you no harm. But your spiral has… awakened old things. The Dragon Lord stirs. The Bound God's prison weakens. The other emissaries are beginning to move."
Whitney growled. "So this is a warning?"
"No," Kael said, planting his spear into the wind. "This is a test."
Lightning arced from the sky into his body. In a flash, he vanished—reappearing behind Jean in an instant.
She barely blocked the blow.
Their clash shook the ridge.
Jean spiraled instinctively, Luxclade glowing with radiant defiance. Kael moved like a thunderstorm—unpredictable, blindingly fast, overwhelming. It was all Jean could do to hold her ground.
But then—
She found the rhythm.
She felt the Spiral return. Her aura caught the flow of Kael's storm—and twisted it. She redirected his force through her own spiral, hurling him backward into the air.
He landed with a grin.
"Good."
Then, without a word, he vanished with the wind.
Silvia exhaled slowly. "That wasn't a fight. That was a message."
Jean nodded. Her heart was racing.
Whitney licked his paw. "And what was the message?"
Jean looked to the sky.
"That the world isn't waiting anymore."
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