Chapter 29 – A Blade That Cuts Through Fate

The battlefield was silent—too silent. The smoke from the earlier clashes had cleared, revealing a barren field littered with broken weapons and the remains of shattered magic circles.

Lucien stood in the center, his obsidian blade Abyssrend humming with a deep, resonant growl that felt almost alive. The air around him shimmered, space bending slightly as if resisting his very presence.

Across from him, Kael—the Chosen Hero—watched warily, his golden sword lowered but ready. The tension between them was like a drawn bowstring.

“You weren’t supposed to survive,” Kael said, his voice low but shaking with something between anger and disbelief. “That day, in the Temple of Crowns… I made sure you died.”

Lucien’s expression didn’t change. “And yet… here I stand. The world wanted me gone, the gods wanted me erased, but I carved my way back. Do you know what that means, Kael?”

Kael’s knuckles tightened around his hilt. “That you’re a threat to everything I’ve built.”

“No,” Lucien said, stepping forward, each word heavy. “It means fate bleeds when I cut it.”

The ground cracked underfoot as Lucien lunged, his blade trailing an arc of black light. Kael’s sword met it in a blinding clash, the shockwave ripping through the ruined field.

Every strike from Kael was pure, righteous light—precision and divine strength refined over years of training. But Lucien’s movements were unpredictable, like a shadow that refused to stay still. His Erosion magic seeped into each swing, corroding Kael’s blessings.

“You’ve been playing hero in a world that only exists because the gods favor you,” Lucien snarled between strikes. “What happens when they turn away?”

Kael gritted his teeth, feeling his holy aura flicker for the first time in years. “I won’t let you destroy this world!”

Lucien’s blade suddenly vanished mid-swing, reappearing behind Kael in a burst of black mist. The Chosen Hero barely turned in time, but the attack still tore through his shoulder, sending blood spraying across the dirt.

“Not destroy,” Lucien said, his voice almost calm now. “Rewrite.”

Lightning cracked overhead as the magic in the air became unstable. Lucien’s eyes glowed like twin eclipses, and for a moment, Kael felt something terrifying—
A presence far greater than either of them, watching.

And then, without warning, the ground beneath them split open, swallowing them both into a chasm of pure shadow.