Chapter 65 – Chains of the Forgotten

The first clash rang like a funeral bell across the broken earth.

Kael’s blade locked against a chain, the impact sending tremors through the battlefield. Sparks erupted as steel and shadow collided, the air itself quivering beneath the force.

The general did not move. His voice, deep and layered, echoed through the silence:
“Your struggle means nothing. Existence cannot be reclaimed.”

Kael’s arms shook, but his eyes burned brighter. He stepped forward, forcing the chain aside. Each swing of his sword carved streaks of light through the gloom, striking at the bindings that sought to drag him down.

The general tilted his head slightly, almost curious. “So you carry the stain of what was erased.”

Another flurry came—chains striking like vipers, fast and relentless. Kael’s body blurred with motion. One chain glanced off his guard, another whistled past his shoulder, a third snapped against the ground, splitting stone into fragments.

The soldiers watching from afar flinched, unable to even follow the rhythm of the fight. To them, Kael seemed less a man and more a storm struggling against a greater storm.

“Stay back!” Kael shouted as Mira tried to rush forward. His voice cut through the chaos, steady and commanding.

Shadows surged around his blade, mingling with its light. Each strike left rippling echoes that tore through the chains, scattering them like mist.

The general paused. His helm tilted as if in recognition.
“…You wield the language of defiance. Tsuyoi.”

Kael’s chest rose and fell with ragged breath, yet his gaze did not falter.
“This power doesn’t belong to your Silence. It belongs to me.”

The general’s answer was simple. He raised both arms.

From his body, dozens of chains erupted, unfurling into the sky like a collapsing star. Their weight pressed against the land, against the souls of all who stood there, until even breathing felt like rebellion.

“This is the fate of the forgotten,” the general intoned. “To vanish beneath the weight of history.”

Kael planted his sword into the ground, using it as an anchor against the crushing force. His voice carried over the battlefield, raw but unyielding.
“Then I’ll tear history apart before I let it erase me again!”

And with that, he launched himself back into the storm.