Chapter 102 – Shattered Horizons

The silence after the erasure was worse than the clash itself.

The marshland had dissolved into a half-world—shards of land floating adrift in a sea of pale mist. No wind stirred. No birds sang. Even time felt hesitant, as if afraid to move forward.

Aria stood trembling, gripping her staff as though it were the only anchor left. Her voice cracked the void:
“Kael… what have we done?”

Kael stared into the distance, where the last of the Sigil Bearer’s runes still burned faintly before unraveling into smoke. His grip tightened around his sword, but his words carried no triumph.
“He wanted to erase me. Instead, I erased him. But it wasn’t just him, Aria… pieces of the world went with him.”

The ground under Aria’s feet flickered, phasing between soil and nothing. She swallowed hard.
“Then the stories were true. Tsuyoi doesn’t kill—it unravels. And every time you wield it, the world loses more than your enemy.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed, shadow clinging to his form like a second skin.
“Good. Then let the world pay for what it did to me.”

Aria’s breath hitched. She stepped closer, eyes blazing despite her fear.
“No, Kael. That’s not who you are. You’re not the flaw they call you—you’re proof the world’s script is broken. But if you become what they fear, you’ll prove them right.”

Her words lingered. Kael said nothing. But for a moment, his blade dimmed.

Then—across the fractured horizon, light flared. Not the glow of sun or star, but of something vast descending, its presence shaking the broken lands.

Aria turned pale.
“They’ve noticed.”

Kael raised his gaze. Silhouettes burned in the distance—colossal figures walking across the air, their forms wrapped in gold and fire. The gods themselves, roused from silence, stepping into the world to confront the shadow that had dared to erase one of their own.

Kael’s jaw tightened. His voice was steady, cold.
“Let them come. If the world itself wants me gone, then I’ll tear the world apart.”