The god-beast roared again, and this time the sound carried weight.
Stone pillars cracked. Dust rained from above like ash from a dying sky. The chains binding the creature screamed in protest, glowing brighter as the massive form dragged itself higher from the abyss. Its body was an impossible fusion—mountain-sized shoulders of living rock, veins of molten crimson light pulsing beneath cracked armor-like skin, and a skull-shaped head crowned with jagged horns.
Ari couldn't breathe.
Every instinct in his body screamed run.
Kael did not move.
He stood firm, sword lowered at his side, coat fluttering gently as if the monstrous pressure meant nothing to him. The runes beneath his feet burned brighter, spreading outward in a wide circle.
Veyl watched with rapt attention, arms spread like a preacher before a congregation.
"Yes," Veyl whispered. "Show them, Kael. Show them why you were chosen."
Kael's voice was calm, but it echoed unnaturally, layered with something deeper.
"I was never chosen," he said. "I survived."
The god-beast lunged.
Chains snapped.
The impact shattered the ground where Kael had stood a heartbeat earlier. Stone exploded upward as Kael vanished from sight.
Ari shouted, "Kael!"
Too late.
The god-beast slammed its massive claw down again—then froze.
The claw stopped mid-air.
Kael stood beneath it, one hand raised, fingers digging into the creature's stony flesh. Cracks spiderwebbed from the point of contact, spreading rapidly.
Kael looked small compared to the monster.
But the monster was shaking.
"You should have stayed buried," Kael said quietly.
He pushed.
The claw shattered into fragments the size of cars, crashing into the abyss below. The god-beast howled—not in rage, but pain.
Mika's eyes were wide. "He just—he just broke it."
Lune trembled, clutching her chest. "I can feel him… Kael's power. It's like a storm trapped in a human body."
Veyl laughed, ecstatic. "Yes! This is it! This is what we were meant to become!"
Kael turned slowly to face Veyl.
"You wanted gods," Kael said. "You never understood what they cost."
The god-beast retaliated.
Its remaining claw slammed into Kael's side, sending him crashing through multiple stone pillars. The impact echoed like thunder. Kael disappeared into dust and debris.
Ari's heart dropped.
Mother cried out, "Kael!"
The god-beast roared triumphantly and began pulling harder against its remaining chains, tearing itself further free.
Veyl raised both hands. "Witness ascension!"
A sudden clang rang out.
The dust exploded outward.
Kael stepped forward from the rubble, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.
And he was smiling.
"That all?" he asked.
The smile faded instantly.
Kael raised his sword.
The blade reacted—not with light, but absence. The air around it warped, as if reality itself recoiled. The crimson cracks along the blade spread, glowing brighter.
Ari felt something shift inside him, like a door rattling under pressure.
Kael whispered a single word.
"Unseal."
The runes beneath his feet ignited.
Power erupted.
The ground shattered outward in a perfect circle, forcing Veyl and the cultists to retreat. The god-beast screamed as the chains tightened violently, dragged back by unseen force.
Kael moved faster now—no longer restrained.
He leapt.
The distance between him and the god-beast vanished.
Kael slashed once across the creature's chest.
The wound did not bleed.
It collapsed inward, crushing flesh, stone, and energy into nothingness.
The god-beast staggered.
Veyl screamed, "No! Kill him! Distract him!"
The cultists surged forward again, chanting wildly. Dark symbols burned into their masks as they unleashed corrupted energy—spears of shadow, chains of cursed light, waves of crushing pressure.
Kael did not turn.
Ari did.
Without thinking, he stepped forward.
Something inside him answered.
A sharp pain flared behind his eyes—and the world slowed.
A translucent barrier snapped into place in front of Kael just as the attacks struck. The energy splashed harmlessly against it like rain against glass.
Everyone froze.
Ari stared at his hands.
They were glowing faintly—silver lines tracing his veins.
"Kael," Ari whispered. "I… I think I did something."
Kael's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
Then he nodded.
"Good," Kael said. "Now stay behind me."
Mika clenched his fists, frustration burning. "That's not fair."
And then he felt it.
A pulse in his chest. Heat. Pressure.
The ground beneath Mika cracked as his foot slammed down instinctively. A shockwave rippled outward, knocking several cultists off their feet.
Mika gasped. "What—what was that?!"
Lune staggered back, eyes glowing faintly gold.
"It's happening faster than it should," she whispered. "The rift… it's accelerating us."
Veyl stared at them in awe.
"Incredible," he murmured. "The children carry echoes of you, Kael. Even diluted, it's beautiful."
Kael's voice turned lethal.
"You don't get to admire them."
He pointed his sword at Veyl.
"This ends now."
The god-beast, wounded but not defeated, let out a deafening roar and tore free its last chain.
Kael inhaled slowly.
"This," he said, "is why I sealed you."
He planted his sword into the ground.
The abyss responded.
Gigantic sigils rose from beneath the battlefield, ancient and absolute. The space around the god-beast warped violently as gravity reversed, pulling the creature downward.
The god-beast thrashed, clawing at reality itself.
Veyl screamed in denial. "You can't! That seal requires sacrifice!"
Kael did not answer.
Ari felt fear spike.
"Kael," Ari shouted. "What does he mean?!"
Kael looked back at them one last time.
Not as a hunter.
As a father.
"Protect your mother," he said softly.
Then the sigils activated.
The god-beast was dragged screaming into the abyss, its roar fading as the rift began to collapse violently.
Veyl fell to his knees, sobbing.
"No… no…!"
The space shook violently. The underground chamber began to cave in.
Kael ripped his sword free and turned to the kids.
"Run!" he ordered.
They ran.
As the world collapsed behind them, Ari glanced back just once.
He saw Kael standing alone at the center of the dying rift, power burning around him, holding the seal together with sheer will.
And for the first time, Ari understood the truth.
Kael wasn't protecting the world from monsters.
He was protecting the world from himself.