Kael walked through the battlefield, alone.
No voices to haunt him this ti, no false comrades. Only him and the bones of the dead—shattered, broken, and forgotten by ti.
The wasteland stretched out endlessly before him, a reminder of the war that had once raged here. What beings had stood here, only to be reduced to dust and ruin?
He could still feel the weight of the knowledge he had uncovered in the temple. Before stepping out into the battlefield, he had revisited a specific area within the temple: the muraled halls that depicted the horrors that had unfolded in this place.
It was here that he uncovered the truth.
Talia had lied to him.
Or, more accurately, she had omitted the truth.
The sacred texts, written in jagged, ancient glyphs, told a story far more damning than what she had revealed to him. It was clear why she had done it—she was an Other after all, tethered to him and his mory.
The full truth, unfiltered, would have made him realize what they all were from the start.
The battlefield ahead was littered with debris and the twisted remains of weapons, bones, and Ravager corpses long since decayed.
The air slled of rust, mingled with the faint acrid tang of Blight energy that seed to seep from the ground. Sowhere in this desolation lay the idol pieces he needed.
His trial was not yet over.
Kael’s eyes scanned the wasteland as he moved with a calm, deliberate pace. His instincts were sharp, and he felt it before he saw it.
A Ravager.
The creature erged from the shadows, bloodthirsty eyes locking onto Kael with predatory intent. Its hulking, E-rank form was a grotesque mass of muscle and jagged bone, its maw dripping with hunger.
The thing was no challenge—not for him. Kael had sensed its presence long before it appeared, its footsteps and breathing as loud as thunder to him now.
He noticed it when it began rushing toward him, its gaping maw open wide in a monstrous display of hunger and bloodlust. He noticed the way its claws dug into the ground with each stride, and the way it howled, a sound of pure, primal fury.
But Kael didn’t react.
He carried on with his search, his eyes scanning the ground for any sign of the idol pieces, as though the Ravager wasn’t even there. As though it wasn’t a threat worth acknowledging.
The Ravager closed the distance quickly, barreling toward him with reckless abandon. Its monstrous form hurtled forward, but before its jagged teeth could sink into him, its body slamd into an invisible barrier.
The shield rippled with energy on impact, flaring to life for just a mont before fading back into invisibility.
The Ravager let out a startled growl, stumbling back in confusion. It shook its grotesque head and recovered quickly, its bloodlust blinding it to reason.
Kael finally stopped walking, tilting his head slightly as he watched the creature claw at the shield with relentless desperation. Each attack sent ripples of energy through the barrier, but it showed no signs of breaking.
The Ravager didn’t understand.
It couldn’t.
Its animalistic mind couldn’t grasp the futility of its actions. So it continued its assault, howling and snarling as though its rage alone could shatter the shield.
Kael’s patience ran thin.
With a small, almost imperceptible gesture, he dismissed the shield. The Ravager’s claws lashed forward, but they t only empty air.
Kael was no longer in front of it.
He was standing beside it, his left hand outstretched toward the creature. The air around his hand crackled with dark energy as his voice cut through the silence, low and steady.
"Resonance: Lightless Flas."
The Ravager, as stupid as it was, understood in that instant.
Though it lacked true intelligence, so primal instinct buried deep within it scread of its impending fate. The shift in the air, the weight of Kael’s words, the gathering power—it all coalesced into one undeniable truth.
It was already dead.
"Burn," Kael said coldly.
The Ravager erupted into black flas.
The fire wasn’t natural—it was sothing far worse. The flas devoured the creature with terrifying speed, licking at its flesh, its bones, even the air itself.
They left nothing behind.
Not even ashes.
Where the Ravager had stood was now only a void, a patch of pure, utter darkness that seed to consu even light.
In re seconds, the creature was eradicated.
Kael stepped forward and picked up the only thing that remained of it: its soul core. The glowing orb pulsed faintly in his hand, but the energy it contained was disappointing. He absorbed it anyway, feeling the faintest surge of power ripple through him before fading to nothing.
"worthless," he muttered.
---
Darkness began to fall.
The sun was a blood-red smudge on the horizon, its light barely piercing through the thick, polluted sky. Shadows stretched long and deep across the battlefield, the bones of the dead casting silhouettes against the fading light.
Kael’s thoughts returned to the text Talia had omitted.
The untethered Others.
They were ntioned also in the ancient glyphs, a warning scratched into the walls of the temple. These entities, unlike Talia and the rest, were not bound to any mory or truth he haboured.
For this reason they could exist only in the darkness alone, waiting for nightfall to erge.
As the sun dipped lower, the first faint whispers of their presence began to creep across the battlefield. The air grew colder, heavier, charged with a sense of malevolence that set his instincts on edge.
Kael looked toward the horizon, calculating how much ti he had left.
Not long.
If he wanted to avoid them, he would need to return to the temple now, before the light disappeared completely.
But Kael didn’t move.
Instead, he summoned Ather’valis. The crimson blade materialized in his hand, its surface glowing faintly with Blight energy. Without hesitation, he thrust it into the ground before him, the blade sinking into the earth with a satisfying crunch.
Kael found a small boulder nearby and sat down, resting his forearms on his knees. The whispers grew louder, the shadows darker, but he didn’t move.
Kael closed his eyes, letting the cool night air wash over him. Ather’valis humd faintly at his side, its energy pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The battlefield was silent, except for the distant howl of the wind.
Kael waited for nightfall.
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