Chapter 129: The Echo of the Forgotten War
The entire realm held its breath.
In the Eternal Citadel, time slowed to a crawl—not because of any spell, but due to the raw confrontation of two cosmic anomalies: Kael, the Reborn God-King, and Hedin, the Chrono-Deity of the Forgotten Eras. Neither moved. Neither blinked. Yet the entire firmament trembled, as if the laws of reality were themselves unsure how to proceed.
Their presence overlapped realities. From the Lower Worlds to the Sacred Thrones, all beings—mortal, divine, cursed, or transcendent—suddenly felt a surge of emotions they couldn't explain: dread, awe, and above all... recognition.
For this moment was not new.
It had happened before.
It was echoing.
A Million Cycles Ago – The Original War
Across the void of time, where no historians dared to look, the first war that ever shattered divine harmony had taken place.
Not between gods and demons.
Not between order and chaos.
But between those who remembered... and those who were forced to forget.
At the center of this cataclysm stood two figures:
One, wielding the Blade of First Light, an ascended being known only as the Original Sovereign, cloaked in threads of truth and time.
The other, standing against him with the Scythe of Reversal, was Hedin—then known as the Defender of the Cycle.
The Sovereign had tried to rewrite fate. Hedin had stood to stop him.
But something happened.
The Sovereign disappeared.
And Hedin, having lost something more than victory—his very name—was imprisoned beyond time by a council that never dared to speak of what truly occurred.
Present – Eternal Citadel
Kael's gaze bore into Hedin's soul. "You're the one who stopped the Rewrite," he said quietly.
Hedin's response was calm, but grim. "And you're the one chosen to attempt it again."
The moment was broken when Elenai stepped forward, aura flaring like a supernova, wings outstretched. "If you threaten Kael, you threaten the balance of the Throne. Speak clearly: Why have you returned, Hedin?"
Hedin's voice rang like a broken bell of destiny.
"I did not return to fight Kael."
He raised his hand. The air shimmered, not with power—but truth. A holographic memory bled into reality. They all saw it: a throne room in flames, divine corpses littering the ground, a screaming child of light being ripped from a mother's arms… and a man with Kael's face—but not Kael—standing with black chains wrapped around his body, whispering into the void:
"Let them forget me."
The vision vanished.
Kael staggered.
"That was me…?"
Hedin nodded. "No. That was a version of you. A Sovereign who chose to erase himself. To delay the inevitable."
Valtherion spoke for the first time, his voice trembling despite his rank. "You mean... Kael is the Reincarnation of the Original Sovereign."
"No," Hedin corrected. "He is the Sovereign. There were no reincarnations. He simply... looped himself."
The room shattered in silence.
Kael clutched his chest as memories surged—like pieces of a mirror trying to find each other. Faces of people he had loved. Universes he had built. Wars he had ended. Worlds he had forsaken to protect one fragile idea: hope.
"I… chose to forget... so I wouldn't become what I feared," he whispered.
Elsewhere: The Divine Council Awakens
At the heart of the 9th Layered Realm, on a plane that was neither above nor below, the Divine Council of Origin awakened.
They were not gods in the traditional sense.
They were Constructs of Cosmic Design, created to ensure that no being ever again attempted what the Sovereign had done.
And now, that very Sovereign had returned.
"They will break the Veil," one murmured.
"The Rewrite Thread has stirred," said another.
The Prime Judge, a being of infinite eyes and infinite silence, stood.
"Unseal the Watchers. Initiate the Protocol of Last Words. If Kael awakens his full Authority, there will be no turning back."
Back in the Citadel
Kael looked up. "You're not here to stop me," he said to Hedin.
Hedin shook his head. "No. I'm here to remind you. Of what you once were… and what you risk becoming."
"Then tell me," Kael asked. "What is the Forgotten War?"
Hedin looked around the citadel. His eyes glowed gold with memory.
"The Forgotten War was not a war of blades or magic. It was a war of Concepts. Where timelines were used as swords. Where love became poison. Where fate itself was burned to ensure freedom."
"And who won?" Kael asked.
"No one," Hedin replied. "Because the cost of victory was... remembering."
Epilogue Scene: A Fissure Opens
Far from Aetherion, in the uncharted region called the Silent Border, a crack appeared.
Not in reality—but in Meaning.
Out stepped a man. Neither alive nor dead.
Clad in armor made from broken oaths, his eyes blind yet all-seeing.
He whispered three words that rippled across all of existence:
"He is returning…"
Who?
The True End.
A being so powerful that even the Sovereign once chose to forget him to protect the Multiverse.
Now… he awakens.
To be continued in Chapter 130: The One Beyond Names