The battlefield was ash and ruin.
Eli-Azael, the Severed Seraph, lay smoldering at the crater's edge — his once-pristine wings fractured, divine essence leaking from his shattered halo. The Seraph's warning still echoed in the charred wind:
"This is only the first trumpet. The Celestials are watching."
But Indra wasn't listening anymore.
His breath came ragged. The Sixth Seal had pushed his body to its brink — veins burned with lightning, his thoughts were a haze of wrath and memory. Yet something stirred deep within.
A pulse.
Not of pain. Not of exhaustion.
But of unlocking.
From the core of his soul, a vibration rippled outward — a hum older than language, older than even gods. His body arched backward as thunder roared not from above, but from within. Leylines around the ruins cracked open, spilling radiant energy in spirals. Kaelari, far in the distance, felt it too — an oppressive pull, a heartbeat that threatened to rewrite the world.
And then—The sky split.
A column of stormlight descended from the heavens, engulfing Indra.
His scream tore through dimensions.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
⚠ WARNING ⚠
All Prime Locks Disengaged.
SEVENTH SEAL — INITIATED
You have reached the threshold of Forbidden Ascension.
Legacy Path Triggered:"Wrath of the Skyborn – Protocol: Shatakratu"
New Ability Unlocked:
• Ashva-Tara Drive – Invoke celestial battleform of the Storm Bringer.
• Vajra-Samhita – A scripture technique calling thunder from nine heavens. • Skybreaker State: Phase I – Temporarily merge with Storm Archetype.
Warning: Celestial Audit Imminent.
Proceed at your own risk.
Indra's arms flared with golden Vedic script. His body levitated above the ground, veins glowing with the power of Shatakratu — the Storm Sovereign. His hair flowed upward, eyes now whirling vortexes of blue and gold. Armor of astral lightning materialized over his chest and shoulders, forged of nothing mortal.
He didn't just command the storm now.
He was the storm.
Eli-Azael, half-conscious, gazed upward with something close to terror. "You… this can't be…Indra's voice thundered, distorted and divine:
"It opened because it remembered me."
He extended a hand — lightning coalesced into a sphere of dense gravitational storm, humming with the weight of judgment. Vajra-Samhita: Sutra I. He launched it skyward — not at the Seraph, but toward the sky itself.
The heavens blinked.
And then — exploded.
Clouds parted like torn silk. Stars blinked erratically. Far above, in the halls of the Celestial Watch, bells tolled in alarm. The great observatories turned their gaze toward Earth. The Skyborne Bastion activated its first array.
Kaelari stumbled forward, shielding her face as wind and plasma howled around her. "What have you done… Indra…"
The System's voice returned — slower now. Heavier.
[SECOND NOTIFICATION]
Dimensional Authority Breach Detected.Target marked for celestial response.
Next Mission Unlocked:— Reach the Skyborne Bastion of the West.— Unlock Divine Anchor to stabilize Seal VII.— Eliminate interfering Watcher-class entities.
Indra dropped back to the ground, barefoot on scorched stone. The storm armor dimmed slightly, but the lightning never left his skin. He exhaled — and the earth trembled in response.
He turned toward the Seraph, who lay silent now, defeated.
With a whisper, Indra raised a finger — the winds stilled.
"Tell the heavens this — the Storm has broken its chains. And it is coming."
As he walked away, the sky behind him raged, torn open — not with chaos, but with purpose.
The Seventh Seal was broken.
And now… the real hunt began.
meanwhile.......