Chapter 5
The aftermath of the gods' clash had left the realms scorched. Towering storms rolled across the skies, and deep fissures tore through entire continents. The heavens, once bright with divine light, now flickered as if gasping for breath.
But even amid the ruin, whispers spread.
Not of salvation. Not of revenge.
But of him.
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On the fractured edge of the wind god's dominion, the sky was dyed a suffocating black, threads of violet lightning crawling silently like veins across the firmament. There stood a figure.
A young man.
He looked no older than twenty tall, lean, with sharp eyes that seemed almost innocent… yet promised devastation. Black hair swayed gently around his face. His clothes bore no crest, no sigil, yet the air around him bowed.
From the heights above, gods watched. Silent.
And from below, mortals trembled.
In the shattered valley, Vaelios known as the Storm Eater, a being who had once devoured a realm stepped forward, his aura swirling like hurricanes.
> "You. I challenge you. Your silence ends now."
The figure did not move.
Did not blink.
Only the faintest twitch crossed his lips… a breath.
> "Leave."
It wasn't a shout. It was barely audible.
And yet the heavens screamed.
The sky tore open like fragile parchment. Storms shattered. The wind god's citadel collapsed in on itself, devoured by silence. Vaelios was launched backward like a leaf in a typhoon, crashing through five mountain ranges in a blink.
High above, the gods watching reeled.
One dropped to his knees, clutching his chest.
Another turned to ash.
> "It… it can't be… not him... not Zereth Kaine."
The name echoed through divine halls. Through mortal prayers. Through time itself.
Zereth Kaine.
A name erased from records. Forbidden even to whisper. The Sovereign unseen, the voice that could still the cosmos.
The Sage, seated on a cliff overlooking the wreckage, muttered beneath his breath:
> "So the Sovereign walks again…