Chapter 17: A Sovereign Unchained

The battlefield crackled with energy. The air between Kael and the Sentinels of the Tribunal vibrated as time itself bent in response to his growing power.

The Sentinel he had struck down rose from the rubble, his golden armor cracked, divine blood seeping from his mouth. His eyes, hidden behind the beak-like helm, burned with something between rage and fear.

Kael smirked. They weren't expecting this.

"I see it now," he said, stepping forward, his silver eyes glowing. "You came here believing I was nothing more than an echo of my past. A relic struggling to reclaim his throne."

The leading Sentinel wiped the blood from his lips. "And that is exactly what you are."

Kael's smirk widened.

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

The Sentinel's fingers twitched on the hilt of his blade.

Kael raised his hand. Time around his fingertips fractured, golden and silver threads unraveling. He could feel it the weight of history itself bowing before him.

For the first time since his rebirth, he wasn't just grasping at power. He was wielding it.

And the Tribunal's dogs had come just in time to witness his return.

The lead Sentinel gritted his teeth. He lifted his blade, and the other Sentinels followed.

"We are the executioners of the gods," he declared. "You will not rise again."

Kael sighed. "You people always say the same thing."

Then the sky tore open.

A massive golden sigil materialized above them, spanning the heavens, filled with divine inscriptions and unreadable commandments. The will of the Tribunal itself.

The runes blazed, and suddenly, Kael felt it a crushing weight pressing against him. It wasn't a physical force, nor a magical one.

It was reality itself trying to suppress him.

"This world rejects you, Forsaken One," the Sentinel said, stepping forward. "You do not belong."

Kael staggered slightly as the pressure mounted. He could feel his power straining against the divine decree.

The Tribunal wasn't just sending warriors.

They were rewriting existence to erase him.

Kael exhaled slowly. "So that's how you want to play it."

He lifted his head, his silver eyes flashing.

"Fine."

Kael clenched his fist. He reached deeper into himself beyond flesh, beyond thought.

He reached into time itself.

The golden sigil shuddered.

The Sentinel's confident posture faltered.

"Impossible," he whispered.

Kael smirked. No, not impossible.

Inevitable.

"You tried to erase me once," Kael said, his voice vibrating with power. "But you forgot one thing."

Time fractured around him, the golden decree cracking like glass. The Tribunal's judgment, the will of the gods themselves Kael reached out and shattered it.

"I am not bound by fate."

The golden sigil above them collapsed, the divine inscriptions dissolving into ash. The Sentinels staggered, their connection to the Tribunal severed in an instant.

Kael moved.

In less than a breath, he was behind the lead Sentinel. His hand pulsed with raw power as he touched the back of the warrior's helm.

Then, he pushed time forward.

The Sentinel's entire body aged a thousand years in an instant.

Golden armor corroded, flesh withered, bones turned brittle. The once-mighty warrior collapsed into dust before he even had time to scream.

Silence.

The remaining Sentinels stared in horror.

Kael turned to them, his silver eyes cold. "Tell your masters," he said, "that I am coming for them."

The Sentinels hesitated for only a moment before they vanished in streaks of golden light.

Kael let them go. He had no need to chase them.

The Tribunal now knew the truth.

Their greatest mistake had not been fearing him.

It had been allowing him to return.

Kael turned to the First Sovereign, who had watched the entire battle in silence.

The warrior's lips curved into a faint smirk. "It would seem you've broken their chains faster than I did."

Kael flexed his fingers. Time still pulsed in his veins, stronger than ever.

"Not fast enough," he muttered. "The gods aren't done yet."

The First Sovereign nodded. "No. And next time, they will come in force."

Kael smirked. "Then we'd better be ready."

Somewhere in the heavens, the gods were watching. The Tribunal was preparing its next move.

But Kael was done running.

He was done hiding.

It was time to reclaim his throne.