Chapter 19: When the Heavens Tremble

The sky split apart.

Kael felt it before he saw it the unbearable weight of divinity pressing against the world, reality itself buckling under the presence of something far beyond mortal comprehension.

The gods were no longer watching.

They were coming.

Aetherion's decree still echoed through the heavens.

"Then it is time we remind him why gods do not kneel."

Kael's silver eyes burned. He turned his gaze upward, watching as the first tear in the firmament widened. Golden light poured through like an open wound, and from it, they descended.

Not Sentinels. Not mere warriors.

But celestial titans, forged from the divine will of the Tribunal.

From the rift in the sky, three monstrous figures emerged. Each was a being of pure celestial energy, their very presence warping the world around them.

The first was covered in golden armor, its face an empty void, its hands crackling with the power of shattered stars. It carried a great war hammer, every movement of which sent shockwaves through time itself.

The second was a serpent of light, its body endless, weaving through the sky like a cosmic river. Every flicker of its gaze burned through the land below, leaving behind scorched voids where reality once existed.

The third and the most terrifying was a being without form, a shifting storm of divine judgment, its voice a chorus of gods speaking in unison. It was not merely a warrior. It was a decree given shape.

The Will of the Tribunal itself.

Kael felt the force of their presence pressing against him, threatening to erase him from existence once more.

But this time.

He would not kneel.

The warriors Kael had summoned from the Eternal Rift the Forgotten Ones moved as one. They did not flinch, did not hesitate. These were not mortals, nor even heroes.

They were beings who had once stood against the gods.

And now, they would do so again.

The obsidian knight stepped forward, his great sword gleaming with a darkness that devoured the light. The star-cloaked woman raised her hands, summoning an endless sea of collapsing stars. The molten warlord roared, chains of pure destruction wrapping around his arms.

The First Sovereign stood beside Kael, his gaze fixed on the descending titans. "They are testing you," he murmured. "To see if you are worthy of their full wrath."

Kael's smirk was sharp as a blade.

"Then let's give them an answer."

The golden-armored titan struck first. Its war hammer descended like a falling sun, the force of it threatening to crush time itself.

Kael moved.

In a fraction of a second, he reached into time and broke it apart.

The hammer's descent slowed. Every fragment of reality stretched thin the world moving like liquid.

Then, Kael rewound the moment.

The titan's strike reversed, the hammer returning to its starting point, its wielder momentarily disoriented.

In that instant, the obsidian knight struck, his great sword cleaving into the titan's form. The golden armor fractured, divine blood spraying across the sky like molten fire.

The serpent of light turned its gaze toward Kael, and in that instant, he felt death.

It was not an attack. It was a concept the very idea of existence being erased.

But Kael was no longer bound by fate.

His silver eyes flashed.

Time bent around him, splitting into infinite possibilities.

And in none of them did he die.

With a single motion, Kael stepped through the fabric of destiny, removing himself from the serpent's gaze.

The star-cloaked woman raised her hands, and the very cosmos responded. She summoned a dying galaxy, collapsing it into a spear of annihilation, and hurled it toward the serpent.

The celestial beast shrieked as the attack struck, part of its endless body torn apart by the force of a dying universe.

Kael turned his gaze to the third titan the shifting storm of divine judgment.

This was the true enemy.

This was the Will of the Tribunal.

It descended upon him, its voice a chorus of gods, its presence a law that could not be broken.

"You do not belong, Forsaken One."

Kael smirked.

"Then allow me to rewrite the law."

Kael raised both hands.

Time did not slow. It did not rewind.

It simply stopped.

For the first time since his rebirth, Kael exerted his full will upon all of existence.

The golden titan was frozen mid-swing. The serpent was locked in place. Even the Will of the Tribunal itself had been caught in his grip.

Kael exhaled. And then

He moved time forward.

Not gently. Not subtly.

He accelerated the titan's form beyond its own limits.

The golden armor corroded in an instant. The celestial being within withered and died, collapsing into dust before it could even understand what had happened.

The serpent of light suffered the same fate, its endless body aged until it became nothing but remnants of divine energy, dissolving into the air.

That left only the Will of the Tribunal.

Kael turned his gaze upon it, silver eyes blazing.

The divine storm howled, resisting him, trying to break free.

Kael clenched his fist.

"Begone."

Reality itself obeyed.

The Will of the Tribunal shattered, its divine essence erased from existence.

The heavens went silent.

A Throne Reclaimed

The Forgotten Ones stood victorious. The celestial titans, the supposed champions of the Tribunal were no more.

Kael lowered his hand.

Far above, he could still feel it.

The gods were watching.

And now, for the first time in eternity they were afraid.

Kael smirked. "Good. It's about time."

The First Sovereign let out a slow breath. "You have done what none before you could."

Kael tilted his head. "And yet, the gods still remain." He turned his gaze toward the heavens, voice cold as the void.

"Tell your Tribunal that I am coming."

"And this time, I will not stop until I sit upon their throne."