Chapter 4 – Seraphis Unleashed

The warship shuddered beneath their feet, its metal hull groaning under the weight of battle. Fire raged in the distance, plumes of black smoke twisting into the storm-choked sky.

Kael didn't care.

Not anymore.

His world had narrowed to Seraphis.

She lunged, her twin plasma-forged blades igniting in arcs of violet light. Kael met her strike with the Celestial Cleaver, his weapon shifting mid-motion—from axe to scythe in an instant.

They clashed again.

The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the deck, knocking nearby debris into the air. Sparks rained down like embers, their footwork carving deep grooves into the warship's surface.

Kael's strikes were brutal, relentless.

Seraphis was precise, calculated.

Every movement was familiar.

Because once—**before the Last War, before the Ascended, before betrayal—**they had fought side by side.

Now, they fought to kill.

Or so Kael thought.

Until he saw it again.

That fraction of hesitation.

That half-second where her blade could have taken his throat, but didn't.

Kael's grip tightened on his weapon.

"You're still holding back."

Seraphis didn't answer. She feinted left, then cut upward, forcing him into a retreat. Her mask revealed nothing—but Kael didn't need to see her face.

He could feel it.

She was still fighting like she wanted to win—without wanting him dead.

And that was a mistake.

Kael pushed forward. His scythe morphed back into a longsword, and he swung high.

Seraphis barely blocked in time.

Their blades locked.

Kael leaned in, his voice low. "You were never good at lying."

Her mask was inches from his face.

For the first time, she spoke. "You don't want to do this, Kael."

His expression darkened. "You think I have a choice?"

The moment stretched.

Then Seraphis broke the deadlock, stepped back— and removed her mask.

Kael stopped breathing.

The face beneath was exactly as he remembered.

Her eyes—golden, burning, filled with something fierce and unreadable. Her dark hair tied back in the exact way she had always worn it before battle.

For a moment, Kael forgot the war, the years, the betrayal.

Then her voice cut through the silence.

"I was ordered to kill you."

She raised her blade.

"I won't make the same mistake twice."

Then she attacked.

And this time, she wasn't holding back.

Meanwhile, Below—Elyndra Faces the Arch-Ascended

The battlefield was breaking apart.

Elyndra dodged behind a ruined transport, her breath sharp, her mind racing. The wind howled around her, filled with the screams of wounded soldiers and the roar of distant explosions.

And in the center of it all, the Arch-Ascended stood unmoving.

Nine feet of pure obsidian metal, plated in divine circuitry. His single golden eye burned with cold, calculating precision. His voice, when it came, was deep, layered, inhuman.

"Rebel Commander. Your existence is inefficient."

Elyndra bared her teeth. "Funny. I was thinking the same about you."

The warlord didn't react.

Then he lifted his weapon—a blade forged from starfire, pulsing with contained energy.

Elyndra tensed.

Then he moved.

Fast.

She barely had time to roll aside as the ground where she had stood erupted in molten metal.

Too strong. Too fast.

Fuck.

She came up on one knee, firing three quick shots at his exposed neck joints.

The Arch-Ascended tilted his head slightly—then caught the bullets in his free hand.

The glowing rounds melted against his palm.

Elyndra swallowed down the very real spike of fear in her gut.

This wasn't just another war machine.

This was a walking extinction event.

Kael's body moved on instinct, parrying Seraphis's strikes by sheer muscle memory.

But she was faster now.

And she was angry.

Her blades came in relentless combinations— high, low, feint, counter, an endless onslaught that Kael barely had time to match.

She had always been better at speed.

Kael had always been better at breaking through.

He blocked a downward strike, pivoted into a brutal counter—but she was already gone. She spun, her boot connecting hard with his ribs, sending him skidding back.

He wiped blood from his lip. "Not bad."

She didn't respond.

Then he felt it.

A shift in the battlefield.

Kael's gaze flicked toward Elyndra's position below—just as the Arch-Ascended raised his blade.

Oh, fuck no.

Kael turned back to Seraphis, exhaling sharply.

"This isn't the time."

She hesitated.

That was all he needed.

Kael surged forward.

She barely had time to react before he was inside her guard, his hand catching her wrist mid-strike.

Then he twisted.

Seraphis lost her grip. Her plasma blade clattered to the ground.

Kael's free hand slammed into her chest, knocking her back.

She hit the deck hard, skidding to a stop.

Kael didn't wait.

He turned—and ran.

Elyndra couldn't breathe.

The Arch-Ascended had her pinned against the wreckage, one massive hand wrapped around her throat.

His golden eye gleamed.

"Unfortunate. Your species does not adapt quickly enough."

His blade rose.

Elyndra struggled, fought, reached for her dagger—

A shadow fell over them.

Then something slammed into the Arch-Ascended with the force of a meteor.

The warlord was hurled backward, crashing into a ruined wall with a sickening crunch.

Elyndra gasped for air, collapsing to her knees.

And then, she looked up.

Kael stood between her and the warlord, his sword dripping with golden energy.

His voice was low. Dark. Furious.

"You don't touch her."

The Arch-Ascended rose from the rubble, unfazed.

His burning golden eye fixed on Kael.

"Sky Reaper."

Kael lifted the Celestial Cleaver.

"Come find out."

The battlefield shifted.

Kael stood still, his blade lowered slightly, his breathing measured. Opposite him, the Arch-Ascended rose from the rubble, golden energy pulsing from his form like a dying star.

Lightning crackled across the storm-lit sky.

Kael could feel the weight of the warship beneath them, its engines thrumming, the heat of its plasma cannons warming the air. He could hear the Leviathan above, circling, ready.

But at this moment, nothing else mattered.

This was the kind of fight Kael lived for. Pure. Immediate. No strategy. Just survival.

The Arch-Ascended took a slow, measured step forward. His starfire-forged blade hummed in the air, crackling with raw, condensed energy.

"Sky Reaper."

Kael lifted the Celestial Cleaver.

"Machine."

They moved.

The first strike split the air.

Kael dodged left—just barely. The Arch-Ascended's blade carved straight through the battlefield behind him, melting steel as though it were ice.

Kael lunged forward, swinging the Cleaver in a devastating arc. The weapon morphed in mid-motion, shifting into a long, curved glaive.

The Arch-Ascended blocked effortlessly, his own blade twisting to deflect. Sparks rained between them, their weapons grinding against each other in a shrieking clash of steel and light.

Then the warlord countered—fast.

Kael barely twisted away before a crushing fist slammed into his ribs.

Bone cracked.

The force sent him flying back, smashing against a ruined vehicle.

Kael coughed, blood dripping from his lips. His vision swam, pain exploding in his chest.

The Arch-Ascended didn't pause.

He was already moving, his blade whipping through the air like a thunderbolt.

Kael rolled just in time, the weapon slicing straight through the wreckage where he had been lying a moment before.

Too fast. Too strong.

Kael gritted his teeth, forcing himself to his feet.

"You're a stubborn bastard."

The Arch-Ascended tilted his head, his golden eye flickering.

"You are flawed. Inefficient. A fragment of a dying past."

Kael spat blood onto the deck.

"Yeah? Come make me extinct, then."

The warlord obliged.

Elyndra could barely breathe.

The battlefield was collapsing around them.

Rebels were retreating toward the last remaining ships, fighting off Ascended enforcers with everything they had. Smoke, fire, and plasma bolts cut through the air.

She could hear Arkan shouting orders, trying to hold the perimeter.

But her eyes were locked on Kael and the Arch-Ascended.

They weren't just fighting. They were destroying.

Every clash of their weapons sent ripples of energy across the battlefield, denting steel, shattering debris, warping the air itself.

The Arch-Ascended was faster, stronger. More machine than anything human.

But Kael was unrelenting.

He fought with brutal precision, his movements honed from centuries of war.

And then, for the first time, Elyndra saw it.

Kael wasn't just attacking anymore.

He was adapting.

He was watching. Reading the warlord's movements.

He was learning.

And for the first time, she wondered—was this why the Ascended feared him?

Above, the sky twisted with fire and smoke.

The Leviathan had been circling, watching, waiting.

Now, he descended.

A massive shadow, blocking out the storm-lit heavens.

His silver eyes locked onto Kael's opponent.

His massive wings folded inward.

And then he struck.

The Leviathan slammed into the warship with the force of a falling star.

The entire battlefield shook.

The Arch-Ascended barely dodged in time, twisting away as massive claws tore through the deck.

Veyrith's wings beat hard, sending a gust of wind powerful enough to throw enemy soldiers off their feet.

The war-beast let out a deep, bone-rattling roar.

Kael wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Took you long enough."

Veyrith's voice rumbled in his mind, dark and unimpressed.

You fight like a fool.

Kael grinned.

"Yeah? Watch this."

Then he charged again.

The Arch-Ascended wasn't built to fight two enemies.

Not like this.

Kael and Veyrith moved together.

The Leviathan drew the warlord's attention with massive, sweeping strikes—tail, claws, teeth, forcing the enemy back.

Kael was already closing the distance.

He dodged an overhead strike, slid low, then twisted his blade.

The Celestial Cleaver shifted—morphing into a jagged warhammer.

Kael swung.

The hammer connected with the Arch-Ascended's left knee joint.

The impact shattered metal.

The warlord stumbled, his movements faltering.

Kael's grip tightened.

"You lose."

Then he drove his blade straight into the Arch-Ascended's chest.

The warlord froze.

The golden light in his single eye dimmed, flickering.

Kael twisted the blade.

The Arch-Ascended let out a low, distorted sound—somewhere between static and a dying breath.

Then he collapsed.

Silence fell.

Kael stood over the body, breathing hard. His arms burned, his ribs ached, his skin was slick with blood—but he was alive.

And the warlord was not.

Veyrith landed behind him, massive and imposing, his tail curling around the wreckage.

Kael exhaled.

Then he turned, walking toward Elyndra.

She was still staring at him.

She had seen what he had done.

The way he fought. The way he adapted, adjusted, learned.

She understood now.

Why the Ascended feared him.

Why they had tried to erase him.

She met his gaze. "We need to go."

Kael nodded.

"Then let's move."