Chapter 9; The Relic of Unmaking
Chapter 9: The Relic of Unmaking
The moon hung like a pale coin in the sky, watching the movements of the damned with silent indifference. Beneath its silver gaze, Kael stood within the ruins of a shattered temple deep in the Duskwind Expanse. A thousand skeletal trees loomed around him, their branches clawing at the heavens.
His breath fogged in the frigid air. Before him, buried beneath layers of dust and bone, was a crypt older than any kingdom still standing.
"This is the place?" Seraphina asked, blades drawn, instincts sharp.
"Yes," Kael replied. "The Seers called it the Cradle of the End."
Valdira stepped forward, her spectral form flickering in and out of visibility. "I remember this place. The gods themselves forbade mortals from entering."
Kael's eyes pulsed with violet light. "Then it's exactly where I should be."
---
Far across the continent, the banners of Elarion fluttered in preparation. The capital was transforming—once a beacon of peace, now a fortress anticipating calamity. Aleron trained from dawn until nightfall, mastering spells that scorched the sky and shattered stone.
Orien stood nearby, watching him conjure a barrage of sunflame arrows. "You're pushing yourself too hard."
"I have to be ready."
"Even if you are," Orien muttered, "what of your people? Half the noble houses are already whispering treason. Kael's influence spreads like rot beneath the floorboards."
Aleron turned, eyes narrowed. "Then we cut the rot out."
---
Back in the ruins, Kael drew a circle of obsidian dust around the crypt's sealed entrance. Ancient glyphs flickered as he murmured a forgotten language.
> [Quest: Relic of Unmaking – Final Phase Initiated]
The ground shuddered. A deafening hum began to echo from beneath the earth as the door split open, revealing a chamber bathed in blue light.
Inside, on a floating pedestal of cracked crystal, rested a dagger. It was no ordinary blade—it had no edge, no metal, no mass. It was a wound in reality, shifting and vibrating as though it didn't belong in this world.
Kael stepped forward.
Lyria reached for him. "Wait—what if it kills you?"
"If it does, then I was never meant to rule."
He grasped the hilt.
The moment he touched it, reality tore open around him.
---
He stood in a void. Stars blinked in and out of existence above, while shadows of titanic beasts moved beneath an endless black sea.
A voice, deep and ancient, thundered in his mind.
"Child of the Rift… You grasp at ruin."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Then give me ruin."
The voice laughed. "So be it."
---
> [New Relic Obtained: Fang of the Void]
[Passive Ability Gained: Reality Rend – Once per battle, ignore all defenses]
[Warning: Sanity Threshold Lowered by 10%]
---
Kael's body hit the ground, smoke curling from his fingertips. His eyes flickered open—no longer just amethyst, but streaked with pure black.
Lyria helped him up, her expression worried. "You stopped breathing for a minute."
Kael smiled. "That's because I was elsewhere."
Valdira's spectral form bowed, for the first time. "The gods themselves trembled when the Fang was forged. And now it belongs to you."
Kael tightened his grip around the blade. "Then it's time the gods remembered fear."
---
At the edge of the northern frontier, a thousand black banners rose against the wind. Kael's army, once fragmented factions and outlaws, now moved like a single beast. Each soldier had pledged not to a nation, but to Kael's cause.
And now, they marched toward Dawnwatch—a fortress town that protected the last bridge to Elarion.
Kael stood on a rocky cliff, overlooking the distant torchlights of the enemy.
"This siege will make our intentions known to the world," he said.
Lyria tightened her gloves. "Then let them watch as it burns."
Valdira's shriek split the night, and behind her, undead legions crawled from the ground—former tyrants, fallen heroes, even beasts long extinct.
> [New Army Unit: Wretches of the Deep]
Kael raised his hand, and the sky darkened.
---
In Dawnwatch, alarms rang through the night.
General Tavros, an aging lion of a man, stood atop the battlements. He had seen many battles—but none like this.
He watched the enemy arrive: not with ladders or catapults, but with silence. With presence. With magic.
And above them all stood Kael, cloak billowing, eyes burning like twin stars of annihilation.
"This isn't war," Tavros whispered. "This is prophecy."
---
Aleron heard the reports by midday.
Dawnwatch had fallen.
No survivors.
No prisoners.
Only a single message was left behind—burned into the ground by some cursed brand:
"The Sovereign comes."
---
> [Quest Completed: Relic of Unmaking]
[New Global Event: Sovereign's March Begins – All kingdoms must choose: Surrender or Resist]
[Destiny Severed – 62%]