Chapter 50: Path of the Infernal Gate

The three stood in silence, staring at the runes that spiraled outward across the ancient chamber floor.

Each one glowed with a different hue—each humming with elemental intensity. Celestial Light. Beast Flame. Cursed Mist. Shadow Frost. Thunder Howl. Obsidian Earth. Blood Gale. Azure Wind. Abyssal Depth. Verdant Bloom. Echo Flame. And at the center, one pulsed between all colors—Ashen Void.

Kael felt a pull.

Not toward the center.

But toward the one that seared with primal, chaotic red.

Beast Flame. The path that resonated with fury and raw violence. It wasn't his aura—but it called to something in him.

Drayke stepped forward, already drawn to it. "Guess this one's mine."

Kael met his eyes. "You sure?"

Drayke cracked his neck, then his knuckles. "If I'm gonna break past S-rank… it has to be through fire."

Without another word, Drayke walked into the gate of searing red. The glyph flared, swallowed him whole, and vanished.

Kael turned to Lyra. She was staring at the gold-and-white rune.

Celestial Light.

"You okay?" Kael asked.

"I was raised to believe light brings truth," she murmured. "But what if it shows something I don't want to see?"

Kael placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then don't look away."

She offered a small, sad smile. "You've changed."

"So have you."

She nodded, then stepped into the light. Her wings pulsed once—and she vanished.

Kael turned to the remaining runes. All were fading now, locking themselves… except for one.

The center.

The Ashen Void.

It pulsed with eerie silence.

"Figures," Kael muttered.

Then he stepped in.

Inside the Path of the Ashen Void

It wasn't a room.

It was a memory—fractured and stretched.

Kael stood in an endless field of bone-white ash under a black sun. Above him, drifting like spirits, were thousands of swords.

Each one represented a life lost. Some familiar. Others alien.

He stepped forward.

With each step, one of the swords dropped—embedding itself near his feet.

A voice echoed.

"You bear the weight of what you kill, Kael Arclight."

He looked around. No figure. Just the voice.

"You steal their power. You take their aura. But do you carry their pain?"

"I never asked for this," Kael replied.

"Yet you accept it. Every time you draw that blade."

A single sword fell faster than the rest.

When it hit the ground—it split it.

From the crack rose a form.

Twisted, burned, screaming.

Kael stepped back.

It was a soldier.

One of the Ember Brood.

One he'd killed when he first awakened his Ashen aura.

The soldier looked up at him. "You didn't even know my name."

Kael's fists tightened.

"Then tell me now."

The soldier snarled. "It's too late."

It lunged.

Kael parried, but more cracks appeared. More figures emerged.

Dozens. Hundreds.

Every person, monster, creature he'd ever slain.

Now given voice.

Given form.

"You were supposed to protect us!"

"You left me behind!"

"You let the dungeon collapse!"

Their voices rose in a wave of hatred and sorrow.

Kael swung, cutting through illusions. But the more he fought, the heavier his blade became. Soulbrand groaned in his hand.

"Fight me all you want," the voice said again. "But you can't escape truth. You feed on death."

Kael dropped to a knee. The ground shook with the weight of his guilt.

But he didn't close his eyes.

He looked forward.

And whispered, "Then let it be mine."

He stood.

Aura pulsing not in hatred, not in rage—but acceptance.

He didn't erase what he'd done.

He carried it.

He was Ashen.

And Ashen does not forget.

Outside

The center rune burst with blinding black-and-silver light.

And Kael stepped out.

Not bleeding. Not screaming.

But whole.

A second Soulbrand now hovered behind him—half-spirit, half-memory.

A second blade of ash.

An echo of every fight he'd survived.

Meanwhile – Celestial Path

Lyra knelt before a vision of herself—pure, untouched, divine.

It smiled at her.

But it whispered lies.

"You're not ready. You heal monsters. You side with him. You're not light—you're lost."

Her wings trembled.

Her relic, the Sunveil Feather, burned hot in her hands.

She looked up.

And for the first time, she shouted.

"Then I'll be the light that chooses!"

She cast the shadow away and ascended.

Beast Flame Trial

Drayke was mid-battle—arms broken, flames dimmed.

He grinned through bloodied teeth.

A monstrous version of himself loomed, snarling.

"You burn everything you touch."

"I am the fire," Drayke roared—and punched through his own nightmare.

The flame roared to life.

And his relic evolved.

Back in the central chamber

Three runes lit.

Three figures stepped out.

Changed.

Wounded.

Ready.

Kael. Lyra. Drayke.

Their eyes met.

Kael spoke first.

"We're not done."

Drayke smirked. "Not even close."

Lyra tightened her grip. "Then let's go break the next chain."

As the dungeon rumbled again.

A door slid open at the far end.

And something ancient screamed from within.