Chapter 25: Sovereign Blood Awakens
The air between Kaelen and Tyrian crackled with power.
One burned with ancient dragonfire.
The other blazed with the newborn light of a rising Sovereign.
The Celestial Arena held its breath.
Even the Royal Council leaned forward.
Something historic was about to unfold.
Tyrian Drakonis moved first.
Dragonfire exploded from his spear, a tidal wave of searing crimson heat.
Kaelen responded instantly.
Arcane Step activated beneath his boots, blinking him out of the inferno's direct path.
But Tyrian was not done.
He roared, the sound shaking the very stones of the arena, and slammed his spear into the ground.
A shockwave burst outward, shattering the stone floor and sending Kaelen skidding backward.
Tyrian lunged through the dust, spear thrust aimed directly for Kaelen's heart.
[System Notification]
[Combat Pressure Reached Critical Threshold!]
[Hidden Sovereign Protocol Triggered.]
[Partial Bloodline Extraction Available: Dragonblood Resonance (6%).]
Kaelen felt it — a pulse of something ancient and powerful tearing through his veins.
Dragonfire.
Not true dragonfire yet, but an echo.
A spark.
His Sovereign Path was resonating with Tyrian's bloodline.
Adapting.
Evolving.
Kaelen moved.
Instead of dodging, he stepped forward — into the heart of Tyrian's charge.
He twisted sideways at the last instant, avoiding the lethal thrust by a hair's breadth.
Then, drawing on the spark awakening inside him, Kaelen unleashed a blow he had never used before.
Sovereignblade Astryn flared bright silver — and spat a pulse of condensed flame.
Dragonflame Pulse.
The blast caught Tyrian across the chest, hurling him backward with a snarl of fury.
For a moment — just a moment — the crowd stared in stunned silence.
In the stands, gasps rang out:
"That's dragonfire!"
"But… Kaelen isn't Dragonblooded!"
"How is this possible?!"
High above, hidden in the shadowed balconies, members of the Legacy Families watched with narrowed eyes.
One ancient Dragonkin elder whispered:
"Impossible… unless… he is awakening the Forbidden Sovereign Path."
Fear — genuine fear — stirred for the first time in centuries among those who believed themselves untouchable.
Back on the Arena Floor
Tyrian rose slowly, ash smoking from his armor.
He stared at Kaelen across the broken stones.
And for the first time, he looked uncertain.
"You… you dare steal the blood of dragons?" Tyrian growled, fury boiling in every word.
Kaelen lifted Sovereignblade Astryn to his shoulder.
His voice was calm.
Steady.
Unshakable.
"I don't steal."
"I forge what the world tried to deny me."
The cracked-crown sigil at his chest blazed even brighter.
The ground around Kaelen cracked under the sheer pressure of his rising power.
[System Notification]
[Dragonflame Pulse: Skill Created!]
[Talent Evolution Progress: 17% toward Sovereign Path Manifestation.]
Kaelen smiled coldly.
"You thought this was a duel between heir and commoner."
He stepped forward.
Each word struck like a hammer.
"This is the beginning of a new Sovereign Age."
The battle reignited.
Tyrian roared and charged.
Kaelen met him head-on.
Dragonblood and Sovereign blood collided in a storm of flame, steel, and destiny.
The crowd could barely follow their movements anymore — two blurs of power shattering the air itself with every strike.
Each clash shook the arena.
Each blow carried the weight of ancient legacies and newborn dreams.
Above them, even the sky seemed to darken.
Because something was waking in Kaelen Drayce.
Something older than dragons.
Something that once ruled the stars.