Wrath of Judgment

The air was thick with anticipation. Kael stood at the edge of a cracked battlefield—charred earth beneath his boots, a veil of smoke rising into a blood-orange sky. From the northern ridge came the pounding rhythm of mechanical feet—then a seismic roar that rattled the bones.

Two monsters approached.

One was a towering, lumbering golem, its body a grotesque fusion of bronze-plated armor and dinosaur fossils, glowing with veins of red-hot magma. The second—a malformed chimera, part girl, part beast—crawled beside it, spiderlike. Her face, once human, still bore traces of sorrow. From her back sprouted serpentine tails and feathery raptor wings, sparking with erratic energy. Her mismatched eyes locked onto Kael with a mixture of rage and silent pleading.

Kael took a breath. No time to hesitate.

Shadow Binding.

In a heartbeat, the golem's feet and the chimera's limbs were entangled in ebony shackles erupting from their own shadows. The chains writhed with unnatural strength, dragging the monsters in place. The girl screamed, a blend of animalistic fury and human agony.

Kael activated Routine Serge.

His muscles surged with raw power, a hundredfold. His vision tunneled—every heartbeat, every spark of movement around him, slowed to a crawl. He drew upon the Ghost Veil, tuning his senses to inhuman sharpness. Time felt like clay in his hands.

He reached into his satchel, forming makeshift wooden needles from nearby debris. His fingers blurred as he flicked them forward—one, two, five, ten—each needle infused with unnatural velocity. The projectiles found their mark: both the chimera's and the golem's eyes, disabling their aim and confusing their targeting systems.

The golem roared, spinning wildly.

From the shadows behind him emerged a second Kael—his mimic. No commands were needed. The mimic surged toward the chimera-girl, twin obsidian daggers in hand. With swift, brutal precision, he severed her wings, bringing her crashing to the ground.

Kael finished the job.

He lunged toward the crippled golem, his short sword—Sword of Dominance—forming from the merge of heat and steel. One upward slash tore through the golem's neckplate. Steam and molten energy exploded outward as the core ruptured.

Silence fell.

But only for a second.

A voice crackled through a nearby drone speaker—distorted and inhuman.

> "He has passed another Trial. Target: Kael. Confirmed as threat level: Godbreaker."

Kael turned slowly. Above him, in a stealth drone hovering among the clouds, two silhouettes watched—observers from the secret lab that had manipulated the monsters and the apocalypse itself.

> "They really did it…" one whispered. "He survived. Even the fusion girl couldn't kill him."

> "Don't underestimate him again," the other hissed. "Judgment is real. God is watching. And he—he might be His chosen executioner."

Below, the fallen chimera-girl groaned. Her monstrous form was melting away, reverting—slowly—back into a human. Kael knelt beside her.

"You're free now," he said. "But they'll come for you again."

She opened her eyes, tears mingling with ash. "Don't let them… turn others… like me…"

Kael's jaw clenched. He rose, gaze fixed on the retreating drone.

> "You played God. You called this divine judgment. But you're no prophets. You're cowards."

> "Now it's your turn."