Chapter 7 – The Archon’s Descent
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It began with thunder.
But there were no clouds.
The sky above Ashdeep turned gold—not like sunlight, but a living storm of divine energy. The clouds parted in neat, perfect circles, and lightning that shimmered like glass cracked through the air.
Kael stood at the peak of the throne tower, the divine shard from the Herald still pulsing faintly in his hand.
Lilith and Valeskar stood behind him, their eyes fixed upward.
"This isn't like before," Valeskar growled.
Lilith's lips pressed into a thin line. "It's not another Herald."
Kael's grip tightened.
> "Then it's him."
> [Divine Signature Detected: Tier-0]
[Warning: Archon-Class Entity Approaching]
[Power Disparity: Lethal]
[Strategic Options: Evade – Engage – Submit]
Kael chuckled under his breath.
> "Let him come."
---
Then the world bent.
A figure stepped through the sky itself—no wings, no teleportation.
Just appeared, as if the space had always belonged to him.
He was tall. Not monstrous, not armored. But he radiated such perfection, it hurt to look directly at him. Robes of white and gold shimmered as he descended slowly onto the broken stone of Ashdeep's central platform.
His eyes were blank white. His skin glowed.
His voice, when it came, echoed in every mind.
> "I am Itherion. Archon of Balance. Warden of the Ninth Heaven."
"Kael Ardent… Blood Sovereign… You were warned."
Kael stepped forward.
"You're late."
Itherion tilted his head.
> "You slew a Herald. You reclaimed your throne. You awakened a domain long buried by divine decree."
Kael smirked. "And?"
> "You must now be undone."
---
Lilith stepped forward. "Don't you dare—"
But Itherion raised one finger.
And the air froze.
Lilith collapsed to her knees, choking. Valeskar grunted, chains slamming into the ground as his body seized.
Kael's blood surged instantly—his cloak flaring out, his hands blazing with fire.
"Let them go," he growled.
> "You do not give commands here," Itherion replied calmly. "You are but a memory given form. I am law. I am balance."
Kael stepped forward, ignoring the pressure. Each footstep cracked the stone. The divine pressure weighed on him like a mountain—but still, he stood.
And smiled.
"You're afraid."
Itherion's eyes narrowed.
Kael lifted the divine shard in his hand.
"You felt this," he said. "You watched me kill your Herald. And instead of sending an army, you came down yourself. You came to end it fast."
> "Because you know," Kael continued, fire building with every word, "if you wait even a little longer, I'll remember more. I'll awaken further. And then—not even you will be enough."
The Archon's voice dropped, no longer echoing across reality.
Just cold.
> "Then I'll kill you before that happens."
---
The sky cracked again.
But this time—it wasn't light.
It was darkness.
A ripple of energy flowed outward from Kael's chest. His blood mark twisted. The shard in his hand shattered, pouring into his veins.
> [Divine Fragment Assimilated]
[Blood Sovereign: Authority Level 2 Achieved]
[Domain Expansion Available]
Kael's eyes blazed with gold and red fire.
And the throne behind him answered.
---
He smiled.
"You want balance?" he said. "Then let me show you chaos."
Boom.
Kael launched himself at Itherion.
Not like a warrior. Like a missile of living flame.
The Archon didn't flinch. His hands moved in elegant precision—no blade, no armor, no rage. Just power condensed into divine perfection.
> "Balance must be maintained."
He raised one palm—pure golden light erupted.
Kael crashed into it—
And for a moment, the world split.
Ashdeep's central tower cracked in half. Mountains in the distance shivered. Reality stuttered. Fire met holiness, wrath met order, and neither side gave.
Kael flew backward, rolling mid-air, boots skidding across stone.
Blood ran down his lip—but his smile only widened.
"You hit like a priest."
---
The Archon hovered effortlessly above the platform.
Then descended.
Every footstep sent pulses through the ground, fracturing stone with invisible gravity.
Lilith forced herself up. Blood ran down her arms, her wings dragging—but she moved to Kael's side.
"You can't fight him like this," she hissed. "You're still incomplete!"
"I don't need to win," Kael said, standing tall. "I just need to show him what I am."
Valeskar growled, limping from the edge. "Then let's show him together."
---
Itherion raised both hands.
Golden spears formed in the air—dozens. Hundreds.
> "Defiance will not delay judgment."
He let them fly.
---
Lilith moved first—her wings flaring with cursed flame, intercepting the barrage. Each spear she deflected burned through her aura, but she held the line. "MOVE!" she screamed.
Kael did.
He weaved through the storm, each dodge instinctive, each movement pulling more fire from the throne pulsing behind him.
> [Ashdeep Sync: 57%]
[New Trait Activated: Infernal Pulse – Flame Recovery Regeneration Unlocked]
Kael slammed his fist to the ground—and a shockwave of bloodfire erupted outward, incinerating half the divine spears.
Then he vanished.
Itherion blinked—
Too late.
Kael reappeared above him, both arms blazing like twin suns, and roared—
"REMEMBER MY NAME!"
He brought his fists down—straight onto Itherion's chest.
The Archon's body plummeted like a comet.
---
They crashed through three towers.
Itherion hit the ground with enough force to leave a crater wider than any warship. Kael landed beside it, panting, skin steaming.
Smoke. Silence.
Then—
A hand snapped around Kael's throat.
Itherion rose, robes torn, eyes glowing brighter than before.
> "Impressive."
Kael gasped, trying to break free.
> "But insufficient."
---
Then—
A dagger of shadow pierced Itherion's shoulder.
He flinched—just enough.
Lilith was there, blood dripping from her blades.
Valeskar charged from the other side, dragging the chains of a fallen tower—and slammed them around the Archon's body.
The ground cracked from the force.
Kael fell to his knees, coughing.
Itherion stood in the center, blood—actual blood—running down his chin.
He touched it.
Stared at it.
> "...You made me bleed."
Kael stood.
"No. I reminded you that gods are not untouchable."
He lifted his arms.
The flames responded.
And so did the city.
---
> [Domain Expansion: "Ashdeep Reclamation" – Initiated]
[Allied Power Boost: +30%]
[Enemy Suppression Field – Activated]
Flames surged from the ground. Spires rose like fangs. The ruined city glowed—alive again, angry again.
Kael stood at its heart, the fire flowing into his body, not burning it—but feeding it.
"Your balance is a lie," he said, voice deep with power.
"I'm not chaos."
He opened his hand.
"I'm correction."
---
Ashdeep was no longer ruins.
It rose—alive, furious, awakened by Kael's presence.
Every stone glowed with infernal runes. Every flame bent toward him. The city itself moved like it had a heart.
And Kael stood at its center.
The Blood Sovereign.
The Ashborn King.
His cloak whipped in the storm, red and black fire spiraling up around him like a storm of war. Lilith floated behind him, bloodied but grinning. Valeskar braced his chains in the back, energy pulsing from the Ashdeep sigils engraved on his armor.
Itherion stood within the center of the chaos—divine robes torn, golden aura flickering with cracks.
And for the first time…
he looked unsure.
---
> "You were meant to be forgotten," the Archon said, voice low.
"Your flame should have died with your war."
Kael stepped forward.
"It did."
He raised one hand. The mark on his chest expanded—lines of fire shooting outward, connecting to the spires, towers, ruins of the city.
> "But I buried it deep. In ash. In blood. In memory."
Ashdeep answered.
The flames swirled into a vortex above them, forming a burning crown suspended in the sky. The ground vibrated, and beneath Kael's feet, the stone reformed into a sigil of kingship—his true crest.
> [Blood Sovereign Awakening: 63%]
[Final Protocol: King's Flame – Ready]
[Warning: Once Released, Cannot Be Sealed Again]
Kael looked to Lilith. She gave a nod.
"You said it yourself," she whispered. "You're not chaos. You're correction."
Kael turned back to Itherion.
> "You call yourself balance… but you erased me."
"You feared what I represented—freedom from divine order."
"Now I will remind every god that this world is not theirs."
---
He raised both hands.
> "Ashdeep, return to fire. Let the heavens feel our wrath."
---
The sky collapsed.
Fire roared upward in a towering vortex, swallowing the divine storm. Itherion threw up both hands, summoning shields of pure holy light—but they cracked instantly.
Kael moved within the fire, faster than light.
Each strike he landed ignited nova bursts.
He ducked a divine slash, then drove his fist straight into Itherion's chest—sending shockwaves that shattered the outer barrier of the Archon's godform.
Lilith appeared behind the Archon in a flicker of shadow, whispering through gritted teeth—
"Stay in hell."
And slammed both her daggers into his back.
Valeskar wrapped divine chains around the Archon's limbs, pinning him.
And Kael… walked forward.
One flame in his palm.
Not wild.
Not furious.
Just final.
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> "You took everything from me," Kael said, calm now.
"My army. My lovers. My name. My throne."
"Now I take back the one thing you thought I'd lost forever."
He raised the flame.
It burned white.
> "My right to burn the sky."
---
He placed the flame on Itherion's chest.
The Archon didn't scream.
He simply… broke.
Light shattered.
Ash bloomed.
A wind swept through Ashdeep—and then all was still.
---
> [Divine Entity: Itherion – Defeated]
[Ashdeep Authority Expanded]
[Kael Ardent: Ascension Threshold – 78%]
[All Divine Eyes Now Turn Toward You]
---
Kael stood in the silence.
Lilith approached him slowly. Her expression was hard to read—pride, awe… and maybe fear.
"You killed an Archon," she said softly.
Kael didn't answer at first.
He looked at the sky.
No longer gold.
No longer divine.
Just black—and his.
---
He turned to her.
"I didn't kill him," he said. "I freed him."
---
Far above, in a realm untouched by mortals,
seven thrones sat in silence.
One of them—
Empty now.
A voice echoed in the void.
> "The King of Ash… has returned."