Darkness wasn't the absence of light.
Kael realized that now.
True darkness — the kind that lingered in the Curator's voice and bled from his mark — was something else entirely.
It was a presence.
Heavy. Ancient. Watching.
And now it lived inside him.
---
[Scene: Campfire of the Crownless, Midnight Aftermath]
Kael sat apart from the others. His cloak drawn tight around him, though no cold touched the air. The Godbreaker Codex hovered beside him, pages flicking in a silent breeze no one else could feel.
His mind replayed the notification:
[You have triggered a Forbidden Legacy Quest: Rise of the Voidwalker]
· Time Remaining to Choose: 41 Hours
· Accepting will sever ties with the Celestial Path.
· Rejecting will seal the Voidbrand permanently.
His hand hovered over the Codex.
Selena approached quietly. Her shadow stretched long across the rocks.
"We followed you because you burned brighter than the sun, Kael. Not because of the path. Not because of the Codex."
She crouched beside him.
"Even if you fall into the abyss… we'll drag you back. That's a promise."
He didn't answer.
Because deep down, Kael wasn't sure if he wanted to come back.
---
[Flashback: The Voice of Aetharion]
Kael's dream was not a dream.
He stood in a sky with no stars. Just swirling echoes of power.
A man stood opposite him — hair like silver flame, eyes filled with broken time.
"You've touched what I touched. The Void is not evil. But the gods fear it."
"Because it is the one thing they cannot rewrite."
Kael stepped forward.
"Are you Aetharion?"
The figure smiled. Sadly.
"I was. Before I walked into the dark to save what was left of the real realms."
"If you continue, you will never be just Kael again. You'll be the end of prophecy. The flame outside the book."
Then Aetharion held out a single glowing ember.
"When the time comes, choose not what is safe… but what is true."
---
[Kael Awakens – The Codex Responds]
Kael sat up gasping. His palm burned. On it was the glowing ember.
The Codex turned black. Its glow faded — only to ignite again in violet flame.
Codex Update:
Void Page 1 Activated
Skill Learned: Abyssal Reversal
Rewinds time in a 5-meter radius for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 hour. Usable only when health 25%
You have accepted the seed of the Void.
Your fate-thread resists divine observation.
Kael's eyes widened.
He hadn't chosen yet.
But the Void… had already begun choosing him.
---
[Crisis – A Target Painted in Ash]
Far beyond their camp, in the Sanctum of Solarian, alarms rang across celestial mirrors.
The envoy's death. The Codex's awakening. The Voidbrand.
All traced back to one soul.
"Name?" asked a golden oracle.
"Kael. No surname. No house."
"Correction," the Oracle's eyes flared.
"Kael, Heir of the Unwritten Flame. Target: Class A++ Extermination Priority."