Celestial Awakening: The Call of the Ascendant

The Hollow Vale stretched endlessly before him, a land suspended between the real and the unreal. The whispers of the Abyssborn had faded, but their words lingered like specters in his mind. The Ashen King stood alone at the edge of oblivion, his crimson gaze locked onto the swirling mists that marked the boundary between Eidryn and the Rift.

Behind him, the ruins of a civilization long lost to time loomed in eerie silence. The air crackled with residual energy, remnants of a battle fought centuries ago—perhaps even longer. He could feel it in his bones, the echoes of forgotten gods, of warriors who had once dared to defy the fate imposed upon them.

And now, fate had placed him at the center of it all.

He turned his hand over, watching as tendrils of abyssal energy curled around his fingers. The power that coursed through him was different now—more controlled, more refined. No longer an anomaly, but something else. Something neither the gods nor the abyss had foreseen.

The wind shifted, carrying with it the distant hum of approaching forces.

The Eternal Dominion had not given up their pursuit.

A familiar presence touched his senses—one of divine origin.

He exhaled sharply. "So, they send another."

In the distance, golden light bloomed against the twilight horizon. A streak of celestial fire tore through the sky, descending toward him like a star falling from the heavens. The very ground trembled upon its arrival.

From the light emerged a figure clad in radiant armor, a great spear resting in their grip. Their eyes burned with holy fire, their very presence enough to suffocate lesser beings.

Seraphiel, the Blade of Judgement.

The gods' executioner.

The Ashen King studied him, unbothered by the celestial might before him. "I was wondering when they would send you."

Seraphiel's gaze remained impassive. "You should not exist."

"Yes," the Ashen King mused, flexing his fingers. "So I've been told."

The Seraph's wings flared, golden energy rippling outward in waves of sheer power. The ruins around them began to crumble under the weight of his presence.

"You were given a chance to disappear quietly," Seraphiel continued. "But you chose defiance. Now, I am here to correct that mistake."

The Ashen King chuckled. "Mistake? No… this was inevitable."

Seraphiel didn't respond with words. Instead, he moved.

The world blurred.

In an instant, the spear was already inches from the Ashen King's heart, its divine edge burning with the full wrath of the gods. But the Ashen King did not falter.

He tilted his head, narrowly avoiding the strike, and in the same breath, raised his hand. Abyssal energy erupted from his palm, clashing against Seraphiel's golden aura. The resulting shockwave shattered the ground beneath them, splitting the Hollow Vale asunder.

Seraphiel withdrew, but only for a fraction of a second. He struck again, faster this time. A barrage of attacks that would have shredded any mortal—or even a lesser deity—to ribbons. But the Ashen King met each blow, weaving through them with unnatural grace.

The spear flashed. The abyss pulsed.

A battle between divinity and anomaly.

Then, the Ashen King stepped forward.

Seraphiel's eyes widened—just slightly—as a shadow tendril lashed toward him from the ground. He dodged, but the momentary hesitation cost him.

The Ashen King closed the distance in a heartbeat.

His hand pressed against Seraphiel's chestplate, and abyssal energy surged forward like a tidal wave.

The impact sent the Seraph hurtling back, slamming into the crumbling ruins with enough force to reduce them to dust.

Silence followed.

The Ashen King did not move. He simply waited.

Then, from the rubble, Seraphiel rose.

His armor was cracked, golden light seeping from the fractures. His divine essence burned hotter, fueled by something close to… fury.

"You have overstepped your bounds," he said, voice colder than before.

The sky darkened.

Above them, celestial runes ignited, forming intricate patterns across the heavens. The temperature shifted, the very air vibrating with the force of an impending divine reckoning.

The Ashen King exhaled. "So, this is what they call 'divine retribution'?"

Seraphiel lifted his spear skyward. "No."

The heavens opened.

"This is eradication."

The Gods' Wrath

The celestial runes expanded, merging into an enormous sigil of divine power. Golden chains of light descended, each link inscribed with the authority of the gods. They coiled around the Ashen King, tightening instantly, locking him in place.

The moment they touched his skin, they burned—not his flesh, but something deeper. His very existence.

Seraphiel did not hesitate.

He raised his spear, now wreathed in divine fire, and descended upon his captive foe.

For any other being, this would have been the end.

But the Ashen King was no ordinary being.

He did not scream. He did not struggle. He merely closed his eyes.

And then, he embraced the abyss.

Darkness exploded outward, shattering the divine chains as if they were mere illusions. The force of it turned the land itself inside out, consuming all light, all form, all law.

When the darkness receded, the Ashen King stood untouched.

Seraphiel froze.

The spear in his hand trembled.

The divine energy around him flickered.

The gods were watching.

And for the first time…

They were afraid.

The Ashen King slowly raised his gaze, crimson eyes glowing with something beyond mortal comprehension.

Something beyond divinity.

"You do not understand," he said quietly.

Then, he moved.

It was not speed.

It was not teleportation.

It was something else entirely.

One moment, he stood before Seraphiel.

The next, his hand was wrapped around the Seraph's throat.

Seraphiel's golden eyes widened in shock.

"You are bound by the laws of this world," the Ashen King murmured, his grip tightening. "I am not."

He clenched his fist.

Seraphiel's divine aura shattered.

The world trembled.

The heavens screamed.

And in that moment, the gods realized their greatest mistake.

They had created something they could not control.

They had let the Ashen King return.

And now…

Now, he would show them what that truly meant.