Eclipse Requiem

A **sharp inhale**.

Kael's eyes shot open.

He was on his back, staring up at a dark, storm-filled sky. **Thunder rumbled** in the distance, and the scent of rain mixed with the lingering stench of scorched stone and blood. His entire body felt **heavy**, as if he had been crushed beneath the weight of something far beyond his comprehension.

**What… happened?**

Then, it all came flooding back—

The battle with **Veydris**, the **Fragment**, and the searing pain as it forced itself into his very soul.

His breathing quickened as he sat up, his body screaming in protest. A cold sweat clung to his skin, and a dull ache **throbbed in his chest** where the Fragment had entered. He pressed a trembling hand against his ribs and—

**The Eclipse Seal was… reacting.**

The cursed sigil on his back burned with an unfamiliar intensity, a heat that wasn't just physical—it was **pulling at something inside him**.

Something **new.**

Kael gritted his teeth. He had to push through this. He had to—

"You're finally awake."

The voice was calm, yet sharp—like a dagger wrapped in silk.

Kael turned his head toward the source.

**Saren stood nearby, watching him with cautious eyes.**

Her dark cloak was tattered, her face smudged with ash and dried blood, but she was **alive**. That was more than he could say for most.

Beyond her, the battlefield was a **graveyard**. The ruins of the Inquisitor's stronghold stretched in all directions—collapsed walls, shattered stone, and the lingering presence of destruction.

There was no sign of Veydris.

Only **Kael remained.**

He forced himself to his feet, **ignoring the pain** lancing through his body.

Saren's gaze flickered to his chest. "You absorbed it, didn't you?"

Kael exhaled. "...Yeah."

Her expression darkened. "That's not good."

**He knew that.**

He just didn't know how **bad** it really was.

---

### **The Change Within**

As they left the ruins behind, Kael could feel it—the **Fragment's presence** inside him. It was unlike the Eclipse Seal, which had always been a force of chaos barely restrained within his body.

This was **different**.

It wasn't just power.

It was **knowledge.**

He could hear whispers—not like the maddening, abyssal voices of the seal, but something else. **Faint echoes of the past**, lingering in his thoughts. A name—no, a **title**—kept resurfacing in his mind.

**The Ascendant's Will.**

**What did it mean?**

Kael clenched his fists. **There was no time to figure it out now.**

They had to keep moving.

The Holy Order wouldn't just **ignore** what had happened here.

If anything, absorbing the Fragment had **painted an even bigger target on his back.**

---

### **The Hunter and the Hunted**

Three days passed.

Kael and Saren traveled through the desolate wastelands beyond the Inquisitor's stronghold, avoiding the main roads and keeping to the shadows.

But something wasn't right.

Kael **felt them before he saw them.**

At first, it was just a **faint presence** on the edge of his senses. Then it grew stronger, creeping closer—watching, waiting.

They were being **hunted.**

And whoever it was… they were **patient.**

Saren noticed it too.

"We're not alone," she muttered, hand resting on the hilt of her dagger.

Kael's muscles tensed. **He knew.**

Then—

A single whisper echoed in his mind.

**"Found you."**

Kael barely had time to react before the **first arrow struck.**

He twisted instinctively, the projectile barely grazing his shoulder. A second later, **four more followed.**

Too fast. Too precise.

**These weren't ordinary hunters.**

Saren moved instantly, flipping backward as a barrage of arrows rained down from the rocky cliffs above. She threw a dagger mid-air, her aim deadly accurate—**but the blade never hit its mark.**

A **blur of movement** intercepted it.

Kael's eyes locked onto their pursuer just as they stepped into view.

A **lone figure** stood atop the ridge, the wind whipping around them. Their armor was black, their face obscured by a hooded mask. In their hands, a **midnight-forged bow** still hummed with energy.

Kael's pulse quickened.

He knew who this was.

**A Blacklight Archer.**

The Holy Order's **assassins.** Elite hunters trained to kill **without mercy.**

The assassin tilted their head slightly. Then, with a smooth motion, they **drew another arrow.**

Kael barely had time to curse before the **next attack came.**

---

### **The Eclipse Awakens**

**Pain exploded in Kael's arm** as he barely deflected the shot with his sword. He was fast—**but not fast enough.**

The archer was toying with him.

Testing his reactions.

Kael's blood **boiled.**

**Enough.**

The burning sensation in his chest **intensified.** The Fragment—**the Ascendant's Will—was responding.**

For the first time since he absorbed it, Kael **let go.**

A **wave of raw power surged through him.**

His vision darkened at the edges, the air around him distorting as his body reacted. The sigil on his back pulsed—its markings glowing a **deep, abyssal black** intertwined with streaks of silver light.

His sword—once a simple Abyssforged Blade—**changed.**

Black flames coiled around it, but now, intertwined with a strange, radiant glow. It was **no longer just abyssal energy.**

It was something **new.**

The assassin hesitated—only for a second.

But that was all Kael needed.

He **moved.**

In a blink, he was no longer standing where he had been. The air behind him cracked from the force of his step as he closed the distance in an instant.

The assassin barely had time to react. Their bow shifted, but—

Kael's blade was already there.

A single strike.

A burst of energy **ripped through the battlefield** as the assassin was sent flying, their body **slamming into the stone wall behind them.**

Dust and debris filled the air.

Saren watched, wide-eyed. "Kael… what did you just—"

He barely heard her.

His breathing was ragged. His heart pounded.

The **power** inside him wasn't fading this time.

It was **awake.**

And for the first time…

Kael wasn't sure if he could **control it.**