NOVEL WEB Chapter 32: Those Who Burn the Chains
"The first step to freedom isn't breaking the chain—it's daring to believe it can be broken."
---
📍 Velmire Outskirts – Crater Zone
The portal site from the recent anomaly still crackled with unstable mana. A smoking carcass of one of the Arconte spawn lay twitching, its anatomy defying any known biology.
A group stood around it—cloaked, masked, their eyes glowing faintly with fire sigils.
One among them stepped forward, removing his mask.
Dark-skinned, silver hair, with a scar across his temple.
Commander Rhaz.
He knelt by the body and placed a hand over the twisted remains.
> "This… wasn't summoned. It tore itself through the veil."
He looked to his team.
"Burn it."
---
📍 Faction Identified: The Ember Chain
> [Codename: Flamebound Rebellion]
[Objective: Annihilation of all Arconte-linked systems]
[Status: Wanted by Central Guild Authority]
[Leader: Rhaz Valen – Former First Class Hunter (Exiled)]
---
📍 Shadow Flame Stronghold – Training Arena
Kael walked slowly, bandaged but upright.
The Hollow Watcher observed him from the shade.
"You're recovering faster than expected."
Kael didn't answer.
He focused on the obsidian training post, lifted Nullfang, and slashed.
The post didn't break—it disintegrated.
The blade hummed with rejection.
> [New Trait Unlocked: Reality Breach – Rank 1]
"You may now interact with unstable world threads."
Myrla stepped in. "Kael… the system barely registers you now. You're becoming something else."
Kael turned. "I have to. They're no longer hiding."
---
📍 Central Guild – War Room
Ezrien paced, furious.
"Who opened Project Oblivion?! That file was locked under Supreme Command Order."
No one responded.
A junior archivist approached, trembling.
"We… we found a trace signature, encoded in Emberfire."
Ezrien's blood ran cold.
"…Rhaz."
She turned to the map: multiple chain-burn signatures in the south.
And at the center of it—a beacon calling to Kael.
---
📍 Velmire Highlands – Ember Chain Sanctuary
Rhaz stood before a brazier of living flame.
"Kael Ardan walks the edge of system and void," he declared to his people. "But he does not yet understand the fire."
Behind him, dozens of rebels lit their sigils.
"Let him come. Let him choose."
---
📍 Final Scene – Kael's Vision
That night, Kael dreamed of chains melting in fire.
He stood in a circle of flame, surrounded by echoes of those lost.
His father stood in the center, cloaked in burning light.
> "To fight the Arcontes is not to protect the world…"
"It is to rebuild it."
Kael awoke, heart racing.
And far off, the Ember Chain ignited a signal only he could see.
---