NOVEL WEB Chapter 36: March of the Arcontes
"When the sky fractures and the stars bleed, the true rulers walk again."
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📍 Velmire – Sky Above the Broken Citadel
At first, it was just silence.
Then, the wind died.
Birds vanished from the sky.
Mana itself froze, suspended mid-flow.
The clouds above the city split down the middle like torn paper—revealing a rippling void of stars and chains.
And from that scar in reality…
Vel'Zhara descended.
No thunder. No screams. Just a pressure that made the air scream without sound.
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📍 Arconte Manifestation – Level Omega
> Subject: Vel'Zhara
Classification: Worldbreaker-Class Entity
Core Signature: [Unquantifiable]
System Influence: Total Override
Threat Level: EX+
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He hovered above the ruins, cloaked in robes of flowing gravity and fractured time. His face was hidden by a crown of chains, his presence so immense that buildings began to decay just by proximity.
People dropped to their knees, not from worship—from system failure.
> [System Error: Authority Override Detected]
[Your access has been revoked.]
[System Admin: Vel'Zhara Online]
"At last… the cage cracks."
His voice echoed across minds, not ears.
He raised a hand. Reality rippled.
One of the Guild towers imploded in silence, reduced to ash and memory.
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📍 Guild Central – Emergency Broadcast
"—we are witnessing the first full manifestation of an Arconte. Repeat: Vel'Zhara has entered the physical plane."
Ezrien watched the live feed—static, distortion, then the image of Vel'Zhara's form blotting out the sun over Velmire.
"He's not even fighting," she whispered. "And we're already losing."
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📍 Ember Chain Sanctuary – Southern Watchpoint
Kael stood at the edge of the citadel cliffs, his body still aching from the trial.
He could see the fracture in the sky—feel it in his bones.
Rhaz joined him.
"That… is what your father tried to stop."
Kael clenched his fists.
"If that's what we're up against… I need to get stronger. Much stronger."
Rhaz placed something in his hand—an emberbound medallion.
"Then it's time you awaken the second flame."
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📍 Final Scene – Inside the Fracture
Within the dimensional scar, two more Arcontes moved in the background—obscured, observing.
Vel'Zhara turned slowly, as if sensing them.
He whispered, not to Kael, but to the world:
> "Let him struggle. Let him bleed. Let him hope."
> "We will burn that hope into obedience."
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