A blinding light consumed the ruins as Sylas rose above the shattered throne, his body no longer bound by mortal limitations. He had ascended.
The energy pouring from him was unlike anything Kael had ever felt older than the gods, rawer than the Well of Eternity itself. It wasn't just power; it was creation and destruction intertwined.
Kael pushed himself up from the rubble, his vision swimming. Beside him, Lyra groaned, clutching her ribs as she staggered to her feet.
Above them, Sylas extended his hand, and the air cracked under the sheer force of his presence.
"I told you," Sylas said, his voice resonating with something inhuman. "You thought you could erase the gods, but you only made way for something greater."
A golden spear of energy formed in his palm, its edges flickering like wildfire.
"And now," he continued, aiming the spear at Kael, "I will reshape this world in my image."
Kael's heart pounded. They were outmatched. He had faced gods before, had fought against fate itself but this was something different. Sylas wasn't just wielding power. He had become the source of it.
Lyra took a sharp breath. "We need to move now!"
The spear launched.
Kael barely had time to react before Lyra grabbed his wrist, shadows twisting around them, and in an instant, they were gone teleporting away just as the golden spear obliterated the ground where they had stood.
They reappeared atop a crumbling archway at the edge of the ruins. Below them, the chamber where Sylas had ascended collapsed entirely, golden fire spreading like veins of molten destruction.
Kael clenched his fists. "We can't run forever."
Lyra wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. "Then what do you suggest? Because right now, we have nothing that can stop that."
Sylas turned toward them, floating above the destruction, golden energy spiraling around him like a storm. He raised his hand again, summoning another spear.
Kael made a decision.
"We're going to need something stronger," he said, his gaze hard. "Something even older than him."
Lyra's eyes widened as she realized what he meant.
"No," she said immediately. "You're not serious."
But Kael was already moving.
Because if Sylas had found a power that predated the gods…
Then Kael would find something even older.
Even deadlier.
And if it meant breaking the world again?
So be it.