Rahul Flashback Arc — Chapter 4
"Power is terrifying.
But love, turned into vengeance?
That's what makes stars run."
— Aeyra Vordrakar
Scene 1: The Sky Held Its Breath
Rahul returned. Alone.
No weapon.
No army.
No crown.
His cloak dragged starlight like ash.
His eyes?
Empty. Not angry. Just… done.
The heavens sensed it.
A thousand star systems aligned.
And then turned away.
For the first time in creation—
The stars fled.
Scene 2: The Pantheon Reborn
The gods he'd erased tried to return—twisted, reincarnated echoes.
Seven altars. Seven new forms.
They stood high atop the Astral Throne of Aetherion.
"You dare walk into our domain, mortal?"
Rahul raised one hand.
Not in threat. In memory.
"You killed the only thing that made me gentle."
He stepped forward.
And the sky turned black.
Scene 3: The Release of Memoryflame
It didn't roar.
It hummed.
A low, haunting sound that turned light into ash.
Rahul's Memoryflame burst from his chest.
Not red.
Not violet.
White.
Pure.
Emptiness shaped by everything he loved — and lost.
"This isn't power," he whispered.
"It's all I have left."
The flame spread without control.
Time bent.
The divine realm cracked.
Words stopped working.
Reality ran.
Scene 4: One Move, Seven Deaths
Rahul stepped once.
And all seven gods died.
No scream.
No battle.
Just a moment…
…then absence.
Entire constellations collapsed.
A realm that took eons to build
—was erased in one breath.
"You don't deserve to be remembered," he said.
Scene 5: What Eon Witnessed
Eon Thalor, far across the celestial boundary, felt it.
Not pain.
Sorrow deeper than death.
He fell to one knee.
"That's not destruction," he murmured.
"That's the death of hope made fire."
He wept.
For Rahul.
For everything he used to be.
Scene 6: The Aftermath — A Broken Emperor
Rahul stood alone.
In nothing.
The entire dimension gone.
The stars still refusing to return.
He looked at his hand.
The flame wouldn't stop burning.
"So this is what love costs," he said.
He let the flame go.
And walked away.
Final Echo
Centuries later, Kaien would hear this story from a dying priest.
"He didn't fight gods because he hated them."
"He fought them because they killed the last reason he didn't become one."