Chapter 18
The sky of the Shattered Spiral Realm churned like a living storm, lightning crawling in reverse while gravity bent sideways. The air itself screamed.
A thousand divine beings stood still gods, titans, ancient spirits watching from high altars and floating thrones. They had all gathered, not to witness a fight... but a judgment.
> "Wait… that's not just anyone" "Is that… Mithros?"
"The Spiral Herald… the one who vanished during the collapse of the Sixth Realm?"
A thick, pulsating wave of void-born energy pushed across the realm like an ocean tide. From the veil of collapsing stars stepped a figure no longer fully divine nor mortal Mithros, cloaked in spiraling flames and fractured time.
His voice echoed like fractured glass.
> "Zereth Kaine... the devourer of order, the silence between screams. I've come to collapse your myth."
Zereth stood unmoving, robes drifting in the unnatural wind. His golden eyes pierced through the madness like twin suns, calm yet unshakable.
> "You returned from the Spiral just to die twice?"
The air cracked.
Mithros launched forward, bending reality with each step. Blades of compressed dimensions rained upon Zereth who dodged with an elegance that felt... bored. But then a strike landed.
A flick of blood hit the stone.
The crowd gasped. Even the gods leaned forward.
> "He… he actually drew blood?" "This hasn't happened in eons…" "Is this the beginning of his downfall?"
Zereth looked at his wound not deep, but present. He raised his eyes, his voice low and cold:
> "You took a piece of me. That's rare."
"It's been a while since I needed to say a name…"
The world stilled.
He raised a hand.
> "Ashkar—Unseal."
The skies tore open. Behind him, a colossal black ring bloomed like a divine eclipse, etched with runes that no god dared read. From his palm, a spear of collapsing light formed—so dense it swallowed sound, so bright it burned the shadows.
> "That… that name... 'Ashkar'? No... that was a sealed name from the Age of Silence"
"Only the Old Sovereigns knew of it!"
"Why does he have it?!"
Mithros took a single step back.
Zereth's voice dropped into something even deeper almost ancient.
> "I warned you all."
"Bother me again…"
"And you'll become a lesson."
He lowered the spear.
The Spiral around Mithros began to scream.
> "No—WAIT—!"