Chapter 8: Judgement Descends
944 Words
Chapter 8: Judgment Descends
The violet pillar of light pierced the heavens.
Every cloud above Valoria was torn apart as if an invisible blade had split the sky itself. The city's bells began to ring on their own, their mournful chimes echoing through every street.
People stumbled out of their homes in confusion.
"What is that?"
"Look at the sky!"
"Is it... magic?"
Children pointed upward while their parents hurried them back inside. The older generation simply stared, their faces drained of color. Some of them remembered old stories their grandparents had whispered on sleepless nights.
Stories about the return of a king whose name had been erased from every history book.
---
Aiden floated a few feet above the shattered ground.
His silver eyes glowed like twin stars.
The pain that had consumed him moments ago was gone, replaced by an unsettling calm.
He could hear everything.
The beating hearts of frightened citizens.
The raindrops sliding from broken rooftops.
Even the breathing of the Void Sentinels standing fifty meters away.
The world had become... clear.
The voice of the Immortal King echoed softly within him.
"Do not lose yourself."
Aiden answered silently.
"I'm still here."
"Good."
"But our enemies won't care which of us they're facing."
---
The leader of the Void Sentinels slowly raised his spear.
"Emergency Protocol."
The six remaining Sentinels lowered themselves into battle stances.
"Judgment Formation."
Dark energy poured from their armor, flowing into the leader's weapon.
The crimson runes on the spear changed to black.
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Get away from them!"
Seraphina looked at him.
"What are they doing?"
"They've abandoned their mission."
"What?"
"They're no longer trying to capture him."
Lucien's voice became grim.
"They're going to destroy the entire city."
Seraphina's eyes widened.
"There are thousands of innocent people here!"
"I know."
---
The leader pointed his spear toward the heavens.
The clouds twisted into a massive black vortex.
Lightning unlike anything nature could create crackled across the sky.
A deep voice echoed from within the storm.
"Judgment approved."
The words did not sound human.
They sounded ancient.
As if the sky itself had spoken.
Citizens across Valoria fell to their knees, clutching their heads as an unbearable pressure descended upon the city.
Buildings trembled.
Windows exploded.
Stone walls cracked.
A little girl cried as she searched for her mother in the chaos.
An elderly man collapsed in the middle of the street, unable to breathe.
Aiden saw it all.
And something inside him broke.
"No..."
His whisper carried across the battlefield.
The Immortal King's voice spoke again.
"You remember this feeling."
Aiden closed his eyes.
"...Yes."
He did.
Not the memory itself.
The emotion.
The helplessness of watching innocent people suffer.
When he opened his eyes again, there was no anger in them.
Only resolve.
"I'm not letting anyone die."
---
Lucien looked at Aiden in silence.
For a heartbeat, he wasn't looking at the frightened nineteen-year-old orphan anymore.
He was looking at the king he had followed across countless battlefields.
The man who had always chosen others over himself.
Lucien smiled sadly.
"You haven't changed."
---
The black vortex above the city expanded until it covered the entire skyline.
The leader of the Sentinels spoke one final command.
"Execute."
A beam of black light descended from the heavens.
It was enormous.
Wide enough to erase half the city.
People screamed.
Some prayed.
Others simply closed their eyes.
Aiden took one step forward.
The silver ring on his finger burned with blinding light.
He lifted his right hand toward the sky.
"I don't know how..."
he whispered.
"...but I have to."
The Immortal King's voice became steady.
"Then trust me."
Aiden nodded.
"No."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Trust us."
The words echoed through his Soul Sea.
For the first time, Aiden and the Immortal King moved as one.
An enormous circle of violet light unfolded beneath his feet.
Ancient symbols appeared one after another, each glowing brighter than the last.
Lucien's eyes widened.
"That spell..."
Seraphina looked at him.
"You know it?"
He laughed quietly despite the danger.
"I helped him create it."
The black beam crashed downward.
At the very last second—
Aiden whispered two words.
"Heaven's Aegis."
A wall of radiant violet light erupted above Valoria.
The beam collided with the barrier.
The impact shook the earth.
A deafening explosion rolled across the kingdom, yet the barrier did not break.
Instead, the black energy shattered into countless sparks that rained harmlessly across the city like falling stars.
Below, terrified citizens slowly looked upward.
The deadly attack had been stopped.
Not a single person had been harmed.
A heavy silence settled over the battlefield.
Even the Void Sentinels remained motionless.
Their leader stared at Aiden for several long seconds before speaking.
"Threat assessment revised."
His grip tightened around his spear.
"The Sovereign has returned."
Far above the clouds, hidden behind the storm, twelve colossal thrones stood in a circle.
On eleven of them sat silent figures wrapped in robes of gold and shadow.
The twelfth throne, larger than all the others, was occupied by a man whose face remained hidden beneath a black crown.
He watched the events below without emotion.
Then he spoke.
"So..."
"The child survived."
His voice carried enough power to make the stars tremble.
A servant knelt before him.
"Your Majesty..."
"Shall we begin the purge?"
The man slowly rose from his throne.
His eyes burned like molten gold.
"No."
He looked toward the distant world below.
"I will go myself."
At that moment, for the first time in a thousand years...
The true ruler behind history took his first step toward the mortal world.
- Writer
