Chapter 37: The first death

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The First Death

Kael walked slowly, limping with every step. The glow of gold and red still lingered in the sky, bleeding across the clouds like a wound that refused to close.

"You're insanely strong," he said, his voice low and hoarse. "I guess you must have launched him to that bridge. Meters away."

Tracy didn't slow. Her footsteps were steady, measured, calm.

"Yeah. When I get angry, I can't control the power of my legs." She glanced back at him, her golden eyes catching the fading light. "With this, I can level multiple districts at my peak. So the bridge is just the start."

Kael's eyes widened. "I... I underestimated you."

Tracy stopped walking.

Her body went still. Her head tilted slightly, her gaze fixed on something far beyond him.

"No," she said, her voice quieter now. "It's me that underestimated you. The vessel of that thing."

She turned to face him fully.

"I thought you were just some useless kid Percy took interest in. But when I stared into your eyes that day — they turned void. I knew."

Kael was silent.

Tracy's eyes narrowed.

"You saw—"

SLIT!

The air changed.

A single sound cut through the silence — a sharp crack, like something breaking open.

Then — blood.

Kael's head flew up from his neck, spinning through the air like water, rotating slowly, almost gracefully. Blood sprayed in a wide arc, catching the gold and red glow of the sky. His eyes were still open, wide with shock — frozen in that final moment of not understanding.

"K-Kael?" Tracy stammered.

Her voice cracked. The word felt foreign on her tongue, impossible.

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His body dropped. Heavy. Final. His head rolled across the ground, coming to a stop several meters in front of her. His eyes still open. Still staring. Still not understanding.

From a tall building miles away, a woman lowered a metal scope. She wiped sweat from her forehead with a napkin, her red lips curling.

"Woof," Ms. Ken murmured. "Lovely."

---

Blackout.

Absolute darkness.

Kael's head was bent low. He sat on a solid pool of endless black, his body heavy, his mind empty. Beneath him, the black liquid moved slowly — alive, waiting.

Across from him, a floating disc of solid shadows hovered. On it sat a being constructed to look exactly like him — completely black, like void given form. Its legs were crossed, its jaw resting on its fist, watching him with a smile that never wavered.

Kael didn't look at it. He couldn't process anything.

Then a voice cut through the silence.

"Help me! Help me!"

Mara's voice. Weak. Broken.

"Brother Kael..."

Kael's finger twitched.

The void vanished.

Everything turned white — blinding, endless.

Then colors flooded in.

The wind moved again.

Kael sat on a wooden bench next to Mara. The sky was orange and faint, casting a warm glow over everything. Her brown skin shimmered in the light. Her open gap teeth smiled at him.

"Kael." Her voice was warm. Soft. Alive.

"Yes?"

She tilted her head, studying him. "You look tired."

He sighed, raising his head to look at her — then bent it low again.

Silence stretched between them. Long. Heavy. Comfortable in its weight.

"It's just beginning," Mara said. "I hope you know that. There's a lot for you to know."

Kael looked at her. "I do know that. But I prefer to be with you."

She smiled wider, her open gap teeth showing. She placed her warm palm on his.

"I need you to promise me one thing."

"What is that?"

Her smile grew wilder. Her eyes held something ancient — something beyond her years.

"You will discover every secret of who you are. Who I am. And who they are."

She paused. Her voice softened.

"Till then, you won't rest. That is all I ask of you."

Her voice echoed on the last word. She faded to dust, scattering like ash in the wind.

Kael's eyes opened.

He was back in the void.

His gaze rose slowly, locking onto the being sitting opposite him. The shadow constructed in his image. Waiting. Smiling.

He paused.

Then — he spoke.

"Smile."

The wind around him howled. The moving dark liquid beneath him rippled. The solid black ground beneath him began to crack.

A slow smile crept across Kael's face.

Doom.

Tick tock.

Reality twisted. Space bent inward — every frame of Kael's head flying backward, receding to the moment before the bullet could hit him.

The wind blushed. The bullet grazed above his head.

His body bent low — impossibly, supernaturally. He turned around. His eyes were blackened.

"Oh, so that's the new skill we unlocked." Crucify's voice was amused. "Wow."

Miles away, Ken paused. Her finger froze above the scope.

How? How did that happen? She muttered, her eyes wide, her breath catching in her throat.

"It's because you're too slow."

Two voices spoke from behind her.

Ken spun around.

Kael was already there, leaning into a wall in the room behind her.

"No way", she whispered, staggering back.

She flicked her fingers and vanished.

"Wait! Wait!" Crucify's mouth fell open. "Wait — how? How could you just vanish like that? We haven't even fought!"

Kael fell to his knees, his body trembling. His voice broke as he spoke aloud — but to himself, to Crucify.

"It's all because of that blue elf's idea of adding vanishing abilities to beast souls." His voice cracked. "I told him. I told him not to add vanishing abilities to any class of beasts souls."

He paused, breathing heavily.

"You know what?" Crucify muttered. "Just take over your stupid body."

Kael's eyes turned normal.

Tracy stood still behind him.

"Have you switched?" she asked.

Kael nodded, sweat pouring from his face. He panted heavily, his chest heaving.

---

Upper Spires — Miles Away

Selene sat relaxed in a lavish room, a clean smoking pipe connected to her lips. Her legs were crossed. A floating mirror hovered before her, showing everything that had just happened.

Percy sat nearby.

"Wasn't he looking cute when he died?" Selene asked, her voice smooth, almost bored.

Percy was quiet for a moment. "It surprised me. I never knew something was living in him."

Selene chuckled softly, taking a slow drag from her pipe.

"Oh, you mean Crucy?" She waved her hand casually. "He's just a little stupid. And disrespectful. Nobody jokes with that one. Not even me."

She said it so casually. So beautifully.

The mirror vanished...

And selene smiled. "The game is really just getting started"

End of Chapter Thirty-Seven