The sky split apart.
Not from lightning.
Not from magic.
Reality itself was tearing open.
Above Velkar, twelve enormous circles of light appeared one after another.
Each circle radiated a different color.
Gold.
Silver.
Crimson.
Emerald.
Violet.
Azure.
The pressure alone forced millions of people to their knees.
Kael struggled to breathe.
Even the air had become heavy.
Astra slowly whispered,
“They’re here…”
The first portal opened.
A young woman stepped out.
Long silver hair.
Crystal-blue eyes.
A white book floated behind her.
Every page turned on its own.
She looked at Kael for exactly one second…
Then smiled.
“Knowledge remembers you.”
Selene Veritas.
The Knowledge Throne Holder.
The second portal opened.
Fire erupted across the heavens.
A giant man covered in crimson armor descended slowly.
His body looked as though it had been forged inside a volcano.
A massive spear rested upon his shoulder.
Every step burned the air itself.
“The War Dog…”
Draven muttered.
The man laughed.
“Still alive, Draven?”
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
One after another…
Throne Holders descended.
Some looked like kings.
Some looked like ordinary people.
One looked no older than fifteen.
Another appeared to be an elderly woman.
Yet every single one possessed enough power to destroy nations.
Kael realized something.
There was no pattern.
Power didn’t care about age.
Power didn’t care about appearance.
Only the Throne mattered.
The final portal opened.
Silence consumed the world.
A young man stepped through.
Silver hair.
Golden eyes.
Floating clocks.
Orion Zephar.
He looked exactly the same as before.
Elegant.
Completely relaxed.
His eyes immediately found Kael.
Then Lyra.
A faint smile appeared.
“The future…”
He whispered.
“…has finally arrived.”
Draven slowly raised his sword.
“So we’re doing this now?”
The crimson-armored warrior laughed loudly.
“I’ve been waiting ten thousand years.”
Energy exploded across the battlefield.
Every Throne Holder released their aura.
The mountains cracked.
The clouds vanished.
The ocean hundreds of kilometers away erupted into massive waves.
Kael couldn’t even stand anymore.
He dropped to one knee.
“This…”
He gasped.
“…is impossible.”
The First Prisoner looked toward Kael.
“Watch carefully.”
Kael looked up.
“This…”
“…is the true power of a Throne.”
Without warning—
BOOM!!
The crimson warrior attacked Draven.
One punch.
Draven blocked with his sword.
The collision shattered three mountains behind them.
The shockwave reached Velkar seconds later.
Windows exploded.
Stone buildings collapsed.
People screamed.
Kael couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
This wasn’t war.
It was natural disaster.
Suddenly—
Orion moved.
Nobody saw him.
One moment he stood beside Selene.
The next—
He appeared directly in front of Lyra.
Kael reacted instantly.
“No!”
The undead army answered his call.
Hundreds of skeletal warriors burst from the ground.
Charging Orion.
The Time Throne Holder sighed.
“So predictable.”
He snapped his fingers.
Tick.
Everything stopped.
The undead froze.
Kael froze.
Even the rain stopped falling.
Time itself had stopped. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Only two people continued moving.
Orion.
And Lyra.
Orion looked at her sadly.
“You shouldn’t exist.”
Lyra looked confused.
“I don’t even know you.”
Orion smiled bitterly.
“You will.”
He gently placed his hand on her forehead.
A silver clock appeared.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Suddenly—
Lyra remembered.
Not memories from her childhood.
Memories from another life.
A burning city.
A dead Kael.
A broken black throne.
The end of the world.
She screamed.
Time resumed.
Kael rushed toward her.
“Lyra!”
She grabbed his arm tightly.
Her entire body trembled.
Tears streamed down her face.
She whispered only one sentence.
One sentence that froze everyone nearby.
“I watched you die…”
Silence.
Kael couldn’t answer.
Because Lyra wasn’t looking at him.
She was looking at someone else.
Someone who wasn’t there.
At that exact moment—
The gigantic prison gate beneath Velkar shook violently.
One more chain snapped.
CLANG!!
The crimson eyes behind the gate opened wider.
The whispers became laughter.
The First Prisoner slowly closed his eyes.
“We’re out of time.”
Then—
A voice echoed from the heavens.
Not from any Throne Holder.
Not from the prison.
Something older.
Something greater.
The entire world heard it.
“The Trial of the Thirteenth King… begins now.”
Every Throne Holder immediately looked toward Kael.
Not as an enemy.
Not as an ally.
But as the center of fate itself.
For the first time…
Kael understood.
This war had never been about the missing gods.
It had always been about him.
End of Chapter 16