The sky above Azure Wind City had turned white.
Not with clouds.
With light.
Thousands of figures floated above the academy, dressed in white and gold armor. Their presence pressed down upon the city like an invisible mountain.
At the center stood the man with seven golden halos.
The **Heavenly Executor**.
Kael stood beneath the academy, sword in hand.
Seraphine was beside him.
Lyra and Elder Hale remained a few steps behind.
No one spoke.
Then the Executor raised his hand.
"Starborn."
His voice echoed across the entire city.
"Your reincarnation has already violated the Celestial Accord."
Kael looked upward.
"I don't remember agreeing to your rules."
The Executor's eyes narrowed.
"You remember nothing."
"Then why are you afraid of me?"
Silence.
The soldiers above shifted uneasily.
Kael smiled.
That was enough of an answer.
The Executor's expression hardened.
"Destroy the academy."
The celestial soldiers raised their weapons.
Golden energy gathered above them.
Lyra stepped forward.
"We can't fight thousands."
Kael looked at the sky.
"We don't have to."
Seraphine looked at him.
"What are you planning?"
Kael closed his eyes.
The Voidheart pulsed.
His newly awakened **Void Sense** spread across the academy.
He could see every formation.
Every magical barrier.
Every energy current.
Then he noticed something.
The academy itself was built upon an enormous formation.
It wasn't an ordinary defensive formation.
It was a **teleportation array**.
Kael opened his eyes.
"Everyone stand behind me."
Hale immediately understood.
"You found the ancient formation."
Kael nodded.
"Can you activate it?"
Hale smiled grimly.
"Perhaps."
"Then do it."
The celestial soldiers attacked.
Thousands of golden spears descended from the sky.
**BOOOOOOM!**
The academy barrier activated.
Golden and blue energy collided.
The entire mountain shook.
Cracks spread across the protective barrier.
Students screamed.
Instructors rushed to protect them.
Kael stepped forward.
His system appeared.
> **[Emergency Quest.]**
>
> ### Survive the Heavenly Execution
>
> **Objective:** Protect yourself and designated allies.
>
> **Reward:** Sovereign Awakening Fragment
>
> **Failure:** Death.
Kael smiled.
"Finally."
The system asked:
> **[Activate Sovereign Mode?]**
Kael's eyes widened.
"Yes."
For a moment—
nothing happened.
Then the Voidheart inside his chest exploded with energy.
**BOOM!**
Black energy surrounded Kael.
His hair lifted in the wind.
A dark aura spread across the battlefield.
His cultivation began rising.
**Stage 3.**
**Stage 4.**
**Stage 5.**
Then it stopped.
Kael opened his eyes.
They had changed.
One was silver.
The other was black.
The system appeared.
### **[SOVEREIGN AWAKENING — 1%]**
**Temporary Effects:**
Strength ×5
Agility ×5
Spirit ×5
Void Affinity: Maximum
Mental Resistance: Absolute
Duration: 60 seconds
Lyra stared at him.
"Kael..."
He looked completely different.
Not stronger.
Not merely faster.
Different.
As if the person standing before her was something that had existed long before this world.
The first celestial soldier reached the ground.
Kael disappeared.
**BOOM!**
The soldier was thrown across the battlefield.
Another attacked.
Kael stepped sideways.
A black line appeared across the soldier's armor.
The armor split.
The soldier collapsed.
The third raised a spear.
Kael caught it with one hand.
The spear shattered.
The soldiers froze.
Kael looked at them.
"Is this Heaven's army?"
No one answered.
Kael smiled.
"I'm disappointed."
He vanished again.
For sixty seconds, the battlefield became chaos.
Kael moved through the celestial soldiers like a shadow.
He didn't kill them.
He simply disabled them.
Every attack was precise.
Every movement calculated.
The system continuously analyzed their techniques.
> **[Celestial Sword Art analyzed.]**
>
> **[Heavenly Step analyzed.]**
>
> **[Golden Body Technique analyzed.]**
>
> **[New skill acquired: Heavenly Step.]**
Kael suddenly stopped.
The final soldier standing before him was shaking.
Kael looked up.
The Heavenly Executor was descending.
Seven golden halos rotated behind him.
"Enough."
He raised one hand.
The entire sky turned gold.
Kael's Sovereign Mode flickered.
The system warned him.
> **[Warning.]**
>
> **[Enemy possesses overwhelming power.]**
>
> **[Sovereign Awakening insufficient.]**
Kael's smile faded.
The Executor pointed toward him.
A golden beam descended.
**BOOOOOOM!**
Kael crossed his arms.
The attack threw him through three walls.
"Kael!"
Lyra ran toward him.
Seraphine stopped her.
"Don't."
"But—"
"He's not finished."
From the rubble, Kael slowly stood.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
He wiped it away.
Then laughed.
The Executor looked surprised.
"You survived."
Kael looked at his system.
Sovereign Awakening had only a few seconds remaining.
Then another notification appeared.
**[Extreme danger detected.]**
**[Sovereign Awakening Fragment responding to threat.]**
**[Emergency evolution initiated.]**
**[Voidheart synchronization: 1% → 3%]**
**[New ability unlocked.]**
### **Sovereign Domain — Incomplete
Kael felt the world become silent.
Everything around him slowed.
The celestial soldiers.
The falling debris.
The wind.
Even the Executor.
Kael raised his hand.
A black sphere expanded from his body.
The golden energy in the sky disappeared wherever it touched.
The Executor's eyes widened.
"Impossible."
Kael looked at him.
"You said my second life ends today."
He stepped forward.
The ground beneath him cracked.
"Unfortunately..."
His black-and-silver eyes burned.
"You forgot something."
The Executor stared.
"What?"
Kael smiled.
"I've already died once."
The Sovereign Domain expanded.
**BOOM!**
Every celestial soldier within its range fell from the sky.
The Executor was forced backward for the first time.
Seraphine watched silently.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"He's beginning to remember."
Lyra looked at her.
"Remember what?"
Seraphine didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward Kael.
"Who he really is."
Kael raised his sword.
The Heavenly Executor finally removed the calm expression from his face.
Seven golden halos transformed into enormous blades.
"Then remember this."
"I personally executed you ten thousand years ago."
Kael's expression b
ecame cold.
"Then I'll return the favor."
The two figures disappeared.
A black sword and a golden blade collided above the academy.
**BOOOOOOOOOOM!**
The shockwave spread across Azure Wind City.
And deep beneath the academy, something else awakened.
A second heartbeat.
**Thump.**
**Thump.**
**Thump.**
The Star Prison was not empty.
Something else had been sleeping inside.
And it had just opened its eyes.
**To be continued...**