The capital stopped breathing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even the seven Sovereigns were silent.
The creature standing before Kael looked almost human.
Almost.
A black crown floated above its head.
Its body was made of darkness, but beneath that darkness Kael could see something familiar.
A face.
His face.
Older.
Colder.
Broken.
Kael stared at it.
"What are you?"
The creature tilted its head.
"I already told you."
Its voice was Kael's voice.
"I am what remains of you."
Kael tightened his grip around his broken sword.
"That doesn't answer my question."
The creature smiled.
"Then ask yourself."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The system appeared.
[WARNING.]
[Paradoxical existence detected.]
[Target cannot be classified.]
Kael froze.
For the first time since awakening, the system couldn't identify something.
"Can you defeat it?"
A pause.
Then—
[Unknown.]
Kael's expression changed.
The creature laughed.
"You see?"
It walked toward him.
"You have spent your entire life believing that your power belongs to you."
Kael remained still.
"It doesn't."
The creature touched its chest.
"It belonged to me first."
Liora stepped forward.
"Kael."
He didn't look at her.
"Stay back."
"But—"
"Please."
She stopped.
Something in his voice was different.
Not cold.
Not angry.
Afraid.
Kael looked at the creature.
"You're my predecessor."
The creature smiled.
"Closer."
"You were the previous holder of Absolute Authority."
"Yes."
"What happened to you?"
The creature looked toward the sky.
"I won."
Kael frowned.
"Won what?"
"Everything."
The creature's smile disappeared.
"I defeated every enemy. Destroyed every god. Rewrote every war. Resurrected every person I had lost."
It looked at its hands.
"And every time I used the Authority, I paid the price."
Kael's heart sank.
"Emotional erosion."
The creature nodded.
"At first, I lost fear."
Kael stared.
"Then anger."
"Then joy."
"Then grief."
The creature's voice became quieter.
"Eventually, I lost the ability to love."
Liora looked at Kael.
He didn't move.
The creature continued.
"But I still had memories."
It pointed at its head.
"I remembered loving people."
"I remembered laughing."
"I remembered crying."
"But I couldn't feel any of it."
Kael whispered:
"Then what happened?"
The creature looked directly into his eyes.
"I tried to use Absolute Authority to restore myself."
Kael's expression hardened.
"And?"
"I couldn't."
Silence.
"Because the Authority can change the world."
The creature smiled sadly.
"But it cannot decide what a human heart should be."
Kael lowered his sword.
"So you became this."
"No."
The creature shook its head.
"I became nothing."
It touched the black crown above its head.
"This is merely the part of me that refused to disappear."
Kael understood.
The creature wasn't the previous god.
It was the remnant left behind after that god had sacrificed everything human about himself.
A living scar.
A warning.
A possible future.
Kael looked at his own palm.
The black mark was pulsing.
"What do you want?"
The creature answered immediately.
"You."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"I don't belong to you."
"You don't understand."
The creature stepped closer.
"The Authority has begun choosing you."
"Why?"
"Because you're still human."
Kael said nothing.
The creature's expression became almost desperate.
"And that is exactly why you must give it up."
Suddenly—
a golden spear flew through the air.
The first Sovereign attacked.
Kael moved instinctively.
He blocked the spear.
But the remnant didn't.
The spear passed directly through it.
Nothing happened.
The Sovereign froze.
"What?"
The remnant turned toward the god.
"You still don't understand."
Black energy spread across its body.
"I am not alive."
The Sovereign stepped backward.
For the first time—
it looked afraid.
The remnant raised one hand.
The Sovereign disappeared.
Not erased.
Not destroyed.
Its existence simply folded inward until nothing remained.
The other six Sovereigns attacked simultaneously.
The sky exploded.
Kael watched.
The remnant didn't move.
Every attack disappeared before reaching it.
One by one, the Sovereigns vanished.
Seven ancient gods.
Gone in seconds.
Kael's expression became serious.
"You could have done that from the beginning."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you?"
The remnant looked at him.
"Because I wanted you to see."
"See what?"
"What happens when power becomes easier than choice."
The remnant turned toward Liora.
Kael immediately stepped between them.
The creature smiled.
"I won't hurt her."
"You looked at her."
"Because she matters to you."
Kael's eyes hardened.
"Don't use her against me."
"I'm not."
The remnant looked almost sad.
"I'm showing you the answer."
"What answer?"
"Why the Authority chose you."
Kael remained silent.
The remnant pointed toward Liora.
"Because she gives you a reason to stop."
Kael looked back at her.
Liora's eyes were wet.
"Kael..."
He didn't know what to say.
The remnant continued.
"If you had awakened alone, you would have become me."
Kael's heart tightened.
"But you didn't."
The creature looked at Liora.
"You had someone who could tell you when you were changing."
Kael looked down.
He remembered yesterday.
Liora telling him that his eyes looked empty.
He remembered almost laughing.
He remembered not knowing why he wanted to laugh.
His hands slowly clenched.
"I won't become you."
The remnant smiled.
"I hope you don't."
Kael looked up.
"Then help me."
The creature froze.
"Help you?"
"Teach me how to control this power."
For several seconds, the remnant said nothing.
Then it laughed.
Not cruelly.
Not happily.
Almost like someone hearing a familiar question after a very long time.
"Very well."
It removed the black crown from its head.
The crown floated toward Kael.
Kael reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched it—
CRACK.
A thousand memories flooded into his mind.
Kingdoms.
Wars.
Friends.
Enemies.
Millions of lives.
And one girl.
A girl who had once stood beside the previous successor.
A girl who had looked at him exactly the way Liora looked at Kael now.
Then Kael saw her die.
He felt the grief.
The unbearable pain.
The desperation.
And finally—
the decision.
Use Absolute Authority.
Kael screamed.
The memories vanished.
He fell to his knees.
Liora rushed toward him.
"Kael!"
He looked up at her.
His eyes were filled with tears.
He didn't know why.
But he was crying.
The remnant whispered:
"Good."
Kael wiped his face.
"What's good about this?"
"You still feel."
The black crown disappeared.
The remnant began fading.
Kael stood.
"Wait!"
The creature smiled.
"Your training begins tomorrow."
"Where?"
The remnant pointed toward the horizon.
"Beyond the world."
Kael looked confused.
"How am I supposed to get there?"
The creature smiled.
"You have the power to cross universes."
Kael sighed.
"I was hoping for a door."
Liora laughed.
Kael looked at her.
This time, he laughed too.
A real laugh.
The remnant watched them silently.
Then it whispered:
"Perhaps..."
"...this time, the story will end differently."
And it vanished.
Far above the capital, beyond the stars, a massive black door appeared.
Kael looked at it.
Then at Liora.
"Ready?"
She sighed.
"Not even remotely."
Kael smiled.
"Good."
He opened the door.
And together, they stepped beyond the universe.
TO BE CONTINUED...