It was over.
The last Titan fell, his body crashing into the ruins with a sickening thud.
Blood soaked the battlefield—a sea of crimson stretching as far as the eye could see.
Where once the clash of gods had thundered across Haven, where once Titans had roared their defiance, now there was only silence.
Only one remained.
Ethan Kael stood alone.
His golden eyes burned, twin embers in the endless darkness. His blade, slick with blood, dripped onto the shattered remains of the world. His once-black combat suit was in tatters, deep wounds carved into his flesh—but he didn't feel them.
Because none of it mattered.
Not the war.
Not the bodies.
Not the legends he had slain.
Only one thing mattered now was
Sofia.
***
The war had lasted for hours.
Hundreds of Titans.
Thousands of enhanced soldiers.
Machines built to slay gods.
All of them had fallen.
Ragnar, the Unbroken Titan—shattered, his body reduced to ruin beneath Ethan's unrelenting fists.
Selene, the Black Star—devoured by her own darkness, her final scream lost in the abyss.
Vortus, the Colossus—collapsed beneath his own gravity, his body crushed into oblivion.
Lucian, the Stormborn—his throat crushed, his storm reduced to flickering sparks before his death.
They had come as executioners.
They had come to end him.
And one by one, he had buried them.
There were no gods left.
No warriors strong enough to challenge him.
No one left who could stand against the Apex Titan.
And yet—
Ethan Kael had never felt weaker.
****
He found her exactly where she had fallen.
Sofia lay in the ruins, her silver hair spread around her like a broken halo. Her golden light—once so brilliant, so warm—was fading.
Ethan dropped his sword.
He fell to his knees beside her, his hands hovering over her wound, trembling.
"Sofia…" His voice was hoarse. Raw. Desperate.
Her eyes fluttered open. Soft golden met burning gold.
And she smiled.
Even now. Even as her life bled out of her.
"You… won," she whispered.
Ethan clenched his jaw, shaking his head. "No." His hands pressed against her wound, golden energy flaring, raging, screaming as he tried to heal her.
Tried to force the universe to obey him.
But nothing happened.
Her wound didn't close.
Selene's void energy had done more than pierce her flesh.
It had devoured her from within.
Even he—Ethan Kael, the Apex Titan, the Butcher of Gods—
Couldn't stop it.
His breathing quickened, panic clawing at his throat. "No. No, no, no—"
His power surged, golden fire flooding from his hands, his mind shattering under the sheer force of his will—
But Sofia's body didn't respond.
It was too late.
His hands trembled. His vision blurred. His chest ached in a way no wound had ever hurt him before.
Sofia reached up, her fingers brushing against his cheek.
And she smiled.
"Ethan."
Her voice was soft. A whisper. A final breath against the storm of his grief.
"It's okay."
No.
It wasn't.
He had killed Titans for her.
He had torn apart entire armies for her.
He had become a monster so she wouldn't have to.
And now—
She was leaving him.
Ethan's body shook. His rage, his grief—it was too much.
"I'll kill them again," he murmured, his voice breaking. "I'll tear them apart a thousand times if it means you live."
Sofia's smile didn't fade.
"You've done enough."
And then—her golden aura changed.
A soft glow spread across her skin—
Then across him.
Ethan's heart stopped.
This wasn't healing.
This was something else.
Sofia was using her last ability.
Not resurrection.
Ethan's golden eyes widened in horror.
She was pulling his soul away.
His body froze. Golden chains of light wrapped around him, binding him in place.
"Sofia, what—"
Her voice was soft. Gentle.
Final.
"Live, Ethan."
His body shuddered as the golden energy surrounded him completely, a force beyond his control, beyond his defiance.
The world blurred.
His limbs felt light—weightless—like he was being pulled away from existence itself.
No. No, no, no—
His fingers reached for her—
But she was already fading.
For a single, fleeting moment—
Their hands touched.
One last time.
And then—
Everything went black.
***
The battlefield was empty.
The war was over.
The Titans were gone.
And in the center of the ruins, where the gods had fallen—
Sofia's body lay still.
There was no more light.
No more warmth.
No more golden fire.
And Ethan Kael—
The Butcher of Gods.
The Apex Titan.
The strongest warrior the world had ever known—
Was gone.
Vanished without a trace.
His soul ripped from this world, cast into a place unknown.
****
And so, the legend of Ethan Kael ended.
Or so the world believed.
Because in another time—
In another world—
His story was just beginning.
TO BE CONTINUE...