Location: Upper Pantheon – Forbidden Spire, Chamber of the Broken Oaths
The room wasn't made of stone or steel.
It was made of memory—a relic of the first betrayal, where the gods once turned on one of their own. Where the Council swore never to allow another god to rise from mortal blood.
Today, that oath was bleeding.
Six thrones shimmered in the air. Only three were occupied.
House Solmar. House Nivian. House Myrr.
Each a pillar of divine law.
Each wearing a mask of calm.
But beneath that mask?
Panic.
"He subdued Nythra," Elyra whispered, her voice tinged with awe. "Not resisted. Not survived. Subdued."
"Impossible," spat Archon Varin of House Nivian. "The trial was never meant to unlock this level of dominion."
"Because he wasn't meant to survive it," Solmar replied, tone like ash. "He wasn't meant to become anything."
A pause.
Then a screen shimmered into view.
Kairo.
Still walking through the cratered academy courtyard, trailing heat and smoke, the broken wings of a divine enforcer at his back like a trophy.
"He declared war," Myrr said, steepling his fingers. "Not with blades. With words. 'I'm coming up there myself.'"
"He intends to take a throne," Elyra finished.
Varin growled. "Then he will be erased."
But no one moved.
Because deep down…
They were already too late.
---
Meanwhile — Astraeus Academy, Below the Surface
Kairo sat in the infirmary, hand still bandaged, blood drying under his nails.
Velra stood in the corner. Silent. Watching him.
"You're different," she said finally.
"I saw too much," Kairo muttered. "But I needed to."
He looked up.
"Zerith bled for truth. And they buried it. They called him mad because they couldn't control him."
He exhaled.
"And now I get it. I'm not the weapon. I'm the witness."
Suddenly—
> [Bond Level: 11%]
[New Passive Acquired: Divinity Reversal – "Your mortal truth corrodes divine lies."]
[You are now visible to the Astral Pantheon.]
[Warning: You are being watched.]
The lights flickered.
Time slowed.
And then—
A voice spoke.
Not Zerith.
Not the system.
Something older.
> "You stir the oldest chains, child. And soon… you will find the throne that was never meant to exist."
---
Cut to: Somewhere Else
A dark room.
No windows. No stars.
Only one empty throne—wrapped in chains, etched with runes too ancient to name.
It begins to crack.
And something inside opens its eyes.
---