Chapter 17 – Cursed Inheritance
"Some legacies are not passed down—they are endured."
---
Kaien staggered back as the flood of memories struck him like a tidal wave.
Visions not his own. Pain not his own. Rage that tasted like someone else's blood.
Above the coffin, the former Heavenbreaker—now fully awake—watched with quiet satisfaction.
> "Now you see what they did to us."
Kaien's eyes flickered black for an instant. The air around him rippled.
Fellchain—once crimson—had transformed. Its blade now bore veins of shifting silver and abyssal blue, as if reflecting the torment of a thousand lifetimes.
Riven stepped forward cautiously. "Kaien… you're bleeding."
He touched his cheek. His blood had turned dark. Not red. Not black.
Divine decay.
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The Trial of the First
The former Heavenbreaker clapped his hands, and the space shifted violently.
Gone was the prison.
Now, Kaien stood in a spectral field filled with floating shards—fragments of memory, echoing with screams and war hymns.
> "If you want to survive the gods' judgment,"
"You must first survive mine."
---
The Mirror Field
Suddenly, Kaien was no longer alone.
Across from him stood a copy of himself—older, colder, unforgiving.
His doppelgänger moved with frightening precision, wielding a version of Fellchain that bled shadow.
Kaien exhaled and dropped into Abyssal Flow.
A breath. A blur.
Steel clashed with steel.
The sound didn't ring—it shuddered, as if reality itself was trying to keep up with their speed.
Riven and the former Heavenbreaker watched from the edge of the illusion.
"She's never seen him truly fight," the old warrior murmured. "This is the first time he's ever had to."
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A Battle for the Soul
The two Kaien's exchanged slashes, parries, spiraling strikes. But the double didn't flinch. It anticipated every move.
> "You are not yet worthy."
The mirror Kaien raised his hand—and dozens of ghostly chains erupted from the ground, dragging Kaien's limbs.
His double slashed downward—
And Kaien let go.
Instead of resisting, he dropped into a limbo-step, a technique he hadn't learned—only felt.
Abyssal Flow cracked open a new form:
> Voidstep: Chainbreaker.
He blinked behind the clone and drove Fellchain deep into its back.
The phantom screamed—not in pain, but in recognition.
> "You remember now… don't you?"
The field shattered like glass.
---
Unleashed Echo
Kaien stood panting. The blade in his hand shimmered with layered colors now—blood-red, soul-silver, and void-blue.
The former Heavenbreaker approached, grinning.
"Welcome to the other side."
Kaien looked up.
"What… was that version of me?"
> "That? That's the man you'll become if you lose yourself to vengeance."
He paused.
> "But you didn't."
---
A New Wound
Suddenly, Kaien clutched his chest—searing pain lancing through him.
Fellchain glowed, symbols running up his arm. A second mark had appeared on his body: a jagged sigil over his heart.
The First looked grim. "The gods felt that."
"Good."
"You'll need to move fast. Before they decide to erase you altogether."
Riven stepped beside him, still shaken. "Where do we go?"
Kaien looked upward, then at his blade.
"…We make them afraid."