Chapter 72: The Council of Shattered Thrones
The stars dimmed.
Not because of nightfall—there was no day or night in the Celestial Crest, the sky-high plane beyond mortal understanding. It was because the Thrones—those divine seats built at the dawn of all laws—had begun to crumble. Fractures webbed across their ancient obsidian and crystal structures, each crack echoing like screams across the dimensions.
And only one figure stood unshaken at their center.
Kael.
Not the Kael who was once mortal, nor the Kael who defied gods. This was Kael the Harmonizer, who bore the Authority Rank of Unity and had just emerged from the Prism of Divided Realms, fused with countless versions of himself.
And now… he was too powerful.
Far too powerful for reality to comprehend without consequence.
The Gathering Storm
Seven thrones surrounded him—occupied by the First Authorities: Time, Death, Space, Fire, Void, Life, and Dream.
But they were no longer proud. Their robes flickered. Their faces bore lines of unease. Their power—once immovable—felt as brittle as dry parchment.
"Reality is rebalancing," whispered the Authority of Time, her eyes glowing with ticking hourglasses. "The moment you integrated all versions of yourself, the center of power shifted. You have become the Axis."
Kael said nothing.
He stood with hands behind his back, the cloak of starlight fluttering as if stirred by forgotten winds. His presence was weightless and yet undeniable, like gravity woven into thought.
"Axis or not," growled the Authority of Death, "there are rules. And even you cannot break the Rule of Equilibrium."
Kael finally looked up, his voice quiet, yet sharper than blades.
"I am not breaking it. I am it now."
The council flinched.
Behind the Circle of Thrones, lesser realities trembled. War broke out on a thousand planets. Prophets screamed gibberish. Children were born with Kael's sigil burned into their palms. The Multiverse was adapting. And not everyone was willing to let that happen.
An Unexpected Visitor
A sudden pulse shook the Celestial Crest.
A portal tore open—not summoned, but forced into existence. The edges bled paradoxes, and out stepped a woman clad in shifting armors of mirrored chaos. Her face was half-masked, half-scarred.
She walked without deference.
"Kael the Harmonizer," she said, almost mockingly. "I expected taller."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You are...?"
"Veyra of the Null Codex," she replied. "Bearer of the Forbidden Rank. Assassin of Authority. Slayer of seven timelines. And guess what?"
She smiled.
"I'm here to challenge you."
The Council exploded into uproar.
"You dare—!" thundered Fire.
"Her name is whispered in anti-prophecies," warned Dream. "She exists outside all written fates."
Kael raised a hand, silencing them.
"On what grounds?" he asked Veyra.
She stepped forward until their eyes met.
"Because you have become too much. One being cannot possess Unity—it is not a Rank. It is a paradox."
Kael studied her. There was fury in her aura, yes—but also sorrow.
"You were meant to bear Unity once," he realized aloud.
She flinched.
"But you were broken before you could."
The Duel Beyond Balance
It wasn't a clash of power—it was a collapse of possibility.
They moved through twenty planes with each strike. Time melted, reversed, rewrote. The Authority Ranks danced like ghostly fire around them:
Kael summoned Harmony.
Veyra unleashed Dissonance.
Where he healed, she unstitched.
Where he stabilized, she unmoored.
In the shattered Dreamscape, Kael paused, catching her blade with bare fingers. "You're not trying to win," he said softly.
Veyra bled through her eyes. "No. I'm trying to make you hesitate."
He stared, shocked.
She drove her fist into his chest.
"I want you to feel what I felt when I was told I wasn't enough to hold Unity."
And for a second… Kael did.
He saw her memories—her loss, her denial, her exile.
He staggered.
Then embraced her.
The battlefield went still.
The Ranks stopped burning.
Veyra froze, caught in a memory that wasn't hers—Kael's memory, of a version of her that once loved him.
"You don't need to fall," he whispered. "You were always worthy."
She cried. Just once. Then faded into light.
Her will joined his.
Another fragment united.
The Return to the Council
When Kael stepped back into the Crest, the thrones had changed.
They were no longer separated by barriers. They now floated around a singular Throne of Unity—his.
He did not sit.
He spoke.
"From now, the Authority Ranks are not titles to be held, but responsibilities to be shared."
Death blinked. "You're dissolving our power?"
"No. I'm equalizing it. The concept of hierarchy is obsolete. From this moment on, we act not as rulers, but as guardians."
Life smiled faintly. "A Circle... instead of a pyramid."
Kael nodded. "Exactly."
The Universe felt the shift instantly. Across the Infinite Chain, avatars of light and shadow turned toward the Celestial Crest, sensing the beginning of a new age.
The Age of Unified Authority.
Elenai's Farewell
Later, as the stars flickered into a new arrangement, Kael stood at the edge of the Crest, overlooking the Fractal Sea of Lost Realities.
Elenai approached, her expression unreadable.
"You've changed everything," she said. "Even the future."
Kael didn't look at her. "That's the problem with the future. It's always waiting to be rewritten."
She smiled. "Are you still Kael?"
He turned to her. "Would it matter if I wasn't?"
Elenai thought for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Not to me."
To Be Continued…