---
Darkness. Endless and cold.
Kael floated through it, his body numb, his mind echoing with whispers.
He thought it was a dream at first. A nightmare born from pain and fear.
But then—they spoke.
Alaric.
Veyrion.
> "You're weak."
> "You are nothing."
> "A vessel. A mistake."
Their voices tore through his thoughts, contradicting yet overlapping, until he couldn't tell which was which.
He tried to scream, but there was no mouth.
He tried to move, but there was no body.
Only a void where his soul used to be.
---
Images flooded him—memories not his own.
Alaric's final battle, standing on a mountain of corpses, sword shattered, body broken, praying for salvation that never came.
Veyrion's rise—king of ashes, devourer of kingdoms, his laugh echoing over burning skies as the gods trembled.
Kael felt all of it—glory, despair, love, rage, betrayal.
Too much. Too fast.
His mind cracked.
---
"Stop…" he whispered. "Stop it…"
But the flood continued.
Alaric's righteous fury surged through his veins, screaming justice.
Veyrion's chaos wrapped around his heart, whispering temptation, hunger.
> "Why fight it?"
"Let us take over. We'll protect you…"
"…Or we'll burn everything until you beg us to."
Kael saw flashes of his own memories—being beaten, mocked, thrown into filth, left behind.
His knees buckled in the void.
Maybe they were right. Maybe it was better to just fade, let them take over, be free from the pain—
> "Is that all?"
A third voice.
His own.
Quieter. Firmer.
> "After everything… that's how I end? Letting two dead men fight over my body?"
---
The void shifted.
Kael rose.
Not because he had strength—but because he refused to stay on his knees.
"I am not Alaric," he said, and the golden chains cracked.
"I am not Veyrion," he growled, and the shadows screamed.
"I am Kael Ardyn."
His fractured soul pulsed with fire.
---
Chains of thought broke.
The memories stopped forcing themselves in. Instead, Kael grabbed them. Bent them. Rewrote them.
Alaric's discipline became focus.
Veyrion's madness became insight.
He didn't reject them—he began to consume them.
> [Mental Barrier Reinforced]
[Soul Stability: +42%]
[Heroic & Demonic Soul Pressure: Overridden Temporarily]
Alaric roared. "You dare defy justice?!"
Veyrion hissed. "You little worm—!"
Kael raised his head, eyes burning.
"Next time I see you two... I'll tear you apart."
---
The void shattered.
Kael's body convulsed in the real world. He gasped awake, chest heaving, skin slick with sweat.
Orren, sitting nearby, barely glanced over.
"You lived," he muttered. "Did you learn anything?"
Kael's voice came hoarse and steady.
"…I learned I'm not the same anymore."
---