Chapter 5: The Name of Power

Smoke drifted through the shattered grove, curling around blackened roots and the remains of mana-beasts. The mage, still catching her breath, stared at Kael Draven as he powered down. His armor retracted slightly, though that same dark energy clung to him like a second skin.

She stepped closer. “What are you?”

Kael didn’t answer right away. The sensation of Abyss Mode still lingered—an intoxicating fusion of magic and machine. It felt like he had barely scratched the surface.

“I was a man once,” he said quietly, voice hollow. “A soldier. A leader. Now I’m something else.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m evolving,” Kael said simply. “And this world is going to witness it.”

The mage folded her arms, cautious but curious. “You’re powerful. Too powerful to walk alone. So what are you really after?”

Kael turned toward the trees, gaze distant. “Purpose. Order. Control.”

“That sounds like conquest.”

“Maybe it is.”

He paused, then glanced back at her.

“What’s your name?”

She hesitated, then offered it. “Lyra Vale. Former Archmage of the Lumen Sanctum. Before it fell.”

“A survivor,” Kael said, nodding. “We might get along.”

“I didn’t say I agreed with you,” she replied. “But I saw the way you fought. You weren’t reckless. You were strategic. Focused.”

He looked down at his gauntlets. “The system is adapting to your world. I don’t need to rely on brute strength alone.”

Lyra stepped closer. “You’ll be hunted, you know. Both the Arcane Union and Darkveil despise wild cards. They’ll try to crush you before you gain traction.”

Kael smirked. “Let them try.”

Lyra studied him for a long moment.

“There’s a hidden place. Beneath the Black Hollow Mountains. Forgotten ruins from the early mage wars. Powerful ley lines run through it. Unstable. Dangerous. But… if you could claim it…”

Kael turned fully to face her. “It could become a base.”

Lyra nodded. “A fortress. One the world forgot. The kind no side could penetrate easily.”

Kael’s voice dropped an octave. “A foundation.”

“For what?” she asked.

He stared into the distant sky, watching the silver-blue sun begin its descent.

“For the Abyss Order.”

The wind picked up, rustling the leaves like whispers of the future.

Hours Later – In the Shadows of the Black Hollow

A chasm opened before them—wide, ancient, and etched with forgotten glyphs. The ruins below pulsed faintly with unstable magic. Wild energy rippled through the air.

Kael stood at the edge, helmet in hand, feeling the raw mana surge through him. It responded to him. Not as an intruder—but as a vessel.

He looked over at Lyra. “No flags. No false ideals. No broken kingdoms.”

Lyra raised a brow. “Then what?”

“A new force,” Kael said. “Not hero. Not villain.”

He stepped forward, letting the dark wind coil around him.

“I am the abyss. And from it, I rise.”