The sky above the Golden Realm tore open ,ripped apart by the will of something unfathomable.
Every being in the golden realm could feel it, the martial gods who had doubted Kael at first now knew this was nothing to scoff at.
Vaelin stared at the skies and his eyes widened more and more the further the tear went.
From the sundered heavens, two figures descended.
The first was a storm of presence, a roar that had taken form.
His body was tall, rippling with unrefined strength. His hair, a wild mane of burning gold, whipped furiously around him though there was no wind. His eyes were twin suns, merciless and mocking, looking down on the world as if he already owned it.
The ground trembled at his arrival, the clouds churned, and the golden hue of the realm dimmed under his brash dominion.
The second figure drifted down, not with violence but with certainty.
He was clothed in robes of muted silver and black, as though twilight itself weaved his garments. His hair was a soft silver, not a single strand out of place. His eyes, sharp and calm, glowed with a pale, subdued light. There was no anger in his gaze, no joy, no hatred, only calm. He was not a storm. He was the tide: inevitable, cold, unstoppable.
The Martial Gods of the Golden Realm rose to their feet, stunned into silence. A heavy pressure bore down on them from both new arrivals, thickening the air until breathing itself became a laborious task.
The Brash One sneered, surveying the crowd like a butcher inspecting cattle.
"What a pathetic sight," he laughed, his voice rumbling like distant thunder. "The so-called Martial Gods... reduced to trembling mortals before true strength!"
His words cut deep. Even the elder Martial Gods' faces darkened. The younger ones gritted their teeth, hands clenching into fists.
Then, without warning, he moved.
A golden streak blurred through the ranks , fists swung, bodies reeled, but none fell dead. Instead, he stopped after a handful of seconds, standing amidst a circle of panting, staggering Martial Gods.
None had died.
None had been maimed.
But they had been disgraced.
The Brash One smirked, dusting imaginary filth from his shoulder.
"Don't worry," he called out mockingly. "You'll get your chance to die properly."
The atmosphere snapped. Furious Martial Gods began rising into the air, energy swirling around them like wild hurricanes. Yet before full chaos could erupt, Kael stepped forward.
But he did not get far.
The world blurred around him, and in an instant, he stood elsewhere ,isolated, the ground beneath him a strange fusion of earth and starlight.
Across from him stood the Calm Chosen.
The contrast between them was a brutal one:
Where Kael's presence was an effortless blending of order and chaos,raw but pure.
But Kael could feel it , this Calm Chosen's existence was domination in its purest form. Even the whisper of the wind here bent slightly toward him, as if afraid to resist.
They stared at each other.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
The clash of their gazes sent shockwaves into the ground, causing subtle cracks to form.
A silence stretched so heavy it could suffocate gods.
Finally, the Calm Chosen spoke, voice smooth and cold like moonlit steel:
"Kael... the anomaly even the heavens could not ignore."
Kael said nothing. His gaze sharpened.
The Calm Chosen tilted his head slightly, studying him like a rare beast.
"You should not exist," he continued. "You are an error... and I have come to correct it."
Kael chuckled lightly, his voice like a low rumble of distant thunder.
"You think so highly for a mere replacement ?" he said.
"Tell me, puppet... when you crush a river's flow, does the river disappear... or does it find another path?"
The Calm Chosen's lips curled into the faintest, coldest smile.
"It matters not. I dominate all paths."
Kael clicked his tongue " your ego doesn't suit your demeanour, I was wary for nothing ".
At those words, the world twitched.
Fire, earth, wind, water, light, darkness ,threads of the elements all bent toward the calm but now furious chosen. Laws governing space, weight, speed...they shivered under his dominion.
Kael's body tensed, but not in fear. His connection to the elements was different.
They did not come to him because they were forced , they harmonized with him.
The ground hummed. The air thickened. Even gravity itself gently favored Kael, like a gathering of old friends preparing to face an enemy together.
Auras flared.
Space warped.
The battle had begun.
---
Meanwhile, back on the main battlefield…
The Martial Gods reeled under the assault of the Brash Chosen.
"Come!" he roared, laughing wildly. "Is this all the Martial Gods have to offer? Your realm is ripe for the picking!"
Younger Martial Gods surged forward, anger overriding caution.
Elder Martial Gods barked out orders:
"Maintain formation!"
"Do not let him divide you!"
"Discipline, you fools!"
Still, the Brash Chosen's taunts hit like whips. Rage clouded judgment.
The battlefield boiled with energy clashes , golden strikes against wild, chaotic bursts of heavenly might.
Yet unlike Kael, the Martial Gods had changed subtly from their repeated deaths in Kael's previous rampages.
Their instincts had honed.
Their battle senses had sharpened.
Even against an overwhelmingly powerful Chosen, they were no longer blind lambs led to slaughter.
The result?
A brutal, grinding stalemate.
---
Back across the golden plains:
Kael and the Calm Chosen's battle escalated.
The Calm Chosen lifted a hand.
Without a single chant or gesture, the ground beneath Kael hardened into crystal blades, attempting to impale him from below.
Kael's fingers twitched.
The crystal blades melted into harmless mist, swirling lazily around him like affectionate serpents.
The Calm Chosen's brow twitched minutely. It was the first crack in his perfect composure.
Kael smirked.
"You'll need more than domination to break me."
Their energies flared again ,so potent the very laws of the Golden Realm strained against them.
Although they were at each others neck, if anyone was watching from the sidelines it felt no more than old friends catching up.