Chapter 2646: Story 2647: The Mother of Darkness

The sky became black.

Not night.

Not storm.

Something deeper.

Across the battlefield, millions of ancient warriors stood frozen beneath the darkness.

Then the shadow woman descended.

She did not fall.

She walked through the broken sky as though the darkness were solid ground.

Kael raised his sword.

His hands were shaking.

“You’re my mother?”

She stopped.

Her face remained hidden beneath shadows, but her eyes burned crimson.

“I am the mother who gave you your first breath.”

Lena stepped forward.

“Then why did you leave us?”

The woman looked at her.

“I never left.”

Elias pointed his sword.

“Then where were you?”

“Watching.”

The answer chilled them.

Behind the woman, the gigantic army from the black sun began marching.

Their armor was made from black bone.

Their weapons glowed with strange crimson symbols.

Isabella raised her spear.

“Hold the line!”

The ancient warriors moved before her command finished.

Steel collided with darkness.

The battlefield exploded.

Mara fired repeatedly while Ethan covered her position.

Adrian dragged survivors toward the ruined doorway.

Seraphine watched the mother carefully.

“She is not attacking.”

Kael looked at her.

“Do you know who she is?”

Seraphine swallowed.

“I know what the ancient records called her.”

“What?”

“The Queen of the First Shadow.”

She smiled.

“A forgotten name.”

Kael stepped closer.

“Why did the King Before Kings fear me?”

The woman’s expression changed.

“Because he knew your birth would end his reign.”

Kael tightened his grip.

“End it how?”

“By choosing.”

A thunderous roar shook the battlefield.

The black-bone army suddenly stopped.

Every warrior turned toward Kael.

Then they knelt.

Millions of ancient soldiers lowered their heads.

The six-eyed first enemy dropped to one knee.

The forgotten king looked terrified.

“No...”

Kael stared at him.

“What?”

“You must not command them.”

“Why?”

“They do not serve you.”

“They serve what you will become.”

The ground split beneath Kael.

Crimson light erupted.

His sword transformed.

The blade became completely black, while a thin crimson line burned along its edge.

Elias stepped backward.

“Kael...”

Lena touched his shoulder.

“Your blood is changing.”

Kael heard two heartbeats beneath the earth.

BOOM.

BOOM.

The dead world began moving.

Mountains shifted violently beneath them.

And beneath the battlefield, something enormous opened its eyes.

The woman turned toward the ground.

“Your brother has awakened.”

Kael froze.

“My brother?”

Elias stared at her.

“We are brothers.”

She shook her head.

“Not Elias.”

Silence spread.

Lena whispered, “Then who?”

The woman looked directly at Kael.

“The brother who was taken before you were born.”

Kael’s face hardened.

“Where is he?”

The woman pointed toward the mountains.

A gigantic black fortress emerged from the earth.

Its gates opened.

Inside stood a lone figure wearing ancient armor.

He had Kael’s face.

But his eyes were completely crimson.

The figure smiled.

“Azrael.”

Kael raised his sword.

The stranger lifted his own.

“I have waited for you, little brother.”

Then the fortress gates slammed shut, and the ancient army charged again.