Chapter 2648: Story 2649: The Thing That Taught Him Hate

The fortress walls bled black.

Black liquid crawled between ancient stones, dripping onto the ground.

Azael stepped backward.

“Do not let it touch you.”

Kael raised his sword.

“What is it?”

Azael looked at him.

“The blood of the first shadow.”

Behind them, the battlefield became silent.

Millions of ancient warriors stopped fighting.

The dead stood motionless.

Then the black blood began moving toward Kael.

Lena shouted.

“Kael, move!”

He stepped aside.

The blood struck the ground and exploded into black flames.

A terrible voice emerged.

“AZAEL.”

Azael clenched his sword.

“I remember that voice.”

Kael looked at him.

“You said it taught you hate.”

“It taught me everything.”

The fortress doors opened.

Darkness poured outward.

Inside stood a colossal throne carved from black bone.

Behind it hung thousands of chains.

At the center sat a child.

Kael stared.

The child had his face.

But the child’s eyes were empty.

Azael whispered,

“That was me.”

Lena covered her mouth.

“You were imprisoned as a child?”

Azael nodded.

“The Witness took my memories and filled the emptiness with hatred.”

Kael stepped toward the throne.

“Why?”

The child slowly lifted his head.

“To make me kill you.”

The voice came from everywhere.

The black sun above them cracked again.

A crimson eye appeared.

Seraphine fell to her knees.

“The Witness.”

The shadow woman raised her blade.

“No.”

Everyone looked at her.

“It is not the Witness anymore.”

Kael felt coldness spread through his body.

“What is it?”

She looked toward the eye.

“The thing beneath the Witness.”

Ancient warriors screamed.

Their armor cracked.

Black smoke escaped from their bodies.

Isabella shouted,

“Fall back!”

But the battlefield was already changing.

Dead soldiers rose from the ground with crimson eyes.

Mara fired into the darkness.

Her bullets disappeared before reaching their targets.

Ethan pulled her backward.

“We cannot fight this!”

Adrian stared at the sky.

“It is consuming the dead.”

Kael looked at Azael.

“Can you stop it?”

Azael shook his head.

“Not alone.”

Kael extended his hand.

“Then you are not alone.”

Azael stared at the offered hand.

For the first time, his crimson eyes softened.

He took it.

The moment their hands touched, the world exploded with light.

Two identical blood symbols appeared across their palms.

AZRAEL.

AZAEL.

The black flames recoiled.

The eye screamed.

Lena and Elias felt their blood ignite.

K-26.

K-28.

Four symbols burned together.

Seraphine whispered,

“Four heirs...”

The shadow woman corrected her.

“No.”

She looked at Kael and Azael.

“Two halves.”

Kael understood.

“You divided our blood.”

Azael nodded.

“And now it is returning.”

The fortress shook.

The child on the throne disappeared.

In his place stood a gigantic shadow wearing a crown of broken bones.

It raised one hand.

“You cannot become whole.”

Kael raised his sword.

“Watch me.”

Azael lifted his blade beside him.

Together, the brothers stepped forward.

Above them, the black sun began falling.

And beneath the fortress, something ancient opened its mouth.