Chapter 2664: Story 2665: The Eighth Memory

“AZRAEL... COME HOME.”

The voices echoed through the temple.

Kael stared at the statues as their eyes burned with white fire.

Lena stepped closer.

“They are remembering something.”

Azael raised his weapon.

“Or someone.”

The older Azrael smiled.

“You still do not understand.”

Kael pointed his sword at him.

“Then explain.”

The stranger touched the broken statue.

“You believe there are eight because you count the bodies. But the truth is older than flesh.”

One statue cracked.

Then another.

Inside each statue was a glowing silhouette.

“They are memories.”

“Yes.”

“Memories of the souls you carried before this life.”

Lena stared at Kael.

“How many?”

“Eight.”

Azael stepped forward.

“Then why were we divided?”

“Because the first enemy discovered that one soul could not be destroyed.”

The temple doors opened.

Beyond them stretched an endless white desert.

“What happened here?”

“This was the first battlefield.”

The fifth child suddenly fell to his knees.

“I remember.”

“We stood here.”

“Who?”

“All of us.”

The sixth child looked toward the horizon.

“And something else.”

A distant figure appeared through the white storm.

It was enormous, its body covered in ancient armor.

Eight white eyes glowed beneath its helmet.

Kael raised his sword.

“Do not fight it.”

“Why?”

“Because it is not your enemy.”

Its voice shook the desert.

“AZRAEL.”

Kael froze.

“Who are you?”

The figure removed its helmet.

Its face was almost identical to his.

But its eyes were completely white.

“I am the memory you lost before your first birth.”

The seventh mark on Kael’s sword pulsed.

The figure pointed toward him.

“You were not born last.”

Kael tightened his grip.

“You said I was.”

“I said what you remembered.”

Lena whispered,

“Then what was his first name?”

The figure smiled.

“Not Azrael.”

A white flame surrounded Kael.

Inside it stood a newborn child.

Beside him were seven empty cradles.

A woman of white fire held the child.

She whispered,

“Wake, First Soul.”

Another voice answered.

“Do not let him remember.”

The vision shattered.

Kael returned to the temple.

His sword had changed.

The black fire was gone.

White flames covered the blade.

The older Azrael looked terrified.

“No...”

Kael raised his weapon.

“What did I remember?”

The eight statues opened their mouths.

Together they spoke:

“THE FIRST NAME.”

The Nameless Beginning screamed from beyond the temple.

“STOP HIM!”

The white-eyed figure smiled.

“It is too late.”

Kael looked toward the desert.

A gigantic door appeared beneath the sand.

At its center was the same open eye from Kael’s sword.

Lena grabbed his hand.

“Whatever is behind that door...”

Kael stepped forward.

“We face it together.”

Azael joined him.

Then Elias.

Then the fifth and sixth children.

“Go, Azrael.”

Kael looked back.

“Who are you?”

The figure smiled.

“The first memory of your soul.”

The door opened.

A voice emerged from beneath the desert.

“Welcome back, my child.”

Kael’s heart stopped.

Because he recognized the voice.

It was his own.

Nothing could stop him.