Chapter 2691: Story 2692: The Enemy Within

The creature stepped from the black ocean.

Kael stared at his own face, unable to understand the horror before him.

“You are me.”

The creature smiled.

“I am what you became.”

Kael raised his sword again.

“I became a warrior.”

“No.”

The creature moved closer.

“You became a prison.”

Kael attacked.

Their blades collided.

A shockwave crossed the ground.

The creature did not move.

Kael struck again.

Nothing.

“You cannot defeat yourself.”

Kael drove his shield into the creature.

The impact shattered the ground.

The creature vanished.

Then it stood behind him.

“You remember fighting.”

Kael turned.

“But you forgot why.”

The creature touched his chest.

The ninth heart screamed.

Kael collapsed.

Memories exploded through his mind.

A dead world.

Millions kneeling.

The white tree burning.

Azael screaming.

Lena crying.

Elias holding a broken sword.

And Kael standing above them.

Not as a protector.

As a destroyer.

“No...”

The creature whispered,

“Remember.”

Kael saw himself raising one hand.

Entire kingdoms vanished beneath white fire.

He saw the First Soul forming around him.

He saw the King Before Kings kneeling.

He saw the children being created.

Then he saw the truth.

The enemy had never attacked Kael.

Kael had summoned it.

“You called me.”

“Why?”

“Because you wanted to end everything.”

“I would never do that.”

“You already did.”

Kael stood before the eight children.

Blood covered his original body.

“I cannot control it.”

Lena stepped forward.

“Then let us divide you.”

Kael remembered.

The blade.

The white heart.

The screaming souls.

The moment Elarion split himself.

He had not divided his soul to save the worlds.

He had divided himself because he feared what he was becoming.

“And when you forgot, they called you hero.”

Kael’s eyes filled with white fire.

“I am not your prisoner.”

“No.”

The creature smiled.

“You are my creator.”

The black ocean erupted behind them.

A colossal crimson eye opened.

“What are you?”

The creature answered,

“The part of you that remained when you divided yourself.”

Kael lowered his sword.

“The ninth heart.”

“Yes.”

“Then why attack me?”

“Because you buried me.”

Kael stepped forward.

“I can restore you.”

The creature laughed.

“You still do not understand.”

A gigantic white tree rose from the ocean.

Its roots wrapped around the creature.

Its branches reached beyond the sky.

Lena’s voice echoed from within it.

“Kael, do not believe him.”

“Lena!”

The creature suddenly screamed.

The tree began burning.

Azael’s voice followed.

“Brother, remember the final moment!”

Kael closed his eyes.

A final memory appeared.

He stood before the black ocean.

Alone.

The stranger whispered,

“Elarion, if you awaken the enemy, I will become your guardian.”

Kael opened his eyes.

The stranger had been there from the beginning, hidden inside every forgotten memory.

The creature smiled.

“Now you remember everything.”

Kael raised his sword again.

“Then I remember you too.”

The creature’s smile suddenly vanished.

Kael’s ninth heart inside Kael began glowing brighter now, deep inside his chest.

And the black ocean started retreating before him.