Night draped itself over Cairo like a velvet cloak stitched with neon and ancient dust. The plane wheels screeched against the runway at Cairo International Airport, jarring Klevin from uneasy dreams—dreams where Kael stood faceless in a storm of sand, whispering in a language he almost understood.
Emilia nudged him. "You okay?"
Klevin rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. Just… echoes."
"Kael?" she guessed.
He nodded.
As they disembarked, the heat hit them like a wall—heavy and dry, carrying the scent of sand and something older baked into the earth. Cairo wasn't like Riyadh. Riyadh was a secret buried beneath modernity. Cairo was a secret wearing ancient bones proudly.
Taxi horns blared. Markets overflowed with shouts and laughter. And beneath the noise… power hummed.
Emilia tapped her wrist-pad. A holographic map flickered, Aether readings lighting up the screen like constellations. "Energy trails everywhere. It's like the whole city is breathing Aether."
Klevin exhaled slowly. "Or choking on it."
They booked a small room near Old Cairo—close enough to follow the signals, but far from the crowds. The walls were thin, the window cracked, but they didn't come for comfort. Emilia spread data sheets across the wooden table.
"Look at this." She pointed to three locations glowing on her map.
"Giza Pyramids. Egyptian Museum. Coptic Quarter."
"All relic-heavy places," Klevin said, leaning closer.
"All places tied to divine history."
"And all three show identical Aether spikes… at the exact same time every night." She glanced toward the window. "Like something is awakening below Cairo."
Klevin's hand brushed the Divine Sigil on his wrist. It pulsed—once. Hard.
He swallowed. "Kael?"
Emilia didn't answer. She didn't need to.
The next day, they moved through the crowded streets of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, pretending to blend with the tourists. Gold jewelry glittered under lamps, spices perfumed the air, merchants called out deals in two languages at once.
But the Bazaar also served another purpose: information flowed here like the Nile.
A woman in a dark headscarf watched them as they passed. Her eyes gleamed with recognition.
Klevin slowed. "We're being followed."
Emilia whispered, "Obsidian Choir?"
"Or Crescent Dominion's Cairo cell."
They turned down a narrow alley. The woman stepped forward, blocking the way back. Her voice carried command:
"Klevin Klaus. Your presence here disturbs the balance."
Klevin's heart hammered. "Who are you?"
She lifted her sleeve just enough to reveal a crescent-shaped mark glowing faintly.
Crescent Dominion.
"You should not hunt Kael," she warned. "The Echo is not meant to be found—only observed."
Emilia stepped in front of Klevin. "We don't have the luxury of ignoring him. He's destabilizing the world."
The woman's eyes hardened. "And trying to stop him may destroy it."
Before they could respond, the ground trembled. Dust trickled from the old bricks. The holographic readings on Emilia's pad spiked violently.
The woman's expression shifted from calm to alarm.
"They're close," she hissed. "The Choir. They're digging deeper than they understand."
She pressed a small metal disc into Klevin's hand. It flashed with Crescent symbols—coordinates.
"Go. The museum. Midnight. And pray you reach the truth before they do."
Then she disappeared back into the crowd like she had never existed.
At midnight, Cairo changed.
The laughter faded.
The city held its breath.
The Egyptian Museum loomed before them—stone lions guarding knowledge older than nations. They slipped through a rear entrance the Dominion agent provided. The halls were dark, the air cold despite the desert heat.
Emilia turned on her small flashlight. Beams of white light illuminated towering statues—gods carved in immortal poses, watching with stone eyes.
Klevin whispered, "Feels like they're judging us."
"Or warning us," she murmured.
The Divine Sigil flared hotter. Something beneath the museum called to him, pulling like gravity.
They descended into a basement storage corridor—crates stacked to the ceiling, artifacts sealed away from public view. The deeper they went, the stronger the pull became.
A faint hum vibrated the air.
Not machinery.
Aether.
And then—voices.
Chanting.
The Obsidian Choir.
Klevin peeked around a corner. Hooded figures stood in a circle before a sealed metal door, hands raised, shadows twisting under flickering lights.
Emilia's breath caught. "What are they doing—?"
The door opened.
A rush of stale air burst out, carrying a sound like a heartbeat made of sand.
The Choir stepped inside.
Klevin and Emilia followed silently, shadows slipping into older shadows.
The chamber inside was enormous—an excavation site not listed in any museum record. Ancient carvings covered the walls: stars, crescents, figures holding glowing blades that resembled Klevin's divine weapons.
At the center stood a sarcophagus of black stone—cracked but sealed with golden Aether lines.
Klevin felt Kael's presence like ice water filling his lungs.
Emilia stared, awe and terror mixing in her voice.
"What… is this place?"
Klevin stepped closer, running his hand along a carving.
"It's a tomb."
Then, more quietly:
"Or a prison."
His head throbbed. Flashes hit his mind—
Kael screaming in silver fluid.
Machines exploding.
His father shouting orders.
A hand—reaching for him.
He staggered.
"Klevin!" Emilia caught him.
"What did you see?"
Before he could speak, chanting erupted behind them—Choir members intensifying their ritual.
Golden cracks spread across the sarcophagus.
One line of energy stretched from the stone to Klevin's wrist—
Connection.
Kael was calling him.
His pulse synced with the tomb's vibrations.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Emilia's voice trembled. "He's… waking up."
Klevin shook his head. "No. He's been awake. This… is just the door."
The stone began to split.
A blinding surge of Aether burst outward—knocking everyone backward.
Klevin hit the ground, ears ringing.
He crawled toward Emilia, shielding her with his body as another pulse shook the room.
The cracks sealed again.
Silence fell.
The door had shut.
Not opened.
The Choir members fled—terrified.
Emilia coughed, pushing herself up. "What happened? Did we stop it?"
"No…" Klevin said, eyes fixed on the sarcophagus, now silent as death.
"He stopped it."
"Kael?" Emilia whispered.
Klevin felt cold.
"He doesn't want to be found… yet."
The obsidian fragment pulsed violently, throwing the chamber into blinding light. Klevin's hand slipped from Emilia's grip as a surge of Aether swallowed her whole.
Aether Void
Emilia landed on her feet, shadows rippling beneath her. The world around her was ink—groundless, silent, yet alive with starlike motes that flickered like beating hearts.
A voice cut through the darkness.
"So… you're the one who keeps pulling him back."
A figure stepped forward—Kael. But this wasn't a projection of smoke—this was shaped, defined. Solid shadow armor wrapped around him, his eyes glowing fractured silver like broken moonlight.
Emilia's stance tightened. "I'm the one who won't let you destroy him."
Kael chuckled.
"Destroy? I am the only reason he's still alive."
Emilia summoned her power—shadow veins spread along her arms, dark energy bursting from her palms.
Kael raised a hand.
"Show me then… how far you'll go."
The Battle Begins
Emilia blurred—
Shadow Step!
She vanished, leaving a smear of darkness behind—
Reappearing behind Kael with a blade of pure shadow forming in her grasp.
A clean strike at his neck—
Kael didn't move.
The air warped.
Aether exploded outward—
Emilia was blasted back through the void.
She flipped midair, landing on her feet with a skid of ebony sparks.
His strength… unreal.
But she wasn't afraid.
"You're all talk," she spat. "Prove you're worthy of the fear you spread."
Kael tilted his head—almost amused.
Very well.
He launched forward—
like gravity itself was attacking.
His fist swung—
Reality BOOMED from the force—
Emilia dissolved into a shadow mist just in time.
She reformed behind him—three afterimages lunging with daggers—
Clang Clang Clang
Kael spun, catching all three blades with crackling Aether tendrils and shattering them with a snap of his fingers.
But the real Emilia was above him—
Shadow blade raised—
Slash!
She cut through his chest—dark fragments spraying like shattered glass.
Kael staggered, looking at the wound.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
The Void Reacts
The space around them bent—stars sucked inward toward Kael like a gravitational maelstrom.
He raised both palms.
Millions of tiny obsidian shards materialized—floating like raven feathers.
He commanded a storm.
They fired.
Emilia dove into shadow—
teleporting in rapid flickers: floor—ceiling—behind him—beside him—
Each teleport left a smear of darkness.
But a handful of shards still sliced her arm—red and black blood dripping into the void, sizzling as it fell.
Kael appeared before her instantly, gripping her wrist.
"You fight with heart," he said softly.
"And hearts are so easy to break."
Emilia kicked off his chest with a burst of shadow force, ripping herself free.
She wiped blood from her arm.
"Break mine," she growled, "and you'll find daggers inside."
Shadow Ascension
Her eyes turned pitch-black.
The void around her responded—shadows rising, spiraling—forming a massive, spear-like construct.
A signature technique she had never used before:
Obsidian Lancer — Shadow's Wrath
She hurled it—
and the entire void shook.
Kael raised both arms to block—
Aether burst outward like thunder—
SHRAAAANG!
The spear slammed into him—driving him down into the void's floor with a shockwave that cracked the dimension like glass.
For a moment—Kael was pinned.
Emilia staggered, breathing hard. Her power drained, her vision blurring—but she held her ground.
Kael slowly stood, brushing shadow dust from his armor, the wound sealing as if time reversed itself.
"You could kill gods with power like that…"
His tone had shifted—serious, reverent.
Then, softly:
"…and that is why they fear you."
The Message
He stepped close—just inches away. Emilia tensed, ready to strike again.
But he didn't attack.
"You think I want Klevin dead?" he asked, voice shaking the stars.
"No. He is the only one who can stop the worlds from collapsing."
Emilia glared, chest rising and falling with adrenaline.
"Then help him. Not haunt him."
Kael's eyes flickered—pain crossing his face.
"I wasn't made to help," he whispered.
"I was engineered to destroy."
The void cracked—fissures spreading overhead like a spiderweb of broken space.
His final words echoed like a decree:
"Protect him.
When the stars fall… choose his survival."
Then the void shattered—
Back to Cairo
Emilia gasped, her lungs burning as she slammed back into the real world. Klevin caught her before she hit the floor.
She was bleeding. Shivering. But alive.
"What happened? Emilia!" Klevin's voice cracked.
She gripped his shirt, eyes fierce despite the pain.
"He's coming," she said.
"And he's not our enemy."
The sigil on the chamber floor ignited again—showing a new symbol:
The Galata Tower — Istanbul
The Crescent Dominion agent stormed in.
"You triggered the Echo Nexus! We need to evacuate now!"
Klevin lifted Emilia into his arms.
She whispered one last warning:
"Klevin… if you meet Kael again…"
Her voice trembled.
"…be ready to fight him like a brother."
Lightning flickered across the Nile—silent, silver—
Kael's echo watching from afar.