The fog had thinned, but the air still carried the scent of burnt flesh.Crows circled above the ruins, crying into the morning haze as the mist coiled around toppled spires.
Kael walked through the aftermath in silence.
Behind him, the battlefield he had created—the place where the Hunters of Light had been swallowed by the dead—was already turning to dust. The corpses had dissolved, their essence returned to his Death Sea, leaving behind only faint black traces on the ground.
The Scripture of Returning Ashes floated beside him, its pages slowly turning in the wind. It had grown warmer, more responsive since the battle. The runes now glowed faintly even when untouched, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Kael stopped at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the valley below. Once, this had been Verradin, the city of scholars—before the Cataclysm reduced it to ruin.
Now, all that remained was a broken skeleton of stone towers and half-buried streets.
"The City of Ashes," Kael murmured.
The tome's runes shifted. Words formed across the open page.
[Cycle of Bone – Preparation Required.][A domain must be claimed.]
Kael's gaze lingered on the ruins below.
"A domain..." he said softly. "Then this will do."
He descended the slope slowly, the ground crunching beneath his boots. The once-golden banners of the scholars' guild lay torn and stained. Everywhere he looked, fragments of their work—crystals, tomes, sigils—were scattered among bones and dust.
The faint whisper of souls drifted through the streets.
Help us…We died seeking truth…Do not forget us...
Kael closed his eyes and extended his hand. The runes of the Scripture flared, responding to the pleas. A soft wave of violet light rippled outward, calming the restless echoes.
"You sought knowledge," he whispered, "and died for it. Let your truth live on through me."
The souls quieted, sinking into the shadows. His Death Sea pulsed faintly in response, growing denser, more stable. Each soul that accepted rest strengthened his foundation.
He could feel it—the threshold of the Cycle of Bone nearing. His veins thrummed with necrotic energy that no longer felt foreign. It was his now.
Hours passed before he found shelter.At the heart of the ruins stood a massive, crumbling tower—the Obsidian Spire, once the center of research for the scholars of Verradin.
Its base was cracked, its upper half swallowed by vines and time.But the faint aura that lingered inside told him it wasn't entirely dead.
He stepped through the shattered doors.
Inside, faint glyphs still glowed along the walls—warding sigils, fractured but faintly active. Shelves of decayed scrolls lay collapsed, and the scent of age hung heavy in the air. But beneath the dust and ruin, Kael felt something alive.
A pulse.Weak. Buried. But alive.
He followed it through the darkness until he reached a large circular chamber.In its center lay a glowing crystal, half-buried in rubble. Inside the crystal was a flickering form—a woman, pale and still, encased in light.
Her robes were those of the old Verradin Scholars, but her presence was... different. Holy and cold all at once.
Kael approached cautiously. The tome reacted immediately, glowing brighter.
[Residual soul detected. Pattern incomplete. Compatible essence: 87%.]
"A survivor?" Kael whispered, kneeling beside the crystal.
The woman's eyes fluttered open, faintly blue. She looked directly at him through the glass.
"You… are not one of them," she said weakly. "Your aura… reeks of death."
Kael said nothing. Her tone wasn't hatred—it was recognition.
"They called me Ardis," she continued, her voice trembling. "I… tried to stop them from unleashing the Ritual of Light. But they silenced me here... trapped me between life and death."
Her hand pressed against the inside of the crystal. "Tell me, necromancer... is the world outside still burning?"
Kael's gaze softened slightly. "It stopped burning," he said quietly, "but it never healed."
A faint smile crossed her lips. "Then perhaps... it's better that I remained here."
The tome pulsed again, offering a single line:
[Soul stabilization possible. Rebirth through Death Essence suggested.]
Kael looked down at it, then back at her. "You're half-dead already," he murmured. "But your will still clings to this world. I can give it form—if you accept what you'll become."
Her expression turned solemn. "Will I still be myself?"
"Partly," Kael replied. "And partly... mine."
Silence filled the chamber.
Then, she nodded. "So be it."
Kael extended his hand. Death essence swirled from his palm, merging with the crystal. The glow dimmed, then flared violently. The air trembled as the soul within reshaped itself—her fragmented light taking form once again.
When it ended, she knelt before him, her once-pure robes now darkened by faint silver threads of necrotic energy. Her eyes, though still blue, glowed faintly violet at their core.
"You are bound by death, not enslaved," Kael said. "Rise, Ardis. Remember your purpose."
She lowered her head. "To serve knowledge... and you."
Kael's Death Sea pulsed violently. A rush of power surged through him. The tome's voice echoed once more.
[Cycle of Bone – Initiated.][First Eidolon Created.]
Kael exhaled slowly. The pressure around him changed.His bones felt heavier, stronger. The death essence inside him no longer flowed aimlessly—it had structure, order.
He looked around the chamber, now glowing faintly with the aura of the revived soul. The ruins that once stood silent seemed to hum again.
"This place..." Ardis murmured, "could become a sanctuary."
Kael nodded slowly. "Then let it. The living call it cursed, but the dead will call it home."
He raised his hand, and shadows moved across the walls. The faint spirits that had lingered in the ruins responded, coalescing around him.
"From this moment," Kael declared, his voice echoing through the hollow halls,"this city shall breathe again. Let it rise not in flame, but in ash."
The ground trembled. A faint wave of energy spread through the ruins, awakening the buried dead—not as monsters, but as watchers, silent and still.
From above, the sun broke briefly through the clouds, shining down upon the dark tower. The light bent unnaturally, as if unwilling to touch the city below.
Thus, The City of Ashes was born.The first dominion of the Death Sovereign.
End of Chapter 4 – The Ash City