Godslayer's Legacy: THE PATH TO SUPREMACY

The Council Citadel's grand chamber loomed like the spine of an ancient beast—cold stone arches curving high overhead, adorned with glimmering mana-infused runes that pulsed faintly with restrained power. Massive stained-glass windows framed the far wall, casting fragmented shards of colored light onto the polished obsidian floor. Each pane depicted moments of triumph and sacrifice: heroes, monsters, kingdoms rising and falling.

The Sovereign Council sat in a half-circle around a raised platform at the center of the chamber. Eleven figures, each cloaked in ornate robes of varying colors, sat on elevated thrones carved from a mix of crystal and stone. Behind them hung banners embroidered with symbols of their respective territories.

Rui stood in the center of the platform, silver eyes sharp and unflinching as they scanned the gathered councilors. He was dressed in a clean, fitted coat of deep blue with faint silver embroidery lining the cuffs and collar—a far cry from the battered and bloodstained garments he had worn in the Abyss.

Beside him, Kovar stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his glass dome emitting a faint amber glow. His presence was steady, unmoving—a silent but unmistakable pillar of support.

At the head of the council sat Kaelith Valcoren, the Sovereign Archmage and High Arbiter of the Council. His dark robes shimmered with faint arcs of violet mana, his sharp features set in an expression of calculated neutrality. His piercing gaze rested on Rui, and for a moment, the silence in the chamber felt suffocating.

It was Kaelith who spoke first.

"Rui Kirean," he said, his voice echoing across the chamber like a distant thunderclap. "You stand before this council not as a mere survivor of the Abyss, but as the one who returned from it. Alive. Whole. And bearing answers we do not yet possess."

The weight of those words settled heavily across the room. Rui met Kaelith's gaze head-on.

"Tell us, then," Kaelith continued, his hands steepled before him. "What happened in the Abyss? What did you stop?"

A murmur rippled through the council, faint whispers of curiosity and skepticism exchanged behind raised hands and sharp glances.

Rui let the silence stretch for a heartbeat longer before he spoke, his voice steady but firm.

"There was a threat in the Abyss," Rui said. His words carried across the chamber with clarity. "Something… ancient. Powerful. And it was waking up. If it had been allowed to rise—if it had made it out of the Abyss—it wouldn't have stopped. Not until everything was consumed."

The room grew still.

Kaelith's brows furrowed faintly. Beside him, another councilor—a sharp-eyed woman draped in emerald robes, Councilor Elira Thorne—leaned forward slightly.

"A threat?" she said, her voice sharp like a blade drawn across glass. "You expect us to believe that some nebulous, undefined threat existed in the Abyss, and that you—a boy, barely more than a novice—put an end to it?"

Rui's silver eyes flicked to Elira, unblinking. "Believe what you want, Councilor. But the truth doesn't care about your doubts. The Abyss stabilized because of what I did. You can read every report, every sensor log from Kovar's systems—they'll all say the same thing. Whatever was happening down there… it stopped. Because I stopped it."

Kovar spoke up then, his voice calm but carrying weight. "The stabilization signatures in the mana currents were… unprecedented. Whatever Rui did, it wasn't something any conventional force could have achieved."

Elira narrowed her eyes but said nothing further.

---

A tense silence followed Kovar's words, the councilors exchanging uneasy glances. The faint hum of mana coursing through the Citadel's walls was the only sound filling the vast chamber.

Kaelith's fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of his throne, his sharp eyes never leaving Rui. "You claim to have stopped this… threat. But a claim without proof is just a story, Rui Kirean."

Rui's silver eyes flashed faintly in the scattered light filtering through the stained glass. His voice, however, remained steady. "I'm not asking you to believe me out of blind faith, Archmage. Kovar's data will show you the mana stabilization patterns. You'll see the catastrophic collapse that was about to happen—and how it stopped."

Kaelith leaned back into his throne, considering Rui with an expression carved from stone.

Councilor Elira Thorne crossed her arms, her emerald robes shimmering faintly with mana-thread embroidery. "Stabilization patterns? Data? This is all technical jargon. What did you stop, Rui? Was it a creature? A rift? A curse? Or was it something worse?"

The chamber grew quieter still. Rui's jaw tightened slightly. His silver veins glimmered faintly along his neck, catching the ambient light.

"It wasn't something I can easily describe," Rui said carefully, his voice softer now, carrying an edge of restrained exhaustion. "It wasn't just a creature, or a rift, or anything you'd have a name for. It was… a will. Something old. Something hungry. And it was spreading through the Abyss like a sickness."

Kaelith's sharp gaze flickered with something unreadable. Beside him, Councilor Dorian Kael, an older man draped in robes of deep crimson, leaned forward with clasped hands. His voice was smooth, yet grave.

"You speak of this will, Rui, but was it defeated? Or merely delayed? Is the Abyss safe now, or are we simply waiting for another catastrophe to bloom from its depths?"

Rui hesitated. For a moment, he felt the weight of that question press against him like an iron shackle. His mind flickered back to the chasm, the endless threads of silver and gold, and the presence—the impossible weight of it.

"I stopped it," Rui said finally, his voice resolute. "But… I don't know if it's gone forever. The Abyss is calm now. Stable. But if it was allowed to stir again… I can't promise it won't return."

A ripple of unease passed through the council. Whispers rose, hushed but sharp, as councilors leaned toward one another, speaking in low voices.

Kaelith raised one hand, and the murmurs ceased instantly. His violet eyes bore into Rui. "Then the Abyss remains a threat—a dormant one, but a threat nonetheless."

Rui inclined his head faintly. "Yes, Archmage."

Kaelith sat back, his gaze flickering briefly to Kovar before returning to Rui. "And you, Rui Kirean… what are you now? Whatever happened down there—it left a mark on you. That much is obvious."

Rui's hand instinctively rose to his chest, hovering briefly over where his fractured core had been tethered together by the god's thread. The faint warmth still lingered there, a presence he couldn't explain.

"I'm still me," Rui said quietly. "But… I'm also something else now. And I don't fully understand it yet."

Kaelith's lips pressed into a thin line. "That answer is… unsatisfactory, Rui. But perhaps it is the only one you can give."

Kovar spoke then, his voice carrying a faint edge of steel. "Archmage Kaelith, councilors, Rui is not the enemy here. He stopped a catastrophe that none of us even realized was unfolding until it was nearly too late. If it weren't for him, we'd be sitting in this chamber debating over how to respond to a world in ruin."

Kaelith turned his attention to Kovar, his expression hardening. "And yet, Commander Kovar, he is still an anomaly. An unknown variable. Do not mistake gratitude for trust. The council must understand what we are dealing with, especially if the threat Rui speaks of remains dormant and unresolved."

Kovar's dome flickered faintly with amber light, but he said nothing further.

Councilor Dorian Kael spoke again, his voice softer this time. "What happens now, Archmage? Rui Kirean has returned, the Abyss is stable, and yet… we are left with more questions than answers."

Kaelith's violet eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze locking onto Rui one last time before he spoke. "For now, Rui Kirean will remain under observation within the Citadel. You will not leave the capital without council approval. Your actions—and your words—will be watched closely."

Rui's shoulders stiffened slightly, but he nodded once. "Understood."

Kaelith's gaze shifted to Kovar. "You, Commander, will remain his handler during this time. Ensure that Rui remains… cooperative."

Kovar's glass dome flickered faintly. "Of course, Archmage."

The Sovereign Archmage rose to his feet, and the rest of the council followed suit in perfect unison. The faint hum of mana reverberated through the chamber, amplifying the weight of the moment.

"This session is adjourned," Kaelith announced. "We will reconvene when more information becomes available."

With a final glance at Rui, Kaelith turned and strode toward the exit, the other councilors following close behind him. The heavy doors of the grand chamber swung shut with an echoing boom, leaving Rui and Kovar standing alone in the vast hall.

For a moment, neither of them moved. The weight of the council's scrutiny lingered in the still air like smoke after a fire.

Kovar let out a slow breath, his gloved hand resting briefly on Rui's shoulder. "You did well, Rui."

Rui nodded faintly, though his silver eyes remained locked on the massive doors ahead of them. "It's not over, is it?"

"No," Kovar said quietly. "Not even close."

The two stood there in silence, the faint hum of mana crystals embedded in the chamber walls the only sound breaking the stillness.

Somewhere deep in Rui's chest, the golden tether—the god's touch—flickered softly, like a distant heartbeat.

Whatever came next, Rui knew it would demand everything he had left to give.