CHAPTER 24: THE SKY HUNT

The sky burned crimson.

That black sigil—the crown dripping blood—pulsed above like a curse etched into reality itself. Each drop that fell upward seemed to carry the weight of a thousand screams, marking the heavens with malevolent authority. The sun had vanished without ceremony, leaving behind only the memory of warmth. In its place hovered an enormous silhouette that defied comprehension. Wings that stretched beyond horizons blotted out entire sections of the blood-red sky, each flap strong enough to bend wind currents and silence the very thoughts of those who witnessed it.

Ka’thar had awakened from his eternal slumber.

And he was flying straight for Lucien with the inevitability of death itself.

---

**Location: Southern Barrens – Edge of the Hollow Continent**

Lucien’s party landed hard in the coarse sand, their emergency teleport crystal crumbling to smoking fragments in Selene’s palm. The acrid smell of burnt magic filled the air as reality reasserted itself around them with violent snaps of displaced energy.

Selene hit the ground first, rolling with practiced grace before coming up coughing. Desert sand clung to her silver hair like glitter, and her usually pristine appearance showed the strain of their desperate escape. "Damn it," she gasped between coughs, "that thing’s moving faster than I calculated. My scrying showed hours, not minutes."

Rayna’s golden eyes immediately locked onto the distant sky where their pursuer approached with relentless purpose. Her werewolf instincts screamed danger on a level that transcended normal predator-prey relationships. "It’s not just flying," she said, her voice carrying the certainty of someone who understood the hunt on a primal level. "It’s hunting. There’s intelligence behind those movements."

Zaria hovered above them, her six wings beating steadily as divine senses flared outward like invisible radar. Her corrupted angelic nature allowed her to perceive truths that mortal minds couldn’t process. "It’s not just a beast," she announced grimly. "It’s an ancient weapon given consciousness. A guardian forged specifically to protect the Sky Tomb from intruders exactly like us."

Lucien stood last, his movements betraying the internal struggle raging within his transformed body. His blood core pulsed irregularly, each beat sending waves of foreign energy through his system. The Firstborn’s curse had slowed its progression—barely—but something new whispered in the depths of his mind now. A voice that carried familiar cadences but wasn’t his own. A heartbeat that synchronized with his but belonged to someone else entirely.

He ignored both intrusions, focusing instead on the immediate crisis.

[Primary Objective: Reach the Tomb of the Hollow God]

[Time Remaining: 68:41:12]

[Warning: Dread Sovereign Ka’thar approaching at 143 m/s]

[Secondary Warning: Entity will arrive in current area within 47 minutes]

Lucien glanced at the system overlay, red numbers counting down like a doomsday clock. "We’ve got less than three days to reach the tomb, and now we’re being chased by something that could sneeze and erase a mountain range." His tone carried dark humor despite their desperate circumstances.

Rayna cracked her neck with audible pops, a gesture that somehow managed to be both casual and menacing. "Sounds like a normal Tuesday for us," she said with a grin that showed too many teeth.

Zaria landed beside them with ethereal grace, her expression unreadable as she processed information from dimensions beyond mortal perception. "There’s no safe path forward. The Tomb lies within the floating ruins—what the ancients called the Sky Graveyard—and Ka’thar has guarded it for millennia. We’ll need to reach it while he’s distracted by something else."

Selene’s violet eyes narrowed as strategic possibilities flickered through her ancient mind. "Or we make the distraction ourselves," she suggested, moonlight beginning to gather around her fingertips.

Lucien’s smirk was sharp as a blade. "I like where this is going."

---

)

**Hours Later – Sky Graveyard Outskirts**

The terrain had shifted dramatically as they traveled deeper into the cursed region.

Floating islands loomed above them like shattered moons, their surfaces covered in ruins that defied architectural logic. Gravity twisted unpredictably here—some rocks hovered in perfect stillness while others bled actual blood that flowed upward in crimson streams. The remnants of an ancient sky civilization drifted in broken pieces, massive stone structures tethered together by chains of living lightning that crackled with eldritch energy.

Lucien stood on a rocky ledge overlooking the surreal battlefield ahead, his enhanced vampiric eyes scanning the chaotic skies above. He could feel Ka’thar’s oppressive presence like a physical weight, thick and endless like drowning in liquid velvet. The pressure made breathing difficult and thinking even harder.

And yet, despite the cosmic horror bearing down on them, he was smiling.

Selene approached from behind, her armor now reinforced with plates of moon-ore that gleamed with soft silver light. The additional protection had cost valuable time, but facing Ka’thar without every possible advantage would be suicide. "You’re thinking something insane," she said, recognizing the particular quality of his expression.

Lucien nodded without hesitation. "I’m going to ride him."

The silence stretched for several heartbeats before Selene managed, "Come again?"

Lucien pointed toward the approaching titan with absolute confidence. "If Ka’thar’s the guardian of the tomb, then the tomb must be somewhere on his body. Or hidden behind him. Either way, he’s not just an obstacle—he’s the key to our destination. We need to get on his back."

Rayna’s grin was feral with anticipation. "You want to jump on a dragon the size of a mountain and cling to it like a parasite?"

"Exactly."

Zaria stared at him with something approaching awe. "I’m starting to believe you really are the prophesied Tyrant."

Lucien felt his blood pulse with supernatural heat as power flowed through the bonds connecting him to his companions. His claws extended slowly, each one sharp enough to cut steel. "Alright girls," he said, his voice carrying new harmonics of command, "synchronize with me."

[Bloodbound Sync: Activated]

[Selene – Lunar Grapple: Enhanced mobility and binding techniques]

[Rayna – Beast Ascent: Supernatural climbing and leaping abilities]

[Zaria – Divine Glide: Flight assistance and aerial maneuvering]

[Combined Enhancement Bonus: +200% to all physical capabilities]

He felt their strengths flowing into his veins like liquid fire. His speed, his jump height, his resilience—all boosted to levels that transcended mortal limitations. Every muscle fiber sang with potential energy waiting to be unleashed.

And then he ran.

The ledge cracked like thunder under his footstep as he launched skyward with explosive force. Behind him, Selene hurled a chain of crystallized moonlight, the ethereal construct anchoring their impossible ascent. Rayna leaped next, her werewolf abilities allowing her to climb through mid-air as if invisible handholds existed wherever she needed them. Zaria’s wings flared wide, divine energy lifting all three of them toward their airborne target.

Above them, Ka’thar’s tail swept past like a moving mountain range.

Flying toward it felt like deliberately colliding with a falling continent.

Lucien gritted his teeth against the hurricane-force winds. "NOW!"

He slammed into Ka’thar’s hide with bone-jarring impact.

His claws, enhanced by supernatural strength, actually managed to penetrate the obsidian scales. Wind screamed past his ears with deafening intensity. Behind him, Rayna latched onto his waist with desperate strength, Selene landed gracefully on his shoulder, and Zaria hovered nearby with wings straining against the chaotic air currents.

[Ka’thar – Dread Sovereign HP: ∞ (Cannot be Scanned)]

[Alert: You are standing on an active Mythic Beast]

[Warning: One wrong step = Instant Death]

[Survival Time Estimate: 14 minutes, 33 seconds]

Ka’thar let out a soundless shriek that existed more as vibration than sound.

The air itself warped around them, reality bending under the force of the titan’s displeasure.

And then the world flipped completely upside down.

---

**Cutscene Event: Ka’thar’s Awakening**

Lightning struck across the crimson sky as Ka’thar’s wings extended to their full, impossible span. A dome of crushing pressure exploded outward from his body, shattering nearby floating islands like glass ornaments. From his spine rose towers—actual ancient spires embedded directly in his vertebrae, architecture fused with living flesh through means that defied comprehension.

One tower pulsed with violet light that cut through the chaos like a beacon.

Lucien’s eyes widened with recognition and desperate hope. "There it is. The Tomb."

Selene pointed with urgency. "We need to reach that tower. Fast."

Ka’thar’s massive body trembled as it registered their presence with growing awareness.

And then creatures began to emerge from hidden cavities in his flesh.

Dark avian monstrosities with bone-feathered wings and eyes like burning coals. Skeletal sentinels that moved with predatory grace. Ten of them materialized, then twenty, their numbers growing with each passing second.

Zaria cursed with divine authority. "Sky Wraiths. He’s birthing his defense swarm."

Lucien’s claws began to glow with concentrated power.

"Let’s kill our way to the top."

---

**Mid-Ascent Combat – Ka’thar’s Spine**

They ran vertically across Ka’thar’s back, gravity shifting unpredictably with every heartbeat of the colossal beast.

Sky Wraiths dove like guided missiles, their shrieks tearing through reality itself.

Rayna tore through two attackers simultaneously, her claws ripping through flesh and bone with supernatural efficiency.

Selene spun her lunar chain in deadly arcs, hurling the weapon into a Wraith’s core before pulling the creature into the void between dimensions.

Zaria unleashed beams of corrupted holy light, her attacks moving wing to wing like a goddess of war given form.

Lucien moved like liquid flame made manifest.

He launched himself at the largest Wraith—a creature twice his size with wings that blotted out sections of sky. They collided mid-air in an explosion of violence and supernatural energy.

He twisted behind the monster with impossible agility, drove his elbow into its neck with bone-crushing force, spun with fluid grace, and plunged both claws deep into its spine. Black blood sprayed in arterial fountains. The creature’s death scream shattered nearby floating debris.

In that moment of perfect violence, he wasn’t just Lucien anymore.

He was the storm itself.

[Sky Wraiths Defeated: 11]

[XP Gained: +47,900]

[Blood Core Stabilizing...]

[Mutation Progress: 23% Complete]

Lucien breathed heavily, power coursing through him like electricity. "We’re close!"

The violet tower loomed ahead—a structure of impossible black stone covered in runes that hurt to look at directly.

And then Zaria’s warning scream cut through everything else.

"ABOVE!"

Ka’thar’s eye had turned.

For the first time in their desperate climb, it focused directly on them.

Lucien froze as understanding hit him like a physical blow.

There was no pupil in that vast organ. No iris. Just a swirling vortex of stars and dying galaxies, an aperture into cosmic infinity that saw everything across time and space.

[Ka’thar has acknowledged your presence.]

[Initiating Guardian Protocol.]

[Threat Assessment: Extreme]

The entire spine trembled with apocalyptic force.

The tower began to collapse, ancient stones falling like meteors.

"No—NO!" Selene shouted desperately.

Rayna grabbed Lucien’s waist with bruising strength. "Jump!"

He didn’t think.

He leaped—

Right into the eye itself.

---

**Cutscene Triggered: Eye of Ka’thar – Tyrant’s Memory**

Lucien fell through layers of pure light and crystallized time.

Visions pierced his consciousness like burning spears.

An ancient battle fought across dimensions. A throne constructed from the bones of gods. A woman with silver hair and impossible beauty screaming a name that resonated in his very soul.

"ARION!"

Not Lucien.

Arion.

His past self? His future incarnation? The lines between identity blurred beyond recognition.

The vision shattered like breaking glass.

He woke inside a chamber that existed outside normal space.

But he was not alone.

A throne of impossible design stood before him, carved from materials that predated reality.

On it sat a man with his exact face.

But this version carried no smirk, no warmth. Only eyes filled with the weight of infinite judgment.

"Welcome," the figure said, his voice carrying the authority of ages, "to your death."