Chapter 29 – The World Without Kael
The city of Halendor, capital of the human kingdom, glistened with golden sunlight. Banners hung from every spire, each painted with the image of the 24 heroes surrounding a broken crown—Kael's crown.
Inside the grand palace, the King stood on the marble balcony, arms raised as the crowd below roared.
"Today marks the first day of a world free from shadows!" he declared. "Kael, the cursed one, the tyrant of Therrow, is *no more!*"
The crowd erupted.
The Fire Hero, Lira, stood beside him, but her smile was brittle. She hadn't spoken much since the battle. Her eyes often turned toward the horizon… toward where Theronox had once stood.
"Something troubles you?" asked the king softly.
"I… I felt it," she whispered. "When he vanished. It wasn't defeat. It was… surrender."
The King scoffed. "That monster never knew defeat. He was broken. And we shattered what remained."
But even as he spoke, some priests hesitated to join the cheer. A few scholars wondered why the ancient tomes had gone silent. Why certain artifacts no longer glowed. Why the stars shifted slightly every night.
But such questions were silenced.
The world had changed.
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Villages once plagued by shadow beasts now flourished. Trade routes reopened. Magical creatures once bound in fear began returning to the forests.
Statues of the heroes were raised in every city.
Children were now told stories not of survival, but of *victory.*
And yet…
In a quiet chapel beneath the capital, a lone priest scribbled a note:
*"The seal grows cold… but not empty. It waits. Gods forgive us if we misread this silence."*
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