Chapter 11: Blood and Vengeance
The sound of crackling flames filled the ruins of Blackthorn City. Smoke drifted through the air like torn silk, covering the broken skyline in a ghostly haze. The once-bustling streets now lay in pieces — a graveyard of glass, fire, and silence.
Kael stood at the center of it all. His red wings stretched wide, their feathers singed at the edges, his once-human eyes now burning with a faint crimson glow. The scythe pulsed in his grip, whispering to him like an old friend — or a curse that had finally found its master.
Bodies of the possessed lay scattered. Some burned beyond recognition, others still twitching in their final moments. But Kael wasn't listening to the screams anymore. He could only hear one thing — the echo of his mother's voice.
> "Don't lose yourself… promise me, Kael…"
He closed his eyes. That memory used to calm him. Now, it tore him apart.
A shadow moved behind him. Kael spun around, his scythe slicing through the air in a blur. A figure blocked the strike effortlessly — the steel shrieked against an invisible force.
"Still as dramatic as ever," said a deep, calm voice.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "You…"
From the shadows stepped a tall man dressed in black armor, the insignia of a broken halo engraved across his chest. His hair was silver, his eyes golden — not human, not fully demonic either.
"Lucien."
Lucien smiled faintly. "The last time I saw you, you were just a frightened boy bleeding on sacred stone."
"Don't act like you cared," Kael hissed. His wings flared. "You were there when it happened — when the mark chose me!"
Lucien stepped forward, the ground cracking under his boots. "I made it choose you."
The world seemed to stop.
Kael's grip tightened on the scythe. "You… what did you just say?"
Lucien's golden eyes glowed faintly. "You think destiny works on accident? The devil's mark doesn't find its bearer — it's summoned. Your bloodline was perfect. Half human, half divine. You were made to become the Punisher."
Kael's heart thundered in his chest. Every piece of his shattered past suddenly began to click together — the shrine, the mark, his mother's secrecy, the way she feared the woods.
"You used me," he said, voice trembling between fury and disbelief.
Lucien nodded slowly. "No. I forged you."
Kael roared, wings bursting outward in a storm of red light. The ground split beneath him as he launched forward, the scythe igniting with infernal fire. Lucien raised his hand and met the strike head-on — the clash exploded like a thunderstorm, sending waves of energy tearing through the ruins.
Lucien grinned even as he slid back from the impact. "Good. Let that anger out. It makes you stronger."
"Shut up!" Kael's voice echoed, half human, half demonic. The mark across his neck flared bright crimson.
The sky darkened. Fire spread like veins across the broken city. From the smoke, the red crosses of the damned began appearing — dozens, then hundreds. The souls of the guilty drawn by Kael's fury.
Lucien chuckled. "Look at them. They come to you — sinners, murderers, lost souls. You're everything the world needs… and everything it fears."
"I'm nothing like you!" Kael roared, his scythe crashing down.
Lucien blocked it again, but the force pushed him back this time. Flames crawled up the sides of buildings, and the ghosts of those Kael had punished began to scream through the ashes.
"I'll tear your lies apart," Kael growled. "I'll find the truth… and when I do—"
Lucien raised a hand. "The truth?" He smirked. "Then go find her grave again. Maybe she'll tell you what she was hiding."
Kael froze. "What…?"
Lucien turned away. "Your mother wasn't just human, Kael. You think demons pick mortals at random? You're still only half of what you're meant to be."
Lightning flashed across the sky. The city trembled.
When Kael looked up again, Lucien was gone — vanished into the smoke.
Kael fell to his knees, the scythe sinking into the cracked asphalt beside him. His chest heaved as his wings flickered out like dying flames. The mark on his neck pulsed one last time, whispering something he didn't want to hear:
> "Awaken, my child… the world still burns."
Kael looked toward the horizon. Blackthorn City was no more — but his war was only beginning.
And somewhere, deep within the ashes, a pair of golden eyes watched — waiting for the true Punisher to rise.
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TO BE CONTINUED...