Kai had never seen a sky so full.
People flew above the streets as if gravity were a suggestion. Some stood on swords, others rode strange beasts with glowing wings. Entire houses floated high above the city, chained to the ground by streams of light that pulsed like living veins.
His mouth hung open.
"Oh…"
No one paid him any attention.
The ground beneath his feet hummed faintly, warm and alive. Everything here felt powerful—dangerously so. Kai wandered through the streets, afraid to touch anything, afraid not to.
Then he saw it.
A crystalline structure stood at a crossroads, carved with glowing symbols. At its center burned a soft blue flame, contained within a transparent shell. People passed it without a glance.
Kai stepped closer.
Something pulled at him.
Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out.
The moment his fingers touched the surface, the flame flared violently.
Alarms screamed.
Runes burned red.
Before Kai could even pull his hand back, a hand clamped down on his wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Cold restraints snapped around his arms, humming with suppressive energy. Kai's heart slammed against his ribs.
"I didn't mean to," he said quickly. "I was just looking—"
"You sabotaged a city security artifact," the officer said sharply. "Move."
Kai was dragged away as people stared. Whispers followed him like shadows.
The interrogation room was small and cold.
Magic circles glowed faintly beneath the floor. Kai sat alone, wrists bound, feet barely touching the ground. Across from him stood three officials.
"Name?"
"Kai."
"Origin?"
"I… don't know."
The room grew colder.
"No registration. No soul record," one of them muttered. "That artifact guards the city barrier. Only authorized personnel can activate it."
"I didn't activate anything," Kai said desperately. "I didn't even know what it was."
"You triggered it," another official replied flatly. "And you appeared from nowhere."
They exchanged glances.
"Unknown origin. Unknown soul. Child or not, this is too dangerous."
The verdict was delivered before Kai understood the questions.
By sunset, the charge was announced.
Sabotage of city security. Suspected espionage. Threat to the kingdom.
Sentence: public execution.
The colosseum was full by morning.
Stone seats rose in endless circles, packed with citizens eager for spectacle. To them, this was not a tragedy. It was a warning.
Kai was forced to his knees at the center of the arena. His wrists and ankles glowed with suppression seals. Sand pressed into his palms.
A herald stepped forward, voice amplified by magic.
"Kai. Unknown origin. Unregistered soul."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"Crimes: sabotage of the city's security artifact, possession of unidentified energy, and suspicion of espionage."
High above, the king sat beneath a royal canopy.
Beside him, the young princess clutched the railing.
"Father," she whispered urgently. "Please. He's just a child."
The king did not turn.
"A ruler cannot be soft-hearted," he said. "Think of the people. Think of the greater picture."
The executioner stepped forward.
His sword gleamed.
Kai closed his eyes.
The blade fell—
—and stopped.
At first, no one noticed.
The executioner frowned, muscles straining as he tried to push the sword down. It didn't move.
"What's he doing?" someone laughed nervously.
The king stood up.
"This was not ordered," he barked. "Remove him if—"
The wind vanished.
The sky darkened.
The sword remained frozen in the air, inches from Kai's neck.
People tried to move.
They couldn't.
Time had stopped.
The king's eyes widened as he searched the crowd desperately.
"Show yourself!" he shouted. "Who dares interfere?!"
No answer came from the stands.
The sky tore open.
A vast whirlpool formed above the colosseum, clouds spiraling inward as lightning flashed within the void. Space itself bent.
From the heart of it, a man stepped down.
He walked through nothingness as if it were solid ground. Lightning wrapped around his body, his presence crushing, undeniable.
In his hand was a lamp.
Old. Cracked. Barely glowing.
His gaze locked onto Kai.
The lamp trembled.
Thin threads of light emerged, drifting downward—drawn irresistibly toward Kai. One by one, they slipped into his body, vanishing beneath his skin.
The man's breath caught.
"…Ten years."
Tears welled in his eyes—and froze midair.
Time resumed.
The shockwave ripped through the colosseum. People screamed. Guards were thrown aside. The executioner collapsed, his body locked stiff, frozen in terror before the storm had appeared.
The man stepped in front of Kai and knelt.
"My son," he said, voice breaking. "I finally found you."
He rose and faced the king.
"I am Ren Valemont," he declared calmly. "Grand Duke of the Empire. Son of the Emperor."
Lightning split the arena floor.
"You condemned imperial blood," he continued. "For the crime of existing."
The king fell back, pale and trembling.
Kai stared up at the man, heart pounding, mind empty.
Moments ago, he had been forgotten.
Now, the sky itself had come for him.