Legends of the Stars

Chapter 25: The Last Stand

Chapter 25

The Last Stand

The Ark Knight fell to his knees, his spirit sinking into utter despair. He could hardly grapple with the reality that Astra was no longer with him. The world around him seemed to disappear now that every trace of her had vanished. She was his world, and she was gone.

Without her, there was only darkness.

As the harsh truth finally sank in, Jaden let out an anguished scream that echoed through the void.

"GYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Next to him, Kaiser walked up and looked down on Jaden, his lifeless face twisting into a sadistic grimace.

"I'm actually quite surprised," he exclaimed. "She put up more of a fight than I imagined. But in the end, she fell like all the others. Such a disappointment."

His words rang in Jaden's ears like a striking clock. The Ark Knight could feel his mind slip into that black abyss of hopelessness. All of those years fighting to protect his world, trying to put an end to this godforsaken war, they no longer mattered to him if Astra wasn't there with him. She was the reason life was worth fighting for. She gave his life purpose, and now she was gone.

I let you die.

And then, suddenly, something hit him inside—like a searing bullet shooting right through this skull. Something snapped. Jaden's body welled up with anger, not only towards Kaiser but also himself.

No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he still wasn't strong enough to protect anyone. All his life, he's been letting people down. Whenever his friends or loved ones depended on him, he was always too weak to help them. But when Astra, his true love, needed him most, he let her down. Just like his uncle, he let her die. He just watched as Kaiser ripped her life away. He could feel it all slip away, and he refused to let it happen again.

Never again.

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

His rage erupted into an explosion of energy that shattered the world around him. The depths of his power sparked a blaze of light that illuminated the entire battlefield. The demons rampaging throughout the city stopped and fled at the mere sight of it. The sheer magnitude of his energy kicked up winds that roared across the Citadel. Lightning crackled through the clouds above as if the heavens themselves cried out in anguish.

"Jaden?" Darek uttered, with him and the other Champions frozen with disbelief.

All the Astreans stopped fighting and turned to Citadel in awe. While they couldn't sense his energy, they could feel themselves being pushed back by the pressure in the air. Unbeknownst to them, no one had seen an Ark Knight this powerful since the Divine War. Not since the First One.

"I don't believe it," Revan muttered, still lying on the ground across from Jaden.

Even Kaiser was shocked by his strength; his face even displayed a hint of worry. Jaden was powering himself far beyond what was physically safe. But he didn't care about the strain it put on his body. Everything hurt at that moment, so much so that all the pain seemed to fade away.

Jaden's eyes shined gold like a demon's, yet his spirit remained pure. He rose out of that pit of despair like a phoenix burning with rage. And though his eyes turned blue once again, they radiated the same blinding fury Kaiser had induced in him. The primal power once hidden in his body had finally awoken, birthing a warrior of both light and darkness. He had become something beyond himself. Something beyond an Ark Knight.