I Level Up by Killing Gods-Chapter 57: Year Two

The Sanctus night air stank of Blight and burning rubber.

Kael crouched behind a half-crumbled wall, watching the Razor Teeth convoy through his tactical display. Three armored carriers, their hulls pulsing with sickly green light—Blight-infused Etherite cores, just as their intel suggested.

Behind him, Lerai’s fingers danced through the air, weaving strands of pure Etherion into an invisible net.

"Defensive grid mapped," Lerai whispered through their secure channel. "Their wards are high-grade. Sloppy implementation though."

A hint of pride crept into his voice. Two months ago, he’d have struggled with even basic containment fields. Now he was dismantling military-grade defenses like they were practice dummies.

Kael gave the signal.

Their squad moved like shadows, months of Earth Faction drilling evident in every silent step. The first carrier’s wards collapsed under Lerai’s assault. Before the alarm could sound, they’d disabled the escorts.

The lieutenant burst from the lead vehicle, Blight-corrupted armor making him look twice his size.

Recognition flashed in his eyes behind his cracked visor. "The Council’s lapdog?" He spat, drawing twin Ravager-core blades. "You used to eat scraps with the rest of us!"

"Stand down. This doesn’t have to end badly."

"Already did, when you sold out to the suits!" The lieutenant charged, blades howling with unleashed Blight energy.

Kael met him with Aether’valis, the ancient weapon singing as it cleaved through corrupted steel. Their dance was brief, brutal. When it ended, the lieutenant lay disarmed, Kael’s blade at his throat.

"The Earth Faction owns these streets now," Kael said, stepping back. "Tell your masters. Next time, we won’t be so gentle."

The lieutenant’s laugh was ugly. "Still trying to play hero? The streets remember who you were, Kael. The faction can’t wash that blood off."

Kael let him go.

As his squad secured the cores, he felt Veyra’s disapproval radiating through their link. The Earth Faction enforcer would have questions.

She always did.

The safehouse welcomed them with harsh lights and harder faces. Veyra waited in the command center, her augmented eyes tracking their every move.

"Report."

"Cores secured. Minimal resistance." Kael placed his weapon on the tactical table. "Lieutenant escaped with a warning."

"Mercy is a liability." Veyra’s tone could have frozen the Blight itself. "Something is softening you."

"Fear spreads faster than bodies." Kael met her gaze. "Dead men tell no tales. But a broken one? He’ll sing our song in every guild hall from here to the east."

Veyra’s expression didn’t change, but something in her posture shifted.

"Watch yourself, Kael. The academy may soon own your days, but we own your leash. Don’t forget that."

Later, on the safehouse’s roof, Lerai found him staring at the fractured sky. The Nexus hung like a wound above Sanctus, bleeding aurora colors across the clouds.

"You okay? That lieutenant... he knew you."

"Everyone knows everyone in Sanctus." Kael didn’t look away from the sky. "Doesn’t mean anything."

"Maybe." Lerai settled beside him, fidgeting with his Etherion focus. "I’ve been thinking about going back. To the academy, I mean. Out here, we’re soldiers. Back there? Lab rats. You think they’ll care what we’ve done?"

"The academy’s a weapon, like anything else." Kael finally turned to his friend. "Learn to wield it."

Their conversation died as a holographic missive materialized before them, bearing Black Haven’s seal.

Mandatory return within 72 hours. Year 2 orientation. Etherion Ethics Seminar.

Lerai snorted. "’Mandatory Etherion Ethics Seminar?’ They still pretending Blight isn’t eating the world?"

But Kael had caught something else—Dr. Levi’s insignia, hidden in the transmission’s header. A message within the message. His old ally was moving pieces again.

The next morning brought Veyra and their final mission.

The tactical display showed their target: a Celestial temple converted into an auction house. The prize: a Star-forged Lens, capable of amplifying Blight corruption tenfold.

"The Iron Pact can’t be allowed to acquire it," Veyra explained. "You have twelve hours. After that, you’re back in academy chains."

"Why us?" Lerai voiced what they were all thinking. "This feels like a test."

"Everything’s a test." Kael studied the temple’s layout, but his mind wandered to fragmented memories—Kain facing down a Celestial Titan, a familiar lens gleaming in its grip. The Null’s whispers grew louder in his head:

*...the academy cages what you are...*

His thoughts scattered as Lerai burst into the briefing room, face pale.

"Kael... this isn’t just about the Pact. She’s here. In Sanctus."

The intel was clear: the Blight-Queen’s signature, woven through the auction’s security protocols. She was done hiding in shadows.

They geared up in silence, trading Earth Faction armor for academy-issue stealth suits. Lerai tugged at his collar.

"At least the masks hide our shame."

Their squad gathered for a final briefing. Months of missions had forged them into something like family.

Serra, their demo expert, tossed Lerai a Ravager-core grenade. "For nostalgia."

The temple stood before them, Blight-green torches casting writhing shadows on ancient stone. Guards rowled the perimeter, more machine than human.

Kael felt Aether’valis pulse against his spine, responding to the Star-forged Lens hidden within.

"Ready to be students again after this?" Lerai’s attempt at humor fell flat.

"Focus. The mission comes first." Kael activated his stealth systems, but froze as something caught his eye—the Blight-Queen’s sigil, freshly carved into the temple walls.

The Null’s voice thundered through his skull: *...she remembers you, Thief of the Divine...*

Kael tightened his grip on Aether’valis, the blade glowing blood-red in the darkness.

"Move out. This ends tonight."

The temple’s shadows writhed with Blight-green light as Kael’s squad breached the outer ward.

Ancient Celestial architecture held above them, its crystalline spires now corrupted by creeping tendrils of corruption. They’d barely cleared the entry hall when the first Blightbound emerged from recessed alcoves—half-machine, half-rotting flesh, all killer.

"Company!" Lerai’s hands moved in precise gestures, manipulating strands of pure Etherion. A nearby Ravager’s core went critical, exploding in a shower of corrupted shrapnel and buying them precious seconds.

The lead Blightbound enforcer charged through the chaos, chainblade arm whirring. Something in his gait struck Kael as familiar—then recognition hit.

Marcus. A Sanctus thug he had made friends off.

He was now with the pact.

Now Celestial tech protruded from his flesh like mechanical tumors.

"Still the Council’s dog, Kael?" Marcus’s voice was metallic, distorted. "At least I chose my own leash!"

"And you’re still a fool." Kael met the chainblade with Aether’valis, ancient steel singing against corrupted tech.

Marcus had always telegraphed his strikes—some habits even the Blight couldn’t change. Three moves later, he lay disabled, servos sparking.

Lerai stepped over Marcus’s twitching form.

"Veyra’s gonna hate that."

"She’ll live." Kael led them deeper into the temple, where filtered moonlight painted fractals across marble floors.

The auction hall opened before them like a wound in reality—and there, floating above a crystalline pedestal, hung the Star-forged Lens.

Its presence warped the air, amplifying the ambient Blight until it shimmered like heat waves.

Lerai approached cautiously, his focus humming.

"This isn’t just a weapon. It’s a key. The Celestials used these to open pathways between worlds."

Aether’valis vibrated against Kael’s spine, resonating with ancient memory.

For a moment, he wasn’t himself—he was Kain, standing before a similar Lens, using its power to breach a Titan’s sanctum. The vision vanished as quickly as it came.

"Kael." Lerai’s voice was tight. "Look at the walls."

The Blight-Queen’s sigil blazed across ancient stone, pulsing in time with the Lens. Lerai swore softly.

"She’s here. And she’s pissed."

Reality tore open with the smell of burning ozone.

The Blightstorm portal manifested like an inside-out star, and through it stepped the Blight-Queen herself. Her crystal crown cast prismatic shadows, each facet containing captured screams.

"God killer shadow..." Her voice carried centuries of hatred. "You reek of the Null, little thief."

"And you’re still hiding behind monsters." Kael positioned himself between her and the Lens. Around them, corrupted Celestial constructs pulled themselves from the walls—chrome and cancer given form.

"Hold the line!" Lerai’s Etherion barriers sprang up as the squad engaged the constructs.

"We’ve got the fodder!"

The Blight-Queen moved like mercury, each strike carrying the weight of ages. Her crown flared as she wielded powers that should have died.

Aether’valis met her crystalline blade in a shower of sparks—and something resonated between them.

The crown. It wasn’t just controlling the Blight; it was Valtherion tech, twisted to her will.

"You’re using their weapons," Kael realized. "That’s how you’re controlling the guilds!"

Her laugh was glass breaking.

"The gods feared what they couldn’t control. Like precious Kain. Like you."

The temple shuddered.

Cracks spread across reality as the Blight-Queen channeled power through her crown.

"If I can’t have the Lens, no one will! Let it burn with your corpses!"

"Kael!" Lerai’s voice cut through chaos. "Do it! We’ll cover you!"

Time slowed.

The Lens hung before him, key to power beyond measuring. The temple was collapsing. His squad needed him. In that frozen moment, Kael saw the choice for what it was—power or principle.

Control or freedom.

Aether’valis came down like judgment. The Lens shattered with a sound like reality breaking, unleashing a shockwave that sent the Blight-Queen staggering.

Her crown cracked, power bleeding out in screaming torrents.

"Run!" Kael grabbed a wounded squad member as the temple imploded around them.

They emerged into Sanctus’s night, the destruction behind them illuminating the Nexus like a second sun. The Blight-Queen’s retreat was visible only as a ripple in reality—but her hatred lingered like poison in the air.

Veyra was waiting at the stronghold, fury carved into every line of her augmented face.

"You had one task. Now the Pact licks its wounds, but we gain nothing."

"The Lens was a threat." Kael met her gaze steadily. "You’d have wielded it like the Pact."

"Your sentimentality will cost you." Veyra’s tone could have frozen the air itself. "The academy won’t protect you from the Faction’s displeasure."

Morning found them preparing for the return to Black Haven. Lerai tossed Kael his academy uniform with a grimace.

"Back to pretending we’re not killers."

Something fell from the folded fabric—a note in familiar handwriting. Dr. Levi’s precise script carried impossible weight:

"The Titan’s Heart still beats. Find me."

The squad’s farewell was brief, heavy with things unsaid. Serra clapped Kael’s shoulder. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Don’t die in Ethics class."

They entered a gateway on transport back to earth, Kael watched the Nexus’s fractured light paint aurora colors across cloud-steel.

Their body felt distorted as they warped through worlds.

The Null’s whisper crept in like frost:

*...the Blight-Queen knows what you are...*

Memory flickered: Kain standing over a Titan’s corpse, original Star-forged Lens gleaming in his grip.

"The gods fear what they cannot control."

"You’re not him, you know." Lerai’s voice cut through remembrance. "Whatever the Faction thinks."

"Aren’t I?"

Black Haven Academy rose before them like a promise—or a threat. Its forcefields rippled with contained power as Velora waited at the gates, her smile sharp as broken glass.

"You’ve been busy, Kael." Her eyes held secrets like knives. "Welcome to Year Two. Let’s see if you survive it."

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