KING OF RUIN-Chapter 48: Retribution

The golden, ringed sky spun above like a celestial clock wound too tightly. Marble towers floated in midair, tethered to nothing but ancient light. The gods' fortress shimmered in endless twilight, eternal and still—until now.

In the center of the divine plaza, five figures stood atop a glowing sigil of celestial command.

Tagariel, Goddess of War, turned her helm toward a sudden split in the world. The air ruptured with a scream of black thunder, crackling like a dying star.

A jagged tear opened reality.

Kol stepped through, his cloak flowing like liquid shadow, eyes dim with quiet fury. Elizabeth descended beside him in silver light, her divine blood flaring against the heavens.

Tagariel narrowed her eyes. "You're bold, even for the Devil's heir."

Kol's voice was calm as death. "You brought war to my people. Now I return the favor."

Ashbel grinned, flames licking his body like serpents. "Let's see how long he burns."

He moved.

A comet of fire blitzed toward Kol, his fist crashing into Kol's chest— BOOM. The plaza detonated, and floating platforms shattered in every direction.

But Kol didn't budge. Flames rolled off him. His eyes narrowed.

Then—crack.

Kol grabbed Ashbel's arm and hurled him through a marble tower. It exploded in light and stone.

Zemariel raised a hand. Time shivered.

Kol's next movement halted mid-stride—stuck in a moment. Air thickened like syrup. Elizabeth reacted instantly, launching into the air with a scream of divine will. Her moonlight blade clashed with Zemariel's time-scepter, ripping fissures in space. Dimensional echoes trembled as they collided midair, a storm of past and future ripping the sky.

From the ground, Tagariel struck. Twin star-forged spears spun, one above, one below.

Kol ducked the upper thrust, caught the second, and surged forward with a headbutt that sent Tagariel blasting through a column of light.

Then the sun itself blinked.

Mekoriel teleported above, raining solar javelins, each a weapon of judgment and light.

Kol vanished between the rays. BOOM BOOM BOOM.

He reappeared behind Mekoriel, his fist cloaked in shadowfire, and slammed it into his chest.

CRACK.

Three floating temples exploded as Mekoriel's body ripped through them.

Diniel didn't flinch.

"Unworthy," he muttered.

Divine chains erupted from the ground—binding Kol's arms, legs, throat. They dragged him down to one knee.

"I judge you," Diniel intoned. "And all strength shall leave you."

Kol strained—groaning under the pressure. Divine light pierced his skin.

Then—pulse.

Black veins coiled up his arms. His eyes ignited with reversed flame, black lightning devouring light.

"Don't speak to me of judgment."

Kol stood. And shattered the chains with a scream that made the sky bleed.

Diniel took a step back.

Kol disappeared.

BOOM.

A punch to the face turned Diniel into a blazing meteor, smashing through the outer ring of the fortress.

The sky changed.

Ruhamiel descended from the clouds, wings of wind blotting out the sun. "You defy the heavens, demon."

He raised a hand—the atmosphere screamed.

A titanic storm churned to life, winds slicing towers in half, tearing the very oxygen from Kol's lungs. But Kol stood firm. freёwebnoѵel.com

Lightning forked around him.

Kol caught the storm in one hand—and crushed it.

Ruhamiel's eyes widened—but before he could react, Kol was there.

Fist. Jaw. Wind exploded.

Ruhamiel spiraled away, his screams lost to the howling void.

Then the ground shook.

Evanoriel stepped forward—each footfall cracking the divine plaza. A mountain in motion.

Kol met him mid-charge. They collided like planets.

Each strike sent shockwaves that knocked towers from the sky. Stone, gold, and divine crystal collapsed. Evanoriel's obsidian hammer met Kol's Black lightning, the two clashing in a storm of mass and power.

Elizabeth dove down from above, tearing apart a spear of magma, then opened a portal behind Evanoriel. She sent him hurtling into it—and out from another—into Kol's waiting fist.

Kol drove him through the world. Literally. A hole punched through six layers of floating fortresses as Evanoriel dropped like a meteor.

"ENOUGH!"

Chaziel raised his voice. The world slowed.

All futures converged.

Kol froze in place—his body shifting between timelines, his blows undone before they could land.

"I see every outcome," Chaziel whispered. "You lose in all of them."

Kol stood still.

Then smiled.

"You forgot one."

Shadows spiraled around him like a whirlpool of dying stars. Gravity bent. Light warped.

"You stole Lisa. You slaughtered innocents. You tried to murder my family."

Tagariel, battered and bloodied, stood with her broken spear. "We did what was necessary—for the balance of the world."

Kol's voice was thunder.

"Then let the world break."

He raised his head.

Reality collapsed.

Darkness devoured the heavens.

And Kol whispered:

"Open... Hell's Gate."

The tear he opened earlier widened into a vortex of oblivion. From it rose six Devil Knights, each cloaked in eternal flame, and behind them—

a thousand infernal warriors, crawling from shadow, screaming war.

Kol's eyes burned black.