The Heavenly Demon of Terror-Chapter 315: Edge of the Broken Vale

Samuel's POV

The wind here didn't howl.

It whispered.

Like it had secrets to share but only if you were mad enough to listen. The sky above the Broken Vale was a bleeding canvas of dying stars, and the ground beneath us cracked with every step — like the land itself was still protesting what had been done to it.

I walked ahead, Roselle and Nocturne at my flanks, with Owen and Henry hanging back, watching our rear. Even they could feel it — the pressure in the air. The taste of forbidden knowledge. Like this place wasn't meant to exist.

But it did.

And somewhere within it stood the one who broke the seal that bound the Forgotten Gate. freewebnoveℓ.com

We crested the jagged ridge of obsidian, and there — standing alone at the heart of a shattered monument — was a figure.

Not monstrous.

Not divine.

Just... human.

Or so it appeared.

A cloak of ash-gray wrapped around lean shoulders. The wind didn't move it. Nothing did. He stood perfectly still, as though he was the anchor holding this realm in place. Black hair fell over one side of his face, and his eyes — when he opened them — gleamed with twin orbs of voidfire.

He smiled as if he'd been expecting us.

"Samuel," he said. "Roselle. Nocturne."

I blinked. "You know our names?"

"I remember your names."

Nocturne stepped forward, her voice razor-sharp. "You're the one who shattered the seal on the Gate. Why?"

He looked at her, unfazed. "Because cages, no matter how noble, eventually rust. And what's beyond that gate deserves to return."

Roselle narrowed her eyes. "You're not just some rogue mage. Who are you, really?"

The man spread his arms. "I was once known as Ezra."

My blood ran cold.

Ezra.

A name whispered in every forbidden text Roselle and I ever found. A theorist. A traitor. A godkiller. A being who vanished millennia ago after tearing apart his pantheon for reasons no one could decipher.

"I thought you were dead," I muttered.

Ezra laughed quietly. "I was. But death, like seals, is only an inconvenience when truth is your compass."

I felt Roselle tense beside me. She was trying to keep calm, but I knew her too well. This man — Ezra — scared her.

And if she was scared, that meant I needed to be ready to kill him.

"What do you want?" I asked flatly.

Ezra tilted his head. "I don't want. I warn. The seal is broken. What sleeps will wake. You still have time to choose — ally with me, or die screaming when the old gods crawl through the cracks."

Nocturne's voice turned to frost. "We don't make pacts with those who break the natural order."

Ezra chuckled. "Nocturne... you are despair. What's more natural than chaos?"

He turned to Roselle.

"And you... you wear the crown of darkness well. But even you can't stop what's coming without me."

Roselle met his gaze. "I'd rather be unmade than bow to your madness."

Ezra's smile vanished. "Then you will be."

I stepped forward, gauntlet flaring with light.

"I've killed titans, gods, and horrors that made nightmares cry. Don't think for one second I won't kill you too."

Ezra stared at me.

Then... he smiled again. Genuinely.

"Good," he said softly. "Then maybe there's still hope."

The air rippled.

And Ezra vanished — like he was never there.

We stood in silence for a long moment.

Then Owen muttered, "What in the actual fuck just happened?"

Roselle turned to me.

"That wasn't a warning. That was a test."

Nocturne nodded. "And we passed."

I clenched my fists. "Then we better start preparing."

Because whatever Ezra had woken up... it was coming.

And we had just made ourselves its first obstacle.