The Sovereign Chronicles novel Chapter 35

"Kaelen! You dare steal a Martial Codex?! That is a capital offense!"

"No wonder a trash servant like you broke into The Spirit Warrior Tier! You've been stealing forbidden arts! You're a dead man!"

Angry shouts erupted from the edges of the arena, led by several enraged disciples.

"Look at his proficiency! He's been practicing that art for months!"

"He's done for! Even if Maelor doesn't kill him, the Sanctum's inquisitors will execute him publicly!"

"The sheer audacity! Stealing a codex and then using it in broad daylight on the Proving Grounds!"

As the reality of the situation dawned on them, more and more disciples joined the screaming mob.

The Azure Sky Sanctum strictly prohibited the private transmission of martial arts. Learning a codex without official authorization from The Vanguard Vault was the ultimate taboo. The punishment was the immediate crippling of the offender's Aether Core, followed by permanent exile—or death.

As a lowly servitor, Kaelen's crime was exponentially worse.

"Shut your damn mouths!" Celine was having none of it. She marched to the edge of the stands, pointing furiously at the screaming crowd. "What the hell is wrong with all of you? You're just begging for an excuse to watch someone get executed? Look closely, you idiots! Is that a Sanctum codex? Have you ever seen that art in the Vault? If it doesn't belong to the Sanctum, how exactly did he steal it from us? Do you think every martial art in the world belongs to The Azure Sky Sanctum? Have you no shame?!"

Her sharp, furious reprimand echoed across the arena, snapping many of the zealots out of their self-righteous fury. They shifted uncomfortably, suddenly realizing she was right.

"Then where did a servant get a martial art?! He's never even left the mountain!" someone yelled defensively, pointing at Kaelen.

Celine's temper flared into a blazing inferno. "Don't showcase your stupidity in public, I'm embarrassed for you! Two months ago, the herb-masters took Kaelen into the deeper forests to gather reagents! He found the codex for The Violet Serpent's Fury in the wild!"

"And we're just supposed to take your word for it?"

"Yes, you are! What, you got a problem with that? For eight years, the Sanctum refused to give him a single scrap of martial knowledge, and now you're throwing a tantrum because he found one out in the world? He is an attendant, not a slave! Who dares say Kaelen isn't allowed to practice an art he scavenged with his own two hands? Who?! Even if the Grand Elder himself were standing here, he wouldn't have the sheer thickness of skin to forbid it!"

Her barrage of logic was an absolute slaughter. She didn't just tear down the gloating Initiates; she dragged the Elders' hypocrisy into the light.

Standing with her hands on her hips, her face flushed with rage, she left zero room for counter-argument. No one dared to speak. It was true: the Sanctum had actively suppressed Kaelen, denying him access to the Vault for eight years. But if the faction refused to provide for him, they had no legal ground to confiscate a fortuitous encounter he found outside their walls. Loot was loot!

Celine's friends quickly joined the shouting match, laying into the crowd. The group of young women completely abandoned their elegant demeanors, raining curses down on the mob. It was highly inappropriate, but unbelievably satisfying, and they bullied the crowd into absolute silence.

"Kaelen... you actually made me bleed?" Maelor stared at his lacerated right shoulder, then felt the agonizing, burning pain radiating from his fractured ribs. An overwhelming, murderous rage consumed him, twisting his handsome face into a demonic scowl. He tuned out the screaming crowd. He didn't care where Kaelen got the technique. This was a Phase Five insect! And he drew blood? In front of the entire Sanctum?!

Kaelen ignored the peanut gallery entirely. Without a word of warning, he fired up the seventh segment of The Violet Serpent's Fury. The massive lightning serpent reformed, wrapping tightly around his frame. Its blinding aether flared with terrifying intensity, locking its predatory gaze on Maelor.

The crowd watched with a mixture of dread and awe. The sheer savagery of the violet serpent made the front-row spectators instinctively step back, feeling the lethal voltage baking the air.

*He really just found that in the woods?* It was hard to believe.

But then again, the Sanctum definitely didn't have anything that looked like *that*.

"I came here to teach you a lesson, but since you want to make this a fight to the death, don't blame me for what happens next." Maelor projected his voice, ensuring every single person in the arena heard him. He was laying the groundwork. When he crippled Kaelen in the next exchange, the blood would be on Kaelen's own hands.

Kaelen had no time for villainous monologues. His muscles coiled, and he launched himself at Maelor, initiating a hyper-aggressive assault. He sank entirely into the rhythm of combat, entering a state of pure flow.

The lightning serpent let out a deafening screech and detached from Kaelen's body. Thick as a man's arm and over a meter long, it ripped through the air in a jagged, blinding arc, crashing down toward Maelor like divine judgment.

"Verdict of True Thunder: Thunder-Cage!"

Maelor screamed the incantation. The lightning dancing across his skin instantly vanished, sucked into his palm. A microsecond later, the aether detonated beneath the floor. It wasn't a localized blast. Hundreds of thick, chaotic lightning bolts erupted outward in a massive, 360-degree shockwave. Like a blooming lotus of pure electricity, the AoE attack swept across an eight-meter radius. Every single bolt was as thick as a thumb and carried lethal voltage.

Kaelen, who had just charged into range, took the full brunt of the tidal wave. The lightning shredded his remaining clothes, tearing his flesh open in dozens of places. The concussive force blasted him high into the air, flipping him backward in a gruesome display of overwhelming power. The sight of his charred, lacerated body sent a collective shudder through the crowd.

The tide had turned!

"Gods!" Several Initiates gasped. This was the true horror of the Verdict of True Thunder. Maelor, at Phase Seven, was executing a spell that even Phase Eight disciples would struggle to manifest.

"It's over. Kaelen lost. But holding out this long against a Prime Initiate... he's earned his place among the Upper Initiates today. Assuming Maelor didn't just permanently cripple him," someone muttered with a heavy sigh. The fight was amazing, just too short.

Maelor stood up, his chest heaving violently. To maximize the lethality of the Thunder-Cage, he had drained a massive portion of his Aether Core. His vision blurred slightly from the exertion, but watching Kaelen's broken body crash into the stone filled him with a euphoric high. "You're completely out of your league, trash."

Kaelen lay motionless on the ground. Blood soaked his ruined tunic, pooling on the stone. He looked completely dead.

"Kaelen!" Celine shrieked, sprinting toward the stage, only for Lyra to grab her arm and pull her back.

Many disciples covered their mouths, unable to stomach the sight.

But then... Kaelen lay still for exactly five seconds. He took a deep, ragged breath, let it out slowly, and, to the absolute horror of everyone present, casually sat up. His breathing was heavy, but he did not look like a man on the verge of death.

The disciples standing closest to the ring rubbed their eyes in disbelief. From their vantage point, Kaelen's wounds weren't nearly as fatal as they looked. By all logic, an AoE blast of that magnitude should have shattered his bones and fried his internal organs. Yet, Kaelen hadn't sustained any critical damage. It was almost entirely superficial flesh wounds. At least, that's what it looked like.