GODLINGS ASCENSION

The battlefield reeked of blood and betrayal.

Kael Zephyr staggered forward, the weight of his own sword dragging against the scorched earth. His once-loyal comrades stood before him, their faces cold, their blades still slick with the blood of those who had fought beside him. A sharp pain tore through his ribs-another wound, another sign that this was the end.

"You should've known, Kael," a familiar voice murmured. "Loyalty is a fool's game."

Varic. His second-in-command. The man he trusted most. Now, the one leading the slaughter.

Kael gritted his teeth, laughter bubbling up despite the agony. "I hope the coin they paid you was worth it, Varic."

A smirk, a slow lift of the traitor's blade. "Some things are worth more than honor."

The blade swung.

Darkness swallowed Kael whole.

A gasp tore from his lips as he jolted upright, lungs burning as if he had been drowning.

But he wasn't on the battlefield.

Cold stone pressed against his back, damp air thick with the scent of decay. His fingers curled, brushing against rough fabric-silk, embroidered with royal insignias. Not his armor. Not his body.

What in the abyss...?

A flickering torchlight illuminated cracked walls. The weight of gold circlets pressed against his forehead, fingers adorned with rings he had never worn. He lifted his trembling hands, his breath hitching at the unfamiliar reflection in the polished metal of a nearby dagger.

Not his face.

He shot to his feet, legs weak, his body unfamiliar and foreign. Panic clawed at his throat. This wasn't just resurrection. It was something worse.

Then, a whisper.

System initializing... Welcome, Zayne Solis.

Kael-no, Zayne-stumbled against the stone altar, heart pounding. The name echoed in his head, a cruel joke of fate.

Zayne Solis. The disgraced prince. Murdered by his own family.

Memories not his own slammed into him. Ballrooms filled with deceit, a throne slipping from his grasp, poisoned lips whispering false promises. And the final betrayal-a blade to the heart from the woman he once trusted most.

His hands clenched, the weight of a past he never lived pressing into him. He was Kael Zephyr, warrior of a thousand battles, not some fallen prince with a forgotten legacy.

Yet the body he inhabited told another story.

System initializing... Awakening latent abilities.

Pain flared through his skull. He gritted his teeth as knowledge flooded him-this world, its rules, the power locked within him. And most importantly-the ones who had ensured Zayne's demise.