Chapter 1Breaking the Chains of Dust

In my past life, my bondmate Lyra tried to keep the Gate of Ascension open for her weak old flame, Javier.

The Gate opens only once every ten thousand years—the only chance for adepts to ascend. By delaying its closure, she would doom an entire generation.

So I forced her through. We spent centuries together in the Celestial Realm, and I foolishly thought she’d moved on.

But on the eve of my Archon breakthrough, she poisoned me. As divine retribution tore me apart, she screamed:

"You made Javier miss his ascension! Go rot with him!"

When I opened my eyes, I was back—at the moment she tried to stop the Gate.

This time, I’ll let her have her way.

* * *

“This is the Gate of Ascension! If it doesn't close, our entire generation is doomed!”

A handful of mages pleaded with Lyra, who stood defiantly in the Gate’s shimmering portal, blocking its path.

“Javier hasn’t arrived yet,” Lyra’s voice was as cold as glacial ice. She didn’t budge an inch. “What’s the harm in waiting a little longer?”

“It opens once every ten thousand years! This is our life’s work, our only hope!”

In response, Lyra flung a bolt of pure energy, blasting one of the pleading mages from the sky.

“Insects like you dare dream of ascension?” she sneered. “Javier is not here. Therefore, this Gate will not close.”

She stood there, a lone figure against the tide, a portrait of magnificent, misplaced heroism.

I clapped my hands, my applause echoing in the stunned silence.

“Bravo! Spoken with the spirit of a true paragon, Lady Lyra!”

Then, under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, I turned and drifted away.

For me, the Gate was a mere formality.

My power had long since reached the threshold of ascension. If not for my desire to ascend alongside the far weaker Lyra, I would have been in the Celestial Realm ages ago.

I never imagined that our shared dream of an eternity together would end in such a bitter betrayal.

This life, I was done with her. As the thought crossed my mind, I released the restraints on my power. Instantly, the heavens took notice. A summons to the Celestial Ordeal. In three days, the trial would begin. If I survived, I would ascend.

After my departure, Lyra’s momentary confusion gave way to a faltering of her bravado. Her power, in the grand scheme of things, was unremarkable. Without me to protect her, she would have perished a thousand times over.

Since we were bound, I had braved the Nine Hells and the deepest Abyss to fetch her elixirs and arcane relics, all to finally give her the strength to qualify for ascension.

But now, in this moment, she seemed to believe she was truly invincible.

The true archmages of the realm were all busy battling in the high heavens, vying for the first wisp of celestial essence to break through from the other side. The only ones arriving at the Gate now were the lesser adepts.

I wondered what those old titans would do when they learned that a hundred centuries of cosmic alignment had been squandered for the selfish whim of a minor mage.

The crowd of low-level adepts was no match for Lyra, who was armed to the teeth with the artifacts I had given her. She struck them down one by one, their spirit-veins fractured.

“You pathetic worms dare stand in my way?” she declared, standing sentinel at the Gate, her gaze sweeping over the fallen. “Until Javier arrives, no one is closing this Gate.”

With no one left to challenge her, her arrogance swelled.

Hours passed. More and more adepts arrived, only to be blocked by the unyielding figure of Lyra.

Finally, Javier appeared, stumbling and breathless.

“Lyra, I knew you wouldn’t leave me behind,” he gasped, his own energy almost completely depleted. For someone of his level, just reaching these heights was a monumental feat.

“Javier,” Lyra’s voice softened, her relief palpable. “As long as I’m here, you will always have a place on the Celestial Stairway.”

But just as she spoke, the Gate of Ascension, strained beyond its limits, began to tremble. Before anyone could enter, cracks of light spiderwebbed across its surface, and it began to shatter.

“The Gate… it’s broken! Ten thousand years of waiting, our only chance at godhood… gone!”

“It’s all that witch’s fault!”

“And that low-born mongrel! What right does he have to even be here?”

The heavens filled with a chorus of curses.

Javier’s face went white as a sheet.

“Lady Lyra… did I do something wrong?” he whispered, shrinking behind her as a thousand murderous glares fixed upon him.

“Let them dare touch you, Javier, and I will hunt them to the ends of the earth,” Lyra declared, her voice ringing with protective fury. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

“Oh, Lady Lyra, you’re the best.”

As the two of them exchanged their tender reassurances, a horrifying realization dawned on someone in the crowd.

“The Gate of Ascension is shattered… but the gate to the Celestial Realm never opened! Don’t tell me the Archmages are trapped on the Stairway!”