Chapter 50 - 51: The First to Die Again

Chapter 50: Chapter 51: The First to Die Again Previously on "The Hero’s Harem Is Trying to Kill Him" – Chapter 50 Recap: After surviving an ambush orchestrated by Astra’s inner circle, Kai confronted Seris, the cunning assassin who’d once promised to protect him with her life. Her betrayal stung deeper than any blade—because it wasn’t total. Seris let him go, whispering a truth that unsettled his very soul: "You were never supposed to be the hero. You were the mistake the gods couldn’t erase." Haunted, Kai turned to Yuri for answers. But the sword maiden had her own secret: she knew parts of Kai’s past that he didn’t. Their confrontation ended in tension—and an almost-kiss—until Velis’s name was spoken in a blood ritual far away. Meanwhile, Astra Volara moved in shadows, awakening an ancient warrior bound by death oaths and forgotten wars. Velis—an eyeless herald of forgotten truths—was sent to test Kai. But test him for what? The gods are watching. The betrayals are tightening. And Kai’s flames are turning black. POV: Astra Volara The wind howled like a grieving widow. High atop the Moonspire Citadel, now a ruin of shattered towers and weeping stone, Astra knelt where the altar once stood—a sacred place where kings were crowned, gods were betrayed, and monsters were made. Ash swirled like dead snow, coating her black armor in grey. Beneath her fingertips, blood had dried into ancient sigils, some broken, some still pulsing with residual malice. She didn’t cry. She never had—not even when the world ended the first time. Instead, she whispered his name. "Kai." Not as a curse. Not a prayer. Just... an acknowledgment. He wasn’t a boy anymore. Not the soft-mouthed fool who once offered her wildflowers wrapped in scroll paper. Not the smiling idiot who stammered every time she leaned in too close. No. He had become something else now. Something terrifying. And that made him worthy. Worthy of hate. Worthy of love. Worthy of death. A dark presence rippled in the air behind her. "Master Astra," came a voice like silk cut on broken glass. "You summoned me." From the shadows stepped a woman cloaked in silver-black armor streaked with crimson. Her long white hair trailed like vapor. Most terrifying of all—her eyes had been stitched shut with glowing red threads, yet her movements were those of someone who saw every secret in existence. Velis. Deathsworn. Bloodbound. Loyal to Astra... for now. "I didn’t summon you," Astra said flatly. "The death oath did." Velis bowed low. "Then the offering has been accepted. One life traded for one return." Astra reached into her satchel and dropped a charred feather onto the ground. It pulsed with dark magic, hissed once, and evaporated in a twist of smoke. "Liora," Astra said, her voice devoid of sorrow. "Confirmed dead." Velis tilted her head, stitched eyes fluttering. "A shame. I liked her chaos." "She kissed Kai before she turned." Astra smirked faintly. "Always the dramatic ones." "And the boy?" Astra rose, brushing ash from her cloak. "We don’t kill him yet," she said. "Not until he remembers who he was. Not until he’s ruined everything trying to save it." Velis gave a slight nod. "Then you want pain." "No," Astra whispered. "I want him to feel hope. And then I want to set it on fire." POV: Kai Veylor The sky over Thorned Valley churned, the clouds turning a bruised shade of red, as though the heavens themselves were wounded. Kai stood at the edge of a ruined cliff, gripping a half-burned prophecy scroll in one hand. The parchment was warm, like it still remembered its own doom. Behind him, Yuri crouched, methodically sharpening her curved blade. She hadn’t spoken since sunrise. "I used to think the world was like glass," Kai murmured. "Shattered, but still beautiful. Just needed the right glue to fix it." Yuri snorted. "You’re not glue, Kai. You’re the hammer." He smiled without humor. "So you’re saying I’m here to break it further?" "I’m saying maybe it was always meant to break." She looked up, gaze colder than steel. "And maybe you’re the only one crazy enough to rebuild it." A pulse echoed across the valley. Kai froze. That wasn’t thunder. It was older than that. Magic. Dark. Familiar. Yuri was on her feet in an instant. "She’s here." From the shadows across the ridge, reality bent. Trees twisted inward. Light stuttered. And then she arrived. Velis. The woman stepped forward like a memory summoned from a nightmare. Her silver armor glinted with red etchings that pulsed in rhythm with Kai’s heartbeat. Her stitched eyes bled faint threads of light. She smiled. "Kai Veylor," she said. "The prophecy no longer favors you. You are no longer the Door." Kai’s magic flared. "Then what am I?" Velis spread her arms. "You are the Key." She moved like lightning. Yuri barely managed to intercept, her twin blades clashing with Velis’s halberd in a flare of magic and steel. Sparks flew. Stone cracked. The air hissed from the force. Yuri grunted as she was thrown backward, a deep gash tearing across her side. "No—Yuri!" Kai caught her before she hit the ground. She coughed, blood trailing down her chin. "She’s not here to kill you. She’s here to wake you up." Kai’s fingers clenched. Rage boiled through him. But beneath it—something darker stirred. Something ancient. Familiar. Black fire erupted from his hands. Not the controlled blue flames of his training. No—this was raw, untamed, forbidden. Velis smiled, even as the flames scorched the ground around her. "Yes," she hissed. "You’re remembering." Kai charged, fire swirling into a whip of molten chaos. Velis twisted aside, catching him with a glancing blow to the jaw. He hit the ground, stars bursting behind his eyes. She appeared above him, holding a dagger to her own palm. She sliced it clean and pressed the bleeding wound to his forehead. And then—pain. Memory. Flashes of another world. A throne of bones. A city on fire. Screaming women. Bowing gods. A name etched into steel and soaked in blood. "Kai’Zuran." His name. His first name. Velis leaned down, voice barely a whisper. "You weren’t meant to save this world," she said. "You were meant to end it." Then she vanished. Not fled. Not disappeared. Erased. POV: Astra Volara – Same Time Astra stood alone before the backward-burning firepit. The flames sucked smoke into the logs. Darkness swirled like ink in water. The raven returned. It dropped a single strand of gold-threaded hair into her hand. Yuri’s. Astra inhaled. "He still protects them. Even now." She smiled, wicked and pleased. "Perfect." ⚔️ Another life. Another truth. Another crack in the mask. ???? Add this book to your library—Kai’s past life is finally waking up. ???? What do you think Kai’Zuran was in the world before? Savior, tyrant, or something worse? ???? Vote with Power Stones for bonus flashbacks and Astra’s darkest memory. Let’s burn the truth into legend. ????