The past dies screaming. The future listens.
---
Rift Domain: Abyssal Crown – Lower Sanctum
The dust had not yet settled.
The battle was over, but the world had not stopped shifting.
The party gathered near the broken throne, its fractured back still smoldering from the fight. The Guard was gone. But something deeper remained.
A sound—like breathing.
No, not breathing.
Whispering.
Kaien drew his blade and pointed toward the throne's base. "There's a chamber beneath."
Raik's gauntlets lit up. "Then we break through."
> "No," Adexander muttered.
> "It's not a chamber."
> "It's a tomb."
He stepped forward. With a wave of his hand, the floor peeled back—not stone breaking, but obeying.
A staircase descended into darkness. Faint red runes lit the descent.
At the bottom was a door made of obsidian flesh, covered in eyes that blinked one after the other.
Velessia's breath caught. "This is older than the Abyss."
> [System Notice: Forbidden Zone Approaching — The Pale Reliquary]
> [Warning: Entity Containment Failed – Drevan Protocol Engaged]
> [Do Not Proceed]
Adexander smiled faintly.
> "Proceed."
He reached forward—and the door unwrapped like a blooming wound.
The room inside was not large. But what it held twisted the mind.
Chains made of celestial bones held a humanoid figure in the air. Its body was stitched from shadows, its face obscured by a burning mask of white fire. It did not move.
But it spoke.
> "You wear your name like a crown you threw away."
> "Crimson King."
Kaien instinctively stepped back. "That's not a corpse."
Raik raised his fists. "Then what the hell is it?"
Adexander didn't answer. He walked forward, slowly.
The chained figure raised its head. One eye opened—just one.
Within it swirled a storm.
> "You locked me here yourself."
> "But the cycle turns, and the key always returns."
> "You gave me your rage…"
> "Now I give you your wrath."
The chains snapped.
The figure vanished.
And in its place—hovering before Adexander—was a swirling, molten-red orb.
> [You Have Gained: Fragmented Core – Drevan's Remnant]
> [Trait Acquired: Crimson Wrath (Sealed)]
> [This power cannot be accessed until Volume 2]
Kaien looked panicked. "Wait, did we just let it out?!"
Velessia's wings shuddered. "No. He let it out."
Raik turned to Adexander. "Who the hell was that?"
> "A mistake," Adexander whispered.
> "My mistake."
---
Elsewhere – Unknown Realm
A hand moved.
In the deep dark where time did not flow, something ancient opened its eyes.
"Found you," it said. "At last."
The voice was female.
And filled with hope.