I didn't sleep that night.
Not that I could, anyway. The nullification cell they locked me in buzzed with suppression glyphs, dulling my senses, pressing down on my lungs like wet stone. It was built to suffocate power.
Yet even here, I felt it. That sickening, familiar pulse beneath my skin—like a second heart, thudding in sync with a memory I hadn't asked to relive.
The system's last message rang in my mind:
> Entity Name: Sealed Future Self – Dread Sovereign Fragment
Status: Dormant. Suppressed.
Location: Beneath Arcanum Lyceum, Layer B7.
A piece of me was buried beneath this place.
Not metaphorically. Not emotionally.
Literally.
And I wasn't the only one who could feel it.
Because when the second chime came—and the tower began to shake—I knew it had already started to wake up.
---
The tremors were faint at first. Barely noticeable.
But magic? Magic trembled like a harpstring. The nullification sigils flared, spitting sparks. For a second, my bindings loosened.
Not physically.
Magically.
And for the first time since I returned to this cursed timeline, I felt a ripple of cold elation.
---
> [Villain's System Update]
Minor Sealing Disruption Detected.
Source: [Dread Sovereign Fragment – Echo Pulse 1/5]
Effects: Arcane Anomalies in proximity. Fate Threads diverging.
You are being watched.
---
"Watched by who?" I hissed aloud.
No answer.
The system was maddeningly vague on details. Typical. Some things never changed—even across timelines.
Still, the message confirmed my fear: the Dread Sovereign fragment was leaking.
A piece of my future self—my final evolution, the monster that burned empires—was stirring beneath the Lyceum.
If it surfaced, this entire academy would collapse before sunrise.
And I'd be blamed.
Even worse?
I'd deserve it.
---
The door to my cell cracked open with a sudden burst of wind magic. A cloaked figure stepped through—hood down, face unreadable in the flickering light.
Not Seren.
Not a battlemage.
A student.
He stepped into the light and pulled back his hood.
"Hello, Kael."
My stomach twisted.
Cerin Voss.
Prodigy. Star pupil. Duelist champion. Political puppet in training.
In my old life, he became one of the High Lords of the Grand Assembly.
He was also one of the first people I publicly executed.
"Didn't expect you," I said coldly.
"I know," he said, pacing slowly. "No one expects a friend when they're shackled."
I laughed bitterly. "You're about as friendly as a viper in a spellbook."
Cerin smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "You've been making waves, Kael. Aura spikes. Forbidden echoes. A lot of noise for a nobody."
I stayed silent.
"You weren't supposed to be important. Yet somehow, you feel... bigger now. Like a shadow cast across the future. Why is that?"
I met his gaze. "Maybe you're just afraid of the dark."
---
He chuckled, then crouched beside me, face inches from mine.
"I saw your readings. I snuck into the scrying chamber. You're twisting, Kael. You know that? Your essence is mutating. That's not evolution. That's contamination."
I didn't respond.
He narrowed his eyes. "So here's my offer. Tell me what you are. Who you're working with. And I'll convince the Council to delay the probe."
"No deal."
He stood up. "Shame. I had a feeling we could've been allies."
"We still can be," I said, just as he turned. "If you're willing to burn the future down with me."
Cerin stopped.
Then, he laughed.
And left without another word.
---
When the door slammed shut, the second tremor hit. This one was worse.
Dust rained from the ceiling. The glyphs around the cell flickered—and then blinked out.
For a moment, there was nothing but silence.
Then, far below the tower… a scream.
Not human.
Not animal.
Something ancient. Guttural. Mine.
---
> [System Alert – Containment Breach: Layer B7 Vault 09]
Entity: [Dread Sovereign Fragment – Echo Pulse 2/5]
Awakening Incomplete. Threat Level: Escalating.
Passive aura spread: 3.7km radius.
Predicted event in 3 minutes: [Reality Bleed].
Choose an action.
---
Options:
1. Stay imprisoned. Hope the mages can contain it.
> Survival: 18%
2. Break free. Descend into B7 alone.
> Survival: 62%
3. Force-trigger past power. Fuse temporarily with the fragment.
> Survival: Unknown. Mind integrity at risk.
---
I exhaled.
There was only ever one choice.
I stood, flexed my fingers—and whispered a spell that should not exist in this timeline.
> "Sever the Lock. Shatter the Seal. Let Ruin Rise."
The shackles cracked.
The world held its breath.
Then the cell exploded in a flash of black light.
---
By the time the guards reached my floor, I was gone.
---
The Lyceum was chaos.
Students ran. Professors barked orders. Crystal wards shone like dying stars.
Magic had gone wild. Elements surged in every corner—flames dancing in midair, water spiraling through stone, gravity shifting sideways in flashes.
It wasn't the Dread Sovereign causing it directly.
It was me.
My aura, once sealed, was unraveling—responding to the fragment below like a lodestone calling metal.
It wanted me back.
And a twisted part of me… wanted it too.
---
Beneath the Lyceum, hidden behind reinforced stone and forbidden wards, was Layer B7.
A vault of failures.
A grave of experiments.
A prison of monsters.
And right now, it was my destination.
I passed charred doors. Collapsed hallways. Screaming students caught in arcane backlashes.
Then—at last—I reached the stairwell.
The entrance was sealed by an obsidian archway, humming with detection glyphs. One word was etched across it in Old High Arcana:
"DENIAL."
Only those the Academy trusted with absolute clearance could enter.
I placed my palm against the sigil.
> Unauthorized Entry Detected. Access Level: Villain-Class Anomaly.
> Override recognized.
> Welcome back… Kael the Dread Sovereign.
The door creaked open.
And the abyss welcomed me.
---
Layer B7 was colder than death.
There was no light. Only glyphs that pulsed in deep violet, casting monstrous shadows.
The smell of old magic and broken oaths hung heavy.
I descended the spiral staircase in silence, each step echoing like a drumbeat.
I passed containment chambers. Some cracked. Some empty. Some whispering.
Then I found it.
Vault 09.
The door wasn't sealed.
It had been blasted open from the inside.
I stepped in.
And saw myself.
---
He stood in the center of the chamber, staring into a cracked mirror.
Same face. Same build.
But his eyes…
They weren't mine.
They were full of rot. Flame. Hate.
His smile spread like a disease across his face.
"So," the fragment said, turning, voice a mirror of my own. "You came to watch yourself die again?"
---
> [System Interface – Fragment Encounter Triggered]
Initiating Synchronization Check…
You are standing before a version of yourself who embraced pure Ruin.
Prolonged contact risks psychological collapse.
"Why are you here?" I demanded.
He tilted his head.
"To finish what we started. You think coming back in time changes fate? You think mercy makes you clean?"
He stepped closer.
"You're a liar. You don't want redemption. You want control. You're just trying a different method."
"I'm trying to stop this," I growled. "To stop you."
"You are me."
"I don't have to be."
The fragment chuckled.
"But you will."
---
Then he lunged.
---
It wasn't a physical attack. Not entirely.
It was mental. Magical. Primal.
Like two rivers colliding at full speed—my aura and his crashing into one another, flaring with light and agony.
Visions exploded in my mind.
Cities burning.
Children screaming.
My throne—drenched in blood.
His voice echoed inside my skull:
"Let me in. Let me finish it."
I screamed and unleashed everything.
Light.
Fire.
Shadow.
Steel.
The vault cracked around us. Reality bent. The air shattered like glass.
---
> [System Update: Synchronization Reached 34%. Mind Integrity: Failing.]
> Decision Required:
1. Absorb the Fragment. Risk corruption.
2. Seal it again. Risk awakening later.
3. Split essence—create a tethered version.
---
I chose the third.
Because I wasn't ready to destroy him.
Not yet.
And gods help me, I might still need him.
---
I raised my hand, invoked a forbidden sigil of bifurcation—and tore the fragment in half.
He screamed.
I screamed.
And in that moment, I bound him to me.
A soul tether. Invisible. Dangerous.
But controllable.
For now.
---
When the vault settled, I collapsed to one knee, blood dripping from my ears.
The mirror in the center of the room was cracked beyond repair.
But in the shards, I saw my reflection.
And behind me… a flicker of him.
Watching.
Waiting.
---
> [Villain's System Update:]
Dread Sovereign Fragment tethered.
Power level increased. Sanity instability: Minor.
World awareness of your presence is rising.
New Title Unlocked: The One Who Faces Himself.
---
A voice crackled in my ear.
"Kael?" It was Seren. "Kael, are you alive? Where are you?"
I stared at the broken vault.
At the blood on my hands.
At the shadows gathering behind the stairs.
"I'm coming back," I said softly.
"But not alone."