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Chapter 12: The Mark of Ascent
Three days.
The system had said he needed to survive three days.
But time, in this place, bled sideways.
Kaelen walked through a silver forest warped by void-touched growth. Trees spiraled upward in impossible geometry, and the leaves whispered secrets he dared not listen to.
Each step he took reshaped the land behind him—leaving it colder, darker.
>
Effect Radius: 0.3 km and growing
Environmental Shift: +12% Shadow Density | -7% Light Retention
"I'm a walking anomaly now," Kaelen muttered.
Even his Ashwalkers—once fully obedient—twitched with nervous awareness.
But there was no time to slow down.
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Location: The Hollow Vault
He had reached the edge of a once-hidden site: the Hollow Vault—a pre-Cycle structure said to contain echoes of fallen Sovereigns.
The door was etched with nine burning eyes—three gouged out.
>
Eclipse Shard Resonance: 89%
Entry Permission: GRANTED
Kaelen stepped through the barrier.
Immediately, the pressure tripled.
The vault was a coliseum carved from dead stars. At the center, suspended by threads of time, was a corpse…
…a giant, plated in armor unlike any Kaelen had seen—neither flesh nor metal, but memory turned physical.
It wore a crown of glass.
And it breathed.
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Hollow Sovereign – "Vexon, the Forgotten Edge"
> "Another heir walks unbidden…"
"Will you wield me, or join me?"
The corpse's voice thundered through the vault, even as it remained lifeless.
Kaelen's Eclipse Edge shook violently. His system locked.
>
Trial: Wield the Hollow Sovereign's Blade or Be Devoured by His Memory
Timer: 5 minutes
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Kaelen took a breath.
Then stepped forward.
Shadows boiled from his spine.
The vault closed.
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