The moment they returned from the prison of the Whispering Chain, the Abyss shuddered.
Not a tremor of fear—but recognition.
The Whispering Chain, now coiled like a black serpent around Liu Shen's right arm, pulsed with silent purpose. Its links, still etched with forgotten oaths, seemed to shimmer in resonance with the very heart of the Abyss.
Yu Meixing stared at it with both awe and unease. "What exactly can that chain… do?"
Liu Shen looked down at it, flexing his fingers. "It doesn't simply bind the flesh or soul. It binds destiny itself. Whoever accepts a contract under it will have their fate linked to mine—and should they betray it, the chain will devour their future."
Lei Qing narrowed his eyes. "And what about those who are forced into it?"
"It doesn't work that way," Liu Shen replied. "The chain is forged from willingness. Oaths given freely. But once given… there is no escape."
A quiet wind stirred the dust around them. Then, from beyond the ridge of bone-colored cliffs, came a familiar presence.
Kael, the forsaken general of the Abyss, emerged from the mist.
The massive figure, once hollow-eyed and lost to time, now strode with renewed authority. His demonic armor gleamed as though freshly forged, bearing Liu Shen's ancient sigil across its chestplate.
Kael knelt. "The Second Beacon has awakened. The Forgotten Court stirs in response to your call."
Liu Shen stepped forward, eyes steady. "Then it's time we test the loyalty of those who once called me Sovereign."
Kael rose and extended his hand. A map—no, a projection of the Abyss itself—formed in the air. Twisting, layered paths of darkness led toward a single node pulsing like a black star.
"The Third Abyssal Beacon," Kael said, "lies within the Hollow of Chains, sealed by three soul-anchors. They were placed there by the Celestial Tribunal after your fall. It's the last stronghold of those who remained loyal… but were cursed into madness."
Liu Shen studied the projection. "They'll remember. Even in madness, loyalty echoes."
"But they won't come back willingly," Kael warned. "Their minds were shattered by betrayal and bound by celestial law. To free them is to pay the price they once bore in your name."
Liu Shen nodded. "Then I will."
---
They descended into the Hollow of Chains.
It was not a place, but a wound in space. Chains hung in midair, suspended over a vast chasm with no bottom. Each chain vibrated softly with whispers—laughter, weeping, promises, curses. The tortured soundscape of oaths long broken.
Yu Meixing gritted her teeth. "This… isn't just cursed. It's alive."
The first guardian appeared.
A woman of burning silver eyes and long white hair, her body wrapped in fragmented celestial robes and broken armor. Her mouth was sewn shut by glowing thread.
Kael froze. "That was General Lin Yue. She was the first to die for you."
Liu Shen stepped forward, slowly raising the Whispering Chain.
The threads sealing Lin Yue's lips twitched. Her fingers clutched a bloodstained spear. She didn't speak. She simply lunged.
Their battle was swift, sharp, and tragic. Lin Yue's strikes carried not hatred, but sorrow. She fought like one begging to be remembered, each blow a question: Why did you not return for us?
"I died," Liu Shen finally said, catching her blade. "But I came back."
He let the Whispering Chain unfurl from his arm. It coiled around Lin Yue's blade, her arm, her soul. She did not resist.
The chain pulsed. Her body dissolved into light, and from it formed a single chain link, which joined Liu Shen's gauntlet.
One soul-curse undone.
---
The second soul-anchor was guarded by twins—Zhao and Zhen, known as the Bloodweave Blades. Once inseparable, now eternally locked in a duel that never ended. They sliced at one another with tears streaming down their faces, their blades chanting forgotten incantations.
"Kill one," Kael whispered, "and the other is freed."
"I will not sacrifice either," Liu Shen replied.
He stepped between them.
They cut him. Again and again. But the Whispering Chain extended between their swords—binding them not to pain, but to unity.
"Your loyalty was not to war," Liu Shen said. "It was to each other. And to me."
The twins screamed in unison as the curse fought back. But the chain surged with will, driven by Liu Shen's intent.
Chains snapped.
The twins collapsed, breathing as if for the first time in centuries. They looked at Liu Shen—not as a ghost of the past, but as the Sovereign returned.
The second curse broke.
---
The final soul-anchor was hidden beneath the hollow's core.
There, in a throne of broken weapons and shattered names, sat a figure unmoving.
No face. No body. Just armor… and silence.
Yu Meixing whispered, "Who is that?"
Liu Shen did not answer. He already knew.
He stepped forward alone.
The Whispering Chain unraveled from his arm and extended toward the figure.
And then, the throne spoke.
"To reclaim me… you must forgive yourself."
Liu Shen faltered.
This wasn't a general.
It was the soul-curse he had buried himself. His own failure, regret, self-loathing—everything he sacrificed in order to rise again.
The final anchor… was him.
For a long time, no one spoke. Not even the Abyss.
Then Liu Shen kneeled before it, and whispered: "I forgive you… for falling. For trusting. For not being perfect."
The Whispering Chain ignited.
The throne shattered.
And the third Beacon flared into life.
---
As they emerged from the Hollow, the abyssal winds sang a new song.
Three Beacons were now lit.
The army of the Abyss… was waking.
And the heavens, watching from their cold perch above the world, would soon remember why they once feared the Demon Sovereign.