The Abyss pulsed like a living heart.
Every step Ethan took sent ripples of crimson light through the dark. Around him, echoes of the past whispered his name some in worship, some in fear.
Noctarion's chained form loomed in silence. The god's molten-gold eyes watched Ethan as though peering through his soul.
"You still think you control me?" the voice rumbled.
"I gave you eternity, power, worship. And you call it a curse?"
Ethan's voice was calm but sharp. "Because you fed it with death."
The god smiled, a slow and dreadful thing.
"Without death, there is no night. Without hunger, there is no throne."
The words throbbed in his mind. He could feel the divine echo pressing against his thoughts the same power that had destroyed him once before.
Then a hand touched his shoulder.
Lilith stood there, eyes trembling between fear and hope.
"Do you remember now, my love? What happened… before you fell?"
Fragments of memory flooded him again
the war between gods and vampires, his unstoppable rise, the endless night he cast over the world.
And then… betrayal.
He saw Lilith, Seraphina, and Aria standing before him centuries ago, their faces filled with sorrow.
"Forgive us," Lilith's past self whispered. "You've become what you swore to destroy."
Chains of divine silver coiled around his body as he screamed, sealing both his heart and his godhood beneath the world.
Ethan staggered back, clutching his chest. "You… you were the ones who sealed me."
Seraphina's voice was barely a whisper. "We had to. You were losing yourself. The god's will was eating your soul."
Aria stepped forward, her fierce tone faltering. "We never stopped loving you. Even after eternity, we searched to bring you back not as a god, but as you."
Ethan looked from one to the other. The anger in his eyes dimmed, replaced by something heavier. "So that's what the Eternal Night really was… my madness."
The chains binding Noctarion rattled, his laughter echoing across the realm.
"They caged your divinity, child. But power like ours never dies it only sleeps. You cannot be both man and god. Choose."
The system flared violently.
[Critical Decision Point Detected]
[Path 1: Accept Divinity Merge with Noctarion. Regain limitless power.]
[Path 2: Reject Divinity Sever the god's will. Remain human, but free.]
Ethan's blood burned. The power of the god within him screamed for release. His wives stared at him, waiting fear in their immortal eyes.
For a long moment, the silence was unbearable.
Then Ethan spoke.
"I will not be your puppet. Not again."
He spread his hands and summoned his blood energy. Golden and crimson light burst from his chest, wrapping around the chained god.
[Skill Activation: Abyssal Rebirth Overdrive Mode.]
The throne cracked. The Abyss screamed. The god howled in fury.
"You cannot kill me, King! You are me!"
Ethan's aura surged until the entire realm trembled. "Then I'll tear you out of me."
The divine chains shattered one by one. In a flash of burning light, Noctarion's shadow was ripped from Ethan's soul and sealed within a prison of blood.
The system chimed softly through the silence that followed.
[System Update: Divine Will Severed.]
[Bloodline Resonance: 12.3%]
[New Passive Unlocked: True Self Immune to Divine Possession.]
Ethan dropped to one knee, breathing hard. Lilith caught him before he fell.
"You chose to stay yourself," she whispered. "That's what makes you our King."
He looked up at her, at all three of them, his expression softening. "And that's what makes you my eternity."
For the first time in centuries, the Abyss was silent.