The shadow kept falling.
It did not rush. It did not dive. It descended slowly, like it was certain nothing below could escape it. The air grew heavy with each second, pressing down on everyone standing in the shattered ruins.
Aren could barely breathe.
The system screen hovered in front of him, steady and cold.
[User Choice Required][Accept Call or Resist]
Kael staggered to his feet beside him. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. His eyes flickered gold again, weak and unstable.
"Aren," Kael said. "Whatever that thing is, it is calling you."
Aren nodded. He could feel it too. The pull was not painful. It was not violent. It felt familiar, like a hand reaching out after a long time apart.
"I know," Aren said.
Regent Halverin took a slow step back. For the first time, he did not look in control. His eyes never left the shadow above.
"That dragon should not be awake," Halverin said. "Not yet."
Seris Elowen clenched her staff tightly. "Then the seal is breaking faster than we thought."
The abyssal creature snarled, backing away from Aren. Its red eyes never left the sky.
"This is wrong," it hissed. "That presence should be sleeping."
The shadow finally broke through the clouds.
Wings stretched outward, vast and dark, blotting out what little light remained. Lightning flickered along the edges of its scales, crawling like living veins. Its body was too large to fully understand at once. Every movement bent the air around it.
Aren's heart pounded.
The system reacted again.
[Warning][Dragon Rank Exceeds Known Parameters]
Kael let out a shaky laugh. "That is not just high tier."
"No," Halverin said quietly. "That is an ancient."
The dragon lowered its head slightly. Its eyes were not gold or red, but a deep silver, calm and sharp. When it looked at Aren, the pull in his chest intensified.
Aren felt his knees weaken.
The voice came next.
It did not shake the world. It did not roar. It spoke directly into Aren's mind, clear and heavy.
"You have taken too long to answer."
Aren swallowed. "I did not know you were calling."
The dragon's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You hear now."
The abyssal creature shouted, "Do not answer it."
Too late.
The system flashed again.
[External Authority Engaged]
Pain lanced through Aren's head. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest. Memories he did not recognize pressed against his mind. A throne split by fire. Dragons bowing. A crown falling into ash.
Kael shouted his name, but his voice sounded distant.
Halverin raised his hand sharply. "Aren Valen. Resist it."
Aren looked up at him. "Why."
Halverin hesitated. Just for a second.
"Because once you accept," Halverin said, "you will no longer belong to yourself."
The dragon's gaze shifted to Halverin.
"Liar," it said calmly.
The word carried weight. The ground cracked beneath Halverin's feet.
"You took his past," the dragon continued. "You sealed his name. You buried his blood under systems and laws."
Seris whispered, "So it is true."
Halverin's jaw tightened. "It was necessary."
The abyssal creature lunged backward, opening a gate behind itself. "This is no longer our fight," it snarled. "When kings wake, worlds burn."
It vanished.
The dragon ignored it.
Aren's system screen began to fracture, lines of light breaking through the interface.
[System Instability Detected][Core Authority Overlap]
Kael grabbed Aren's arm. "If you accept, what happens to me."
Aren looked at him. The bond pulsed painfully between them.
"I do not know," Aren said honestly.
The dragon lowered itself further, massive head now close enough that Aren could see the fine lines between its scales.
"You remain what you are," the dragon said. "Bound, but not erased."
Kael laughed weakly. "That is not comforting."
The dragon's gaze softened slightly when it looked at Kael.
"You were never meant to wake first," it said. "That was the mistake."
Aren clenched his fists. "Then why him."
"Because he stayed," the dragon replied. "When others ran."
The system flickered violently.
[Choice Time Limit Approaching]
Seris stepped forward suddenly. "If he accepts, the system will lose control," she said. "Everything built on it could collapse."
The dragon looked at her. "The system was built on lies."
Halverin's voice hardened. "Those lies kept the world stable."
"And stagnant," the dragon replied.
Aren felt the pull again, stronger now. The choice pressed against him, not as text, but as weight. He understood something then.
This was not about power.
It was about ownership.
He looked at the system screen.
[Accept Call or Resist]
He remembered the hall. The laughter. The stamp. The word useless.
He remembered Kael laughing with everyone else.
Kael looked away, shame crossing his face. "I was stupid," he said quietly. "I did not know."
Aren believed him. That surprised him.
The dragon waited.
Halverin stepped closer. "If you resist, we can protect you," he said. "You can live a quiet life."
Aren laughed softly. "You already told the world."
Halverin did not reply.
Aren looked up at the dragon. "If I accept, what do you want from me."
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"Truth," it said. "And return."
The system began counting down.
[3][2]
Kael squeezed Aren's arm. "Whatever you choose," he said, "do not let them cage you."
[1]
Aren exhaled slowly.
He reached out.
Not to the system.
To the call.
"I accept," Aren said.
The system screamed.
[Authority Override Detected][System Control Lost]
Light exploded outward.
The dragon roared, not in rage, but in declaration. The sound tore through the sky, echoing across the world.
Every system screen, everywhere, froze.
Then new text appeared.
[Global Update][Dragon Authority Recognized]
Halverin staggered back, blood trickling from his nose.
"No," he whispered. "It rejected us."
The dragon's massive form began to fade, its presence sinking inward, into Aren.
Aren screamed as the bond snapped tight.
Memories flooded in fully this time. A crown placed on his head. Dragons kneeling. Humans bowing. Then chains. Betrayal. Silence.
The world went white.
When Aren opened his eyes, he was lying on cracked stone. The sky was clear again. The dragon was gone.
Kael knelt beside him, panic on his face. "Aren."
Aren sat up slowly. His body felt different. Heavier. Whole.
The system screen appeared one last time, stripped and bare.
[System Rebooting Under New Authority]
Halverin was on one knee, staring at Aren like he was seeing a ghost.
Seris whispered, "The king…"
Aren looked at his hands. They were shaking.
Far away, across the world, dragons lifted their heads as one.
And deep beneath the earth, something ancient smiled.
[Primary Awakening Complete]