[Back to the Present — The Throne of Betrayal]
The hall stood still—eerily still.
Dust floated like spirits in the air. The once-glorious throne room of North Ryehem was now a stage for revelation.
Kazuki stood tall—his gaze sharp, his presence coiled with power and secrets.
Vareon, still silent, remained standing on the broken marble tiles. His fingers twitched, but he didn't move. His eyes no longer burned with fire. They flickered with doubt, memory, and something else he hadn't felt in years—
Shame.
Kazuki gave a slight smile. Not mocking. Not kind.
A dangerous smile.
"And it doesn't end here…"
His voice echoed like a knife sliding across glass.
Vareon's chest rose and fell slowly.
He wasn't thinking about Kazuki anymore.Not about the throne.Not about Chaos.Not about the Demon King.
He was thinking about himself.
Is this who I became?A monster worse than the one I feared becoming?Was there ever another path…?
And then he finally spoke. Voice low. Barely audible.
"I want to know…""…How did you know all of this?"
Kazuki didn't answer immediately.
He paced forward—step by step—boots echoing against cracked stone.
And then—
He paused, and smiled again, more venom in his expression this time.
"Let me finish the backstory first…And then I'll tell you how I found out…How I planned everything…And what I'm truly here to do…"
He paused, letting those words hang in the air—
"...Uncle Vareon."
[The Trigger]
The words landed like thunder in Vareon's chest.
His pupils dilated.
His body tensed.
And then—dark aura burst forth from his frame, cloaking him in crackling black energy. The air around him shivered, warped by the sheer pressure of his Spiritual Force erupting from suppressed rage.
But he didn't speak.
He didn't lunge.
He didn't stop Kazuki.
Because deep down…he wanted to know.
He needed to know.Who was this boy standing before him?How did he uncover what no one else dared to speak of?And most terrifyingly—
What is he planning?
[Kazuki Continues]
Kazuki didn't flinch under the pressure.If anything, he stepped closer to Vareon's dark aura—unafraid.
His voice was smooth, sharp, and full of control.
"So let me continue. The leftover story—the final truth of the empire's fall.Then I'll show you the pieces I moved.The secrets I stole.And the fate I'm crafting...Just for you."
The firelight flickered.The walls seemed to listen.And Vareon—once the manipulator of empires—was now the one being played.