The Vault was silent.
No echo of battle. No burning glyphs. Just Kael, standing before a throne carved of obsidian bone and forgotten metal. Cracks ran down its arms like veins. It didn't shine. It absorbed light.
The Forgotten Throne.
> [Shadow System Prompt]
Legacy Artifact Detected: The Throne of the First Ashen Sovereign
Integrate with throne?
[Y/N]
Kael stepped forward. His heart beat like war drums.
Y.
The moment he touched the armrest, a shockwave burst through the chamber. Lyra cried out. Riven's blades rang where they hung on his back.
Kael's body was lifted from the floor — suspended in shadowlight.
> [Integration Initiated…]
Bloodline Syncing… 23%... 59%... 91%...
[SUCCESS]
---
🌘 The Memory Throne
Kael's vision blurred.
Suddenly, he stood on a plain of nothing — a world between breath and memory.
And before him sat a figure cloaked in gray fire, face hidden behind a half-cracked mask, black eyes glowing dimly.
"I am Arkan Verradin," the figure said. "The first Sovereign. The first to be unwritten by fate."
Kael's pulse spiked. "You're the one who started this path."
"No." Arkan's voice echoed through endless time. "I only walked it first. You… you continue it."
He raised a hand, and Kael's body pulsed with dark light.
"You've awakened the Forgotten Throne. That means the Heavens have already noticed. Your system was once a gift. Now it's a curse they want to erase."
---
🕯️ Legacy Revealed
> [Legacy Bonus:
Unique Skill – "Sovereign's Mark" unlocked.]
> Sovereign's Mark (Lv. 1):
Allows user to cast a shadow brand upon a place or person, connecting it permanently to your essence. Increases system response, memory recovery, and grants passive control of "Marked Territory."
Kael absorbed the knowledge silently.
Arkan stepped down from the throne. His voice grew heavier.
"If you sit upon this seat, you must be ready. The throne remembers everything. Including your failures. Including your death."
Kael hesitated — then stepped forward.
He sat.
The world cracked.
Visions flooded his skull — battles he hadn't fought, memories of names he never spoke, love and betrayal and power lost and found again.
He screamed.
And then… silence.
---
👁️ Eyes of the Throne
When Kael opened his eyes, he was back in the Vault.
But everything had changed.
His shadow moved even when he didn't.
His presence now pressed outward — like the weight of a long-dead king.
Riven whistled. "Okay. That's new."
Lyra stared. "What happened to your eyes?"
Kael blinked.
> [System Note:
Passive Unlocked — Eyes of the Sovereign: You can now see Memory Residue in people and places. Some lies will not work on you.]
He looked at Mareth.
For a split second, Kael saw it — the true face behind the mask. The scars. The betrayal.
He said nothing.
He didn't need to.
---
🕯️ End of Chapter 25
Kael rose from the throne, changed — not just stronger, but anchored to something ancient.
As they turned to leave, the throne's voice whispered one last time into his mind:
"The world will kneel or burn. There is no middle path for shadows."
---