The ground shook to the sound of hundreds of boots as the horns became louder. This time, no scouts had been sent by the Bai family. An army was marching alongside them. Emma's eyes never left Jared, but her hand lingered close to her dagger. She appeared to be preparing for the impossible rather than wanting to fight. Liam, however, smiled as if he had been looking forward to this moment all his life. "Perfect timing," he whispered. "Allow them to witness their demise." Jared wanted him to stop talking and remind him that the Bai army was annihilation, not just an enemy. However, the chains reacted and responded for him when he attempted to form the words.Rattle.Clink.They snaked across the ruined ground, curling into shapes that weren’t quite natural. Spears, shields, whips—all born from rust and memory.The system pulsed:[Title Effect Activated: King of Chains.][Oppression Aura initiated.][Enemies within 300 meters: -15% morale.]The first Bai soldiers to break through the

Except for the clatter of abandoned weapons, the forest was quiet. A whole battalion of Bai soldiers knelt together, their armor creaking as they buried their foreheads in the ground. Not from royalty. Not from respect. From fear. Like executioner's blades, the chains coiled above their bowed heads, ready to drop at the slightest thought. Jared's crown glowed brighter as it fed off their acquiescence, creating a shadow that seemed bigger than the man. Emma felt a knot in her stomach. Her legs wouldn't move, even though she wanted to run to him and rip the crown off his skull. It was the pull, not just the fear. She was also being pressed against, clawed at will, by the same unseen weight that made the hardened soldiers bow.Liam exhaled in awe. “Do you see it now? This isn’t weakness. This isn’t chains. This is a throne. The Bai thought they could break you—and now they kneel.”Jared’s chest heaved. His steel-grey eye darted toward Emma, searching for something, some anchor. But th

The silence snapped.Above the ruined forest, the clouds twisted into a spiral, black and violet, swallowing what little light remained. Every living thing in sight—wolves, crows, even the trees—bowed as if forced by some invisible hand.The System’s voice split Jared’s skull:[Apocalypse Preparation System Override.][Trial Protocol: Chainbearer Detected.][Summoning: Arbiter.]Below him, the earth shook. A hand that was longer than a human and as pale as bone pushed through the ground. Then another. Draped in robes sewn from rust and shadow, a tall figure wrenched itself free. A single chain was threaded where its mouth should have been, but otherwise its face was a blank mask of smooth porcelain. Emma staggered back, her eyes wide. "Jared... That isn't human.”The Arbiter held up a hand. The soldiers who were kneeling were bound together by a thousand links that clattered in the air. Not only did the chains get tighter, but they also burned symbols into their skin, branding them.

Stone dust rained from above as the chamber groaned, torn apart by light and shadow. When the blast finally died, silence crushed the air, thick and suffocating. The obsidian floor was cracked open like a scar, glowing veins of molten light pulsing through it. Jared staggered at the edge of the rift, blood painting his ribs, his breath ragged. His steel-grey eye flickered faintly, crown-light guttering like a dying flame. Across from him, the mirrored Jared emerged from the smoke, chains slithering around him, though frayed now, cracked with fissures of light. His grin was gone, replaced by something colder—hungry, hateful. Emma’s voice broke through the silence. “Jared!” Her wrists bled raw from fighting the Arbiter’s bindings, her voice hoarse with desperation. “Don’t give in. Please—don’t you dare.” He turned, just enough to see her face through the haze. Her eyes were wide, wet, blazing with a defiance that wasn’t hers alone. For one sharp heartbeat, Jared felt it anchor him.

The abyss trembled as the override flared inside Jared like a second heartbeat, too fast, too violent. The mirrored Jared lunged, his blade of shadow splitting into a hundred shards mid-swing. Each shard screamed through the air like a chain seeking a throat.Jared didn’t dodge. He stepped into it. Crown-light burst from his chest, meeting the storm head-on. The collision shrieked like thunder, black and white fire colliding until the ground itself peeled away.Emma’s cry pierced the chaos. “Jared!”For an instant, her voice tethered him. He could still see her—bloodied wrists, trembling but unbroken, her gaze locked on him as if she could anchor him by will alone.The override surged.[System Divergence: 67%][Warning: Host threshold unstable.]The mirrored Jared’s sneer widened. "You can't tell if the voice in your head is replacing you or saving you." With their blades locked and their breath blending with smoke and heat, he pressed closer. "Soon you won't even know which Jared you