The roar of the crowd filled the stadium, though no one was actually there. The holographic banners flickered with golden light, flashing the same name again and again:VICTORY: PLAYER NAME - ZEROKILLIn his chair, surrounded by glowing monitors and the stale scent of energy drinks, Alex Shin let out a long, shaky breath. He slowly removed his headset, eyes wide with disbelief.He had done it.The final kill.The last hit in the Global Finals of Kingdom War Online."ZeroKill! ZeroKill! ZeroKill!"The livestream chat was going insane. Emojis, confetti animations, donation alerts—it was all flooding across the screen. His team’s Discord exploded with screams and voice lines overlapping."Dude! You clutched it! That was insane!""That ult—holy hell! No one's ever pulled that off in finals!""You’re a legend, man. A literal living god!"Alex leaned back in his gaming chair and laughed, adrenaline still rushing through his veins. He rubbed his face and looked over at the trophy case he’d k

The sky looked wrong.Alex stood on a cliff overlooking the valley below, the dark clouds above swirling like smoke caught in a jar. Strange streaks of green light pulsed through the sky, flickering like cracks in glass.“Was it always like this?” he asked.Lyra, standing beside him, adjusted the strap on her dagger belt and shook her head.“No. That started a few hours ago. Right after… whatever happened to you.”Alex folded his arms, the black armor he wore groaning with the movement.He still couldn’t get used to the way his new body felt—every breath deeper, heavier, more powerful. It was like wearing a suit of muscle over his real self. He hadn’t realized just how huge Lord Virex had been until he tried to walk through a doorway and knocked a torch off the wall with his shoulder.He looked down at his gauntleted hands, flexing them slowly.“Feels like I’ve been dropped into the final level of a game with no instructions.”Lyra gave a small smirk. “Welcome to the Black Throne.”Th

Alex’s eyes snapped open.His body felt… wrong.Heavy, yet light. Weak, yet buzzing with a strange warmth that pulsed from his chest to his fingertips.He blinked a few times as the vision stabilized.He was still in the courtyard of Darkfang Fortress. The divine blast had scorched the stone tiles, now cracked and glowing faintly. Smoke drifted in lazy swirls. The hero party had vanished—retreated after their spell failed to finish him off.And Lyra…He turned his head.She lay beside him, unconscious but breathing. Her face was pale. There was a faint red thread of light connecting her chest to his.“Dark Binding…” he whispered.The choice had been instant. Desperate.But now that it was done, the consequences started creeping in.System alerts flickered across his vision.Dark Binding Complete – Soul Link EstablishedTarget: Lyra VexhartLoyalty Status: 100% – DevotedBond Path Unlocked: Shadow ConsortAccess Granted: Shared Skill Tree | Memory Sync | Tactical Link“Memory sync?” he

The castle war room was humming with activity—magical message scrolls unfurling mid-air, troops reporting in with urgent updates, and Virex's generals shuffling nervously around the massive central table. Above it, a glowing map of the continent floated, lines of red and blue flickering with every new alert.Alex, now fully dressed in battle armor that still felt too evil for his taste, stood at the head of the table, arms folded.“Someone explain this again,” he said, voice calm but firm. “From the top.”Lyra stepped forward, her white-blonde hair tied back and her expression sharp. “Three major hero factions just issued joint declarations of war. The Radiant Order from the west, the Kingdom Alliance from the centerlands, and the Icebound Paladins from the north.”“And they’re all coming here?”“Yes,” she said. “They’re calling it the Final Purge.”Alex blinked. “Final Purge? Isn’t that a little… dramatic?”“It’s what they called the last push to kill you in the original game timelin

The next morning, Alex didn’t get the luxury of sleeping in. Not that he could anyway. Every creak of a floorboard, every flicker of shadow made him think of Kaelira—no, Lyra now—lurking just out of sight.Still, he was oddly calm.Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t kill him last night. Or maybe it was because the system now officially recognized her as part of his questline. Either way, he had a chance.A dangerous, slippery, probably-ends-with-a-knife-in-his-back chance.But a chance.He stepped into the war room, freshly dressed and half-dead from no sleep. The map table flickered to life with blue-glowing borders, displaying his territory—and, more importantly, the enemy factions tightening their circles.“System,” he muttered, “show Lyra’s current location.”[Tracking Active Ally: Lyra][Location: West Tower Battlements – Status: Idle / Observing]“Of course she is.”He headed that way, boots echoing softly on the marble stairs as he made his way up. The West Tower overlooked