Adrian’s chest heaved as the sight fixed him in place. The throne loomed vast and oppressive, carved from bone and obsidian, veins of molten crimson pulsing within it like a living heart.Upon it sat his reflection reborn taller, darker, its frame draped in tattered regal robes stitched from shadows. The crown of fire burned brighter, threaded now with strands of gold.Emily’s gold. Her essence flickered like a lantern trapped inside, her voice echoing weakly from the creature’s chest.“…Adrian…”The sound ripped through him. Rage and terror surged in equal measure, but the reflection only leaned forward, resting its chin on a clawed hand, smirking with Adrian’s own lips.“Do you see now? She was never your strength. She was mine. Her flame was always meant to complete me.”Adrian’s lightning stormed violently, his whole body trembling under the strain. His side wound still burned, bleeding arcs of energy into the void. But his spear materialized nonetheless, scarlet bolts dancing alo

The scream echoed until it no longer belonged to him. Adrian’s lightning ripped through the void, but the chains that impaled him drank it hungrily, swallowing storm after storm.Each link glowed hotter, each shackle biting deeper into his flesh until blood and sparks mixed as one. His body hung crucified in the spiral, dragged ever closer to the burning halo above the Heir’s head.The Heir’s laughter shook the ruins apart. It wasn’t a sound so much as a verdict iron striking iron, a crown forging itself out of their agony.“Do you feel it?” the reflection boomed, voice warping with every word. “Every scream is a note in my hymn. Every wound makes the crown whole.”Emily’s golden flame flared as she threw herself upward, shards blazing into a storm of knives. They streaked across the collapsing sky, a thousand suns screaming down toward the Heir.The Heir lifted one chained arm. The blades bent before touching him, folding midair into molten fragments that spiraled harmlessly into the

The world stopped. Chains froze mid-rattle. The crown’s flames quivered. Even the Heir’s fractured laughter strangled in his throat as Adrian’s eyes blazed open.They weren’t the same eyes that had hung lifeless a heartbeat ago. They were storms. Unfathomable, furious, and unbroken.Emily gasped, her chest tightening so hard it nearly cracked her ribs. The spear in her hands trembled, its fire flickering in response to that gaze.“Adrian…”His lips parted. Words didn’t escape not in sound. Instead, lightning tore free, arcs of raw storm that snapped across the chains binding him, across the abyss itself.The crown screamed. Yes screamed. Not metal, not flame. A voice. Endless voices. A chorus of chained worlds howling at once, forced to bow beneath a storm they could not contain.The Heir staggered backward, clawing at his chest where Emily’s spear still burned through him. His molten grin warped into a snarl.“No. NO! You are not awake! You are MINE!”He raised his arm and the throne

The world didn’t end in fire or lightning. It ended in silence.The ruins of the void stopped collapsing, frozen mid-crumble, as though time itself had been pinned in place. Dust hung unmoving in the air. Fragments of stone hovered without falling.And then the cracks spread. Adrian staggered, Emily clutching him tightly, both staring as the shattered emptiness around them peeled away like broken glass. Behind it was not shadow, not abyssal flame something far worse.A black so absolute it devoured even memory of light.Emily’s fire sputtered instantly, shrinking to a trembling ember in her palm. Her voice came out a whisper. “That’s… not the Abyss.”Adrian’s storm flickered weakly. His chest still burned from where the crown had been ripped free, lightning stuttering in his veins. But the moment his eyes locked onto the darkness, his body froze.It wasn’t just void. It was presence. It was watching. From the cracks, a sound rose. Not a roar, not a shriek something worse.A low, reson

The world was collapsing. Not with the slow inevitability of ruin, but with the tearing shriek of existence being ripped apart. The void buckled inward, stone fragments disintegrating into ash as the halo devoured everything.And at the center of it, Adrian hung in the chains. Every link pulsed with an alien heartbeat, each throb dragging him closer to the crown’s spinning vortex.His arms were stretched wide, blood pouring from the punctures in his shoulders, ribs cracking under the strain. Lightning tried to surge from his veins, but each spark was instantly consumed by the chains.Below him, Emily staggered to her knees. Her golden fire flickered like a dying ember, her body swaying as if the weight of her own existence was too much to carry.“Adrian!” Her voice tore from her throat, raw and breaking. “Fight it! Don’t let it take you!”Adrian gritted his teeth, eyes blazing even as blood streaked down his face. His body convulsed with the effort of resisting, but the chains tighten