Episode 63: Abyssal Dominion

The throne was gone.

It was no longer a seat of stone or a symbol of authority. It had turned into a living giant, a nightmare made of shadow, emberlight, and chains that pulsed like veins. The avatar of the First Monarch loomed above them. Each step shook the abyss, each movement cracked reality itself.

Its voice boomed, not from its mouth but from the void around them. It filled their bones with dread.

"Successor. You are mine. Kneel, or burn with the rest."

The ground shook. Chains lashed out like enormous whips, carving trenches into the platform. One nearly sliced Akira in half, but he twisted mid-step, sparks flying as his katana deflected the blow. The force rattled his bones and sent him skidding back.

"Tch, this isn't a fight. It's a slaughterhouse," he spat, gritting his teeth as sweat dripped down his brow.

Reina reappeared in a blur of shadow steps, her daggers flashing. She leapt onto a chain and stabbed deep, but the avatar roared. The chain convulsed like a serpent, throwing her back and slamming her into the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath her.

"Reina!" Akira shouted, but another chain forced him to defend himself. His blade sparked under the weight of monstrous power.

Elira stood firm, frostfire spiraling into wings behind her. Her violet eyes burned as she thrust her palms forward, unleashing a storm of spiraling frostflames. The flames wrapped around the avatar's arm, freezing it mid-swing. The shadow cracked and hissed.

But then emberlight veins flared across the avatar's body, burning away the frost as if it were candle wax.

The Monarch's emberlight gaze pierced Elira. His voice curled into her mind.

"You cannot save him. You are a chain on his flame. He will consume you as I consumed my own."

Elira faltered. Her father's voice flickered again beneath the Monarch's tone. Her frostfire dimmed, and her hands trembled.

Then Kuro's voice cut through.

"Don't listen."

He stepped forward, his emberblade igniting brighter than ever. His flames were not just light; they were defiance incarnate. His shadow stretched long across the cracked platform. Instead of bending toward the Monarch, it writhed violently, as if rebelling against its creator.

Kuro's chest heaved, but his voice remained steady, resolute against the storm. "You say she chains me. You say they weaken me. You're wrong. They anchor me. They're the reason I don't kneel."

The Monarch's emberlight eyes narrowed. The chains lashed faster, harder, until the battlefield became a blur of whips and claws. The avatar raised its colossal arm and slammed it downward.

Kuro lifted his blade.

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[System Alert: Monarch Resonance Detected]

[Warning: Critical Overlap With First Monarch's Domain]

[Skill Evolution Possible – Accept?]

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Kuro's jaw clenched. He didn't hesitate.

"Accept."

[System Update: New Skill Acquired – Abyssal Dominion]

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Flame and shadow surged together, not as rivals but as one. Kuro's shadow split into hundreds of tendrils. Instead of bowing to the Monarch, they bent to his will. They lashed upward, catching the avatar's descending arm mid-slam.

The entire chamber shook.

Akira's eyes widened. "He… stopped it?!"

Reina grinned despite the blood dripping from her lips. "No. He's controlling it."

Kuro roared as his emberblade flared. The shadows obeyed him, wrapping around the avatar's limbs and dragging them down, binding them against the cracked floor. For the first time, the First Monarch's voice faltered.

"Impossible. You cannot command my throne!"

Kuro's emberlight eyes blazed hotter as his voice thundered. "It's not your throne anymore!"

Elira's frostfire reignited. It burned brighter as her anchor link with Kuro pulsed. She stepped beside him, wings of flame and frost stretching wide. "Then let's tear him down together!"

She unleashed a cyclone of frostfire across the bound avatar. The flames carved through shadow, while the ice froze its chains brittle.

Akira rushed in, his katana glowing as he channeled all his strength into one strike. His blade cleaved through a chain, sparks blazing as the severed limb collapsed.

Reina flickered into existence atop the avatar's chest. Her daggers stabbed deep into the emberlight runes. Shadow ichor exploded outward as she leapt away just before the chains retaliated.

The avatar howled, and the abyss itself trembled.

But then it retaliated.

The broken chains didn't fall uselessly. They slithered like serpents, lashing onto Elira, Akira, and Reina. They were yanked upward and slammed against the pillars. Their cries echoed as their bodies strained against the crushing force.

Kuro's eyes widened. "No!"

The Monarch's voice rolled through the chamber, filled with cold triumph.

"Do you see, successor? Your anchor, your comrades—they are weights to be cast aside. Watch them break. Watch them die. Then you will be free."

The chains tightened, drawing screams from his companions. Frostfire flickered weakly, steel cracked, and daggers slipped from bloodied hands.

Kuro's shadow writhed violently. His own body trembled under the pull of the Monarch's will. His vision blurred, and sweat stung his eyes.

[System Alert: Anchor Instability Critical]

[Warning: Risk of Monarch Override – 89%]

The Monarch's emberlight eyes bored into him.

"Accept it. Become me."

Kuro's knees wavered. His blade dimmed. For a heartbeat, the Monarch's throne whispered within him, promising power, eternity, and freedom from weakness.

But then—

"Elira's voice. Weak. Strained. But resolute."

"…Kuro. Don't you dare give up. I'm here. I'm not letting go."

Akira, gritting his teeth and bleeding, forced out words. "You promised, idiot. No kneeling."

Reina, her laugh cracked, whispered, "If you let him win, I'll come back just to kill you myself."

Their voices pulled him back. Anchors. Always his anchors.

Kuro's emberblade blazed again, brighter than ever. His shadow erupted, tendrils lashing out and seizing the chains that bound his companions.

"No. You don't get to take them from me."

With a roar, he ripped the chains apart. Elira, Akira, and Reina fell free, gasping but alive.

The Monarch's voice howled with fury.

"You defy ME?!"

Kuro's voice thundered back, shadow and flame spiraling into a storm around him.

"I'm not your heir. I'm not your shadow. I AM THE DIVINE EMPEROR!"

The avatar reeled as Kuro surged forward. Abyssal Dominion chains bound its limbs while his emberblade carved across its chest. Elira's frostfire spiraled in tandem. Akira's katana slashed through weakened joints, and Reina's daggers struck deep into emberlight cores.

The colossus staggered. Cracks spread across its form. The abyss screamed.

But the Monarch's voice did not break.

"Then burn with them, successor. Burn until nothing remains!"

The avatar convulsed, the throne's core pulsing violently. The runes flared crimson, and a vortex of shadow erupted, pulling at everything and dragging the party toward the abyss.

[System Alert: Throne Assimilation Protocol Engaged]

[Warning: All Lifeforms Risk Absorption – Immediate]

The platform shattered beneath them. The abyss roared open.

Kuro's shadow chains lashed out, clinging desperately to fragments of stone, but the pull was enormous. His companions screamed as the void tugged at their bodies.

He forced his shadow to hold them, veins burning, body trembling. His vision blurred, his mind screamed, but he refused to release them.

The Monarch's voice hissed, closer now, within his very soul.

"One choice remains. Either let them go and ascend, or keep them and fall into nothingness."

Kuro's heart thundered. His emberlight eyes blazed, his shadow writhed, and his blade roared.

With a defiance that shook the abyss, he shouted back:

"Then I'll make my own choice!"

The void swallowed them.

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[To Be Continued...]

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