Setting: Aftermath of the Cathedral Battle — The Ruined Abyssal Throne Grounds
Smoke clung to the stone like a second skin.
Velessia knelt beside Adexander's battered form. His breath was ragged, the Fangblade lying beside him, cracked along its hilt.
Kaien paced like a caged beast, his cloak still smoldering. "He's still alive. That Drevan bastard didn't die… he vanished."
Raik limped in, blood trailing behind him. "That wasn't just defeat. That was a retreat. He'll be back."
> [SYSTEM WARNING: Core Instability Detected in Host.]
> [Soul Overload: 91% — Imminent Fracture.]
Kael's voice cut the silence. "He's burning out."
Then—
The world pulsed.
A voice echoed—not from the System, but from deep within Adexander's very blood.
"Let it burn… or let it break."
And suddenly, the sky tore open.
Above the Abyssal Throne – The Crimson Convergence
A rift appeared.
Not like before.
This one breathed.
From it descended a figure cloaked in robes of fractured time, face veiled in mirror-glass, body wrapped in coiling chains of divine and demonic script.
The Arbiter of Collapse.
> "The King bleeds. The balance falters. The threads unravel."
Kaien summoned his weapon. "Another boss already?! Seriously?!"
Raik groaned. "I think I preferred the screaming sky…"
The Arbiter spoke again:
> "The Crimson Soul has outpaced the Spiral's timeline.
You were not meant to remember… yet."
It raised a hand.
Reality buckled.
Velessia screamed—not in pain, but in memory. Visions surged: Lysira, the Pale Coronation, a deal with a higher plane. A throne Adexander stole from fate.
Adexander (barely conscious):
"…Don't touch them."
The Arbiter tilted its head. "Your soul burns. You cannot stop what's coming."
Adexander stood.
Burning.
Breaking.
Living.
> "Then I'll burn brighter."
He took one step—and a wing of pure shadow erupted from his back. Not angel. Not demon. Crimson Requiem.
SYSTEM SURGE: BLOODFORGE SYNC — 91% > 97% > 100%
> [UNSEALED: PATH OF THE FORGOTTEN MONARCH]
[NEW SKILL: REQUIEM ASCENT — (LOCKED)]
[TITLE UNLOCKED: WHO WALKS ALONE]
Adexander didn't attack.
He simply walked.
And the Arbiter… stepped back.
Just once.