Far south of the Hollow Throne, where the snow gave way to crystal rivers and skybound towers, the Spiritbound Council convened in silence.
Twelve figures sat in a circle of glass and fire, robes shimmering with living glyphs. At their center floated a golden brazier, its flames flickering unnaturally—tainted.
"Three Null Pulses," said Lady Merinth, voice tight. "All within forty-eight hours."
"Centered around the Frostgrave Wastes," muttered another. "That's dead land. There shouldn't be anything alive there."
The High Seer lifted a scroll bound in soul-thread. His spirit, a silver wyvern, hissed in the shadows above.
"An anomaly has awakened. Sovereign-class potential."
A pause. Then murmurs.
"Impossible.""We purged the last Sovereign protocol during the last Spirit War.""Unless…"
They all turned toward the fire.
It pulsed once.
Black.
Back in the Hollow Throne, Aren stood at the edge of his growing domain, shadows crawling beneath the earth. His body still bore bruises from his last encounter—but his eyes were sharp. Cold. Focused.
Kaeliah walked beside him, wrapped in a patchwork cloak. Her new spirit—the Wane-Fawn—glided behind her like a ghost.
"Something's coming," she said quietly. "I feel it in my bond."
"I know," Aren replied. "The light is moving."
[System Alert: Domain Evolution Reached 12%]The Hollow Throne has begun to resist outside spirit influence.Spiritbound Presence: -15% inside borders
New Feature Unlocked: Domain Ward – Shadowveil➤ Creates environmental blindness and partial memory scrubbing for invading enemies.Duration: 30 seconds – 3 minutesCooldown: 12 hours
Trait Gained: Those Who Drown in LightDescription: You are a Sovereign born of rejection. Those who cling to pure light find their senses falter in your presence.Effect: Spirit Affinity users suffer increasing dissonance the longer they remain in your domain.
Aren smiled bitterly.
Let them come.
That night, under a pale crescent moon, three figures crossed into the outer rim of the Hollow Throne.
Not scouts.
Hunters.
Each wore shimmering armor etched with gold. Unlike the last group, these were high-rank exorcists—elites of the Spiritbound military.
The first knelt to touch the soil.
"Unnatural," he whispered. "The land's memory resists."
The second raised her spirit—a luminous crane of fire and wind.
"Cleanse sweep. Standard protocol."
But the moment their spirits touched the domain, the shadows rippled.
[Shadowveil Activated – Target Blindness (72 Seconds)][Domain Memory Obfuscation: 63% Effective]
Status: Confused. Threat Contained.
Aren watched from the throne, Kaeliah beside him.
"Should we strike?" she whispered.
"Not yet," he said. "Let them wander. Let them forget."
As the hunters pressed deeper, the trees seemed to shift behind them. Their spirits flickered. Whispers crawled in the fog.
"Where is the path?" one asked. "We came from—"
Silence.
They couldn't remember.
One fell to his knees. "I hear voices… like… code."
Then the shadows opened.
Fang lunged, and Kaeliah's fawn became a twisting blur of light and ash.
Aren didn't move from his throne.
He didn't need to.
When the Spiritbound elite finally stumbled out of the forest—two wounded, one unconscious—they had no memory of their target.
Only a name written into the frozen trees in shadow-script:
"The Forgotten King Rises."