When the light faded, Rai stood in an endless void. The ground beneath him shimmered like obsidian glass, reflecting his trembling form. The echo of battle still rang in the air, a chorus of fading roars and whispers.
He took a breath — but the air felt alive, thick with whispers that weren't his own. Thousands of voices murmured in languages he couldn't understand, their tones filled with sorrow, rage, and… reverence.
Before him, suspended in the darkness, stood a throne.
It wasn't forged of metal or stone but of memory — countless fragmented moments spiraling together into a seat that pulsed like a living heart. It was beautiful, terrible, and ancient beyond measure. And sitting upon it was himself.
Not the reflection he had fought — but the real thing. The one he used to be.
The Vowbound King.
The figure's eyes opened, gleaming with golden light. "At last," the King said, voice smooth as a song and heavy with eternity. "You've found your way back, fragment."
Rai staggered back, his blade slipping slightly from his hand. "Fragment…? What are you?"
The King smiled faintly. "I am you. The part of yourself that chose to bear the Eclipse alone. You shattered your soul to seal the gods — scattering your will, your power, your memory — so none could unbind them. Until now."
Rai's throat went dry. "Then… this labyrinth, these trials — they weren't meant to destroy me."
"No," the King said softly, standing from the throne. "They were meant to rebuild you."
The air shivered. Memories bled into the space around them — images of battlefields burning, gods kneeling, and mortals raising banners of rebellion. Rai saw himself, crowned in shadowfire, his sword blazing as he led armies into the heavens.
"Why did I do it?" Rai demanded. "Why would I fight the gods?"
The King's expression darkened. "Because they broke the vow first."
A silence fell — deeper than the void itself.
"The gods promised peace," the King continued, his tone heavy with venom. "They promised to protect humanity. But when they feared the potential of mortals, they chose to enslave them instead. You… we… stood against them. And we paid the price."
Rai felt his knees weaken. Images of Lyra, the Keybearer, flashed before him — her tears, her trembling hand, her final words before she disappeared.
"She was one of them," Rai whispered. "Wasn't she?"
The King looked away. "She was the last pure god — the only one who still believed in you. And you killed her… because she asked you to."
Rai's heart pounded like a war drum.
"She offered herself to fuel the Eclipse. Her soul became the core of the seal that binds the divine realm." The King turned his gaze back to him, sharp and burning. "Every time you open a gate, you tear a piece of her away."
Rai dropped to his knees. His sword clattered beside him, the echo stretching endlessly in the void. "I've been destroying her… all over again…"
The King approached, his shadow stretching across the glass-like ground. "You cannot change the past, fragment. But you can decide what comes next."
He reached out a hand — glowing with both darkness and light. "Take the throne. Reclaim your power. The gods are stirring again. Kaen's awakening is only the beginning."
Rai hesitated, his gaze flicking from the throne to the King's extended hand. The whispers around him grew louder — some pleading, some screaming, some begging for mercy.
"What happens if I take it?" he asked quietly.
"You will become whole," the King said. "And the world will finally remember what it means to fear the dawn."
Rai closed his eyes. His heartbeat echoed like thunder. He could feel Lyra's warmth still lingering somewhere in the corners of his mind — the faint memory of her smile, the sound of her voice when she said believe.
He opened his eyes again — and stepped forward.
The King's smile widened. "You've chosen well."
But Rai didn't take his hand.
Instead, he thrust his sword through the King's chest.
Light exploded through the void. The whispers turned into screams. The throne cracked like glass.
"I won't be your fragment," Rai said, his voice trembling with fury and sorrow. "And I won't be your god."
The King laughed — not in pain, but in pride. "Good," he whispered, gripping the blade even as it burned through him. "Then you're ready."
"Ready for what?" Rai demanded.
The King's body began to dissolve into threads of golden fire. "For the return. When the final key is turned… you'll remember everything."
The last of the King's form faded, and the throne shattered completely, leaving only a single ember floating in the darkness.
Rai reached for it instinctively — and the moment his fingers brushed the light, visions flooded his mind.
A world reborn in flames.A sky split between gods and men. And a single name whispered through eternity —
"Eclipse."
Rai gasped, falling to his knees as the ember sank into his chest. The void trembled. The ground beneath him split open, revealing a city suspended in the air — massive, ancient, filled with colossal statues of forgotten deities.
He had awakened the Throne of the Vowbound.
And somewhere, beyond the veil of heaven, Kaen stirred from his slumber — smiling.