THE BURDEN OF CHOICE...
Elias stood frozen, his mind a battlefield of thoughts and fears.
The First King's words echoed, a whisper laced with a curse.
"The throne takes your soul."
A fate unshaken by time. A destiny written in the blood of kings.
The air in the chamber pulsed with ancient magic, thick as smoke, suffocating. The weight of centuries bore down on him. The ghosts of every ruler before him lingered in the cracks of the stone walls, their whispers coiling around his thoughts.
They had all come here. They had all faced this moment.
And they had all failed.
Seraphina's hand rested on his chest, warm against his trembling form. A desperate anchor.
"Elias…" she whispered, her voice laced with fear. "Don't do this."
His heart pounded. She knew. She always knew
What if the only way to break the cycle was to let go of everything?
What if the only way to stop the gods… was to die before they could use him?
Varian's voice shattered the silence.
"If you try to sever yourself from the throne, you won't survive."
Elias clenched his fists. "And if I don't? I become what they fear."
A pause.
Varian didn't answer.
Because they all knew the truth.
The gods were coming.
And they would not allow him to remain human.
THE FIRST KING'S TEST...
A shadow detached from the walls. The air shimmered as the First King stepped forward, his translucent form glowing with golden fire. His presence was suffocating, his power endless.
"You are not ready to decide," he said, his voice both thunderous and soft, like a memory trapped in the wind.
Elias's jaw tightened. "I don't have time."
The First King lifted a hand.
"Then I will give you a glimpse of what awaits."
The world shattered around Elias.
THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS...
He was no longer in Auris.
The throne room, Seraphina, Varian—gone.
Instead, he stood in a field of fire and ruin.
The sky above him was split open, revealing a swirling void, an abyss where stars had been devoured. Beneath him, the ground was cracked and bleeding light.
Bodies lay in twisted heaps—blackened corpses, warriors, innocents, friends.
And in the distance, atop a throne of bone and gold, he saw—
Himself.
But not him.
This version of Elias sat unmoving, his eyes empty voids, his expression cold, inhuman. Power curled around his fingers, shifting like liquid light. The mere sight of him made the air hum with something terrible.
Elias's breath hitched.
"No…"
His throne-bound self turned. Their eyes met.
And the corrupted Elias smiled.
"You see it now, don't you?"
His voice was the same, but hollow. Detached.
"This is what you are meant to be."
Elias's chest tightened.
"No. That's not me."
The throne-bound Elias tilted his head. "Then prove it."
And suddenly—Elias was falling.
THE SACRIFICE BEGINS...
Elias jolted awake, gasping.
He was back in the chamber.
But something was different.
His body was burning with an unfamiliar sensation. Magic coiled around him, seeping into his veins, a foreign force trying to claim him.
Seraphina and Varian were at his side in an instant.
"Elias, what happened?" Seraphina's hands trembled against his shoulders.
He swallowed hard. "I saw it. I saw… what I could become."
Varian's face darkened. "And?"
Elias exhaled sharply. His hands curled into fists.
"I can't let that happen."
His gaze locked onto the throne. The source of it all. The chain binding every king before him.
It ends here.
BREAKING THE CHAIN...
Elias raised his hand.
The throne responded.
A pulse of raw energy surged through the room. The golden runes on the walls flared, illuminating the chamber with blinding brilliance. The throne knew him. It had always known him. It wanted him.
But he would not accept it.
Instead—he rejected it.
A violent boom shook the air as Elias severed his connection.
The throne shuddered. The runes flickered, their glow stuttering as if the throne itself was in pain.
Varian's eyes widened. "Elias—STOP!"
But it was too late.
The magic ripped through him.
Elias's body convulsed as power lashed at him like a living thing, trying to drag him back. The throne would not let go easily.
Pain. Agonizing. White-hot. Unrelenting
He felt his soul tearing apart.
THE FINAL MOMENT...
Seraphina's scream cut through the air.
"Elias—NO!"
She lunged forward, grabbing his arms, trying to pull him back—but he was already fading.
His body, once solid, was now breaking apart into glowing fragments.
"Elias, please!" Her voice cracked, raw with desperation.
But he barely heard her.
Barely felt anything.
His heartbeat slowed. His vision blurred.
His thoughts drifted
"I did it."
"I broke the cycle."
"But was it worth it?"
A whisper of warmth, Seraphina's grip still clinging to him.
And then—
Everything went still.