Episode 62: The First Monarch's Throne

The stairway spiraled downward into silence.

Not peaceful silence, but one of suffocation. It pressed against their chests until they forgot how to breathe. Their boots echoed faintly on the black stone steps; even the echoes sounded strangled, swallowed before they could stretch far. The deeper they went, the more the world fell apart.

Shadows no longer clung to the ground—they floated, drifting in the air like torn fabric. The walls bent outward and inward, folding into impossible shapes. One moment, the stair spiraled through a cavern; the next, it cut through a sky void of stars.

The descent ended abruptly.

They stepped onto a vast platform suspended in endless night. Above them loomed a giant hall carved from obsidian. Its pillars resembled chains, each glowing faintly with runes that seemed alive. At the far end sat the throne.

No longer broken. No longer empty.

Upon it rested a figure cloaked in living shadow, tall and regal. His body was forged from darkness itself, and his face was hidden beneath a jagged crown of emberlight. The throne pulsed beneath him, veins of crimson and black stretching outward across the floor like roots.

The First Monarch.

[System Alert: Final Seal Entity Detected]

[Warning: Monarch's Will – Overriding Local Reality]

[Combat Parameters: Unstable]

The air thickened, each breath tasting of molten iron.

The Monarch's emberlight eyes opened.

And the world trembled.

---

Akira's hand shot to his katana. He muttered through clenched teeth, "So that's him. The one pulling all the strings."

Reina gripped her daggers, her crimson eyes narrowing. "…The one who chained us with his curse."

Elira's frostfire glimmered faintly, but her violet gaze remained fixed on the figure on the throne. Her voice was soft, trembling, but firm. "He's… not just a memory. He's real."

Kuro stepped forward, emberblade igniting. His shadow stretched long across the floor, trembling as if yearning for its master. His chest tightened, every instinct urging him to kneel. But he forced his voice steady. "…You're the First Monarch."

The figure leaned forward on the throne, his voice resonating not in sound but in their bones.

"Successor."

The word rolled across the chamber like thunder.

---

The Monarch's head tilted slightly, emberlight eyes piercing Kuro. "At last… you arrive. The one who carries my blood of flame and void. The one who will finish what I began."

Kuro tightened his grip on his sword. "I'm not here to finish anything. I'm here to break your Seal and end this curse."

A deep laugh rippled from the Monarch, echoing through the hall. The walls shook, the chains carved into the pillars rattling like living serpents.

"End? Foolish child. Don't you see? I am the beginning, and I am the end. This throne is eternity. And you—" His emberlight eyes burned brighter. "—are my chosen heir."

---

The words hit Kuro like a blade. His knees wavered, but he caught himself. Emberlight flickered violently through his veins, as though his body answered the Monarch's call.

[System Alert: Monarch's Will Attempting Override]

[Warning: Identity Anchor Critical]

Elira stepped forward quickly, frostfire flaring around her. Her voice sliced through the air. "He isn't yours. He isn't your heir."

The Monarch's head turned slowly toward her. His voice lowered, cold and amused. "Ah. The princess. Daughter of chains and crown. You would stand against me? Against fate?"

His emberlight eyes narrowed. "Tell me, child—do you not feel it? Your life has been nothing but the weight of blood. A burden. A curse. And yet you cling to him."

Elira's hands trembled, frostfire sputtering. For a moment, her father's face flashed across the Monarch's form, his voice layered over the Monarch's: You were never worthy.

She staggered.

Kuro caught her before she fell, emberlight burning hotter. His voice cut through the Monarch's shadow. "Don't touch her with your lies."

The Monarch leaned back on his throne, chuckling. "Lies? I speak only truth. You, successor, burn to protect her. Yet protection is weakness. Attachment is weakness. That is why I sit eternal while all else turns to ash."

Kuro raised his blade, fire blazing. "Then I'll burn with that weakness before I ever become you."

---

The Monarch rose.

Shadows poured from his throne like a flood, chains of darkness lashing outward. The floor cracked, runes pulsing blood-red.

The battle began.

---

Akira dashed forward, katana flashing in arcs of silver. His blade met the nearest chain, sparks hissing as steel scraped against shadow-forged metal. He grunted, barely holding it back. "Tch—feels like cutting through mountains!"

Reina vanished into a blur, reappearing behind the Monarch with daggers aimed at his back. Her blades pierced—but hit nothing. The Monarch's form blurred, her strike passing through like smoke. His emberlight gaze flicked toward her, and the chains whipped around like serpents, slamming into her side.

She coughed blood, flying back across the platform.

"Reina!" Akira shouted, but another chain whipped toward him, forcing him to parry.

Elira unleashed frostfire in a blazing torrent, a spiraling storm of ice and flame that roared across the chamber. It struck the Monarch, freezing his shadow-chains mid-lash. For a heartbeat, his form flickered, cracking under the assault.

But then he stepped forward, emberlight eyes burning hotter. The frozen chains shattered. He raised his hand, and the frostfire warped—turning black, consuming itself until it became shadowflame. It roared back toward Elira.

She gasped, too slow to raise her shield.

Kuro moved.

His emberblade cleaved through the wave, his fire colliding with the shadowflame. The impact shook the chamber, sparks and shadows erupting in a violent storm.

For a moment, the Monarch's voice whispered into his mind.

"Why resist me? Look at them. Weak. Mortal. They will wither. Only you endure. Join me, successor, and everything will kneel."

Kuro's teeth ground together, sweat beading on his brow. "You don't get to decide who I am."

He thrust forward, emberblade blazing.

---

The Monarch caught the blade with his bare hand.

Emberlight and shadow collided, sparks raining across the hall. The force rippled outward, shattering the stone beneath them. Kuro's knees buckled, the Monarch's strength pressing against him like an ocean.

"Pathetic," the Monarch hissed. "You carry my power yet refuse its truth. Without me, you are nothing but flame waiting to die."

Elira screamed his name, frostfire lancing into the Monarch's side. Akira's blade followed, cleaving another chain. Reina, bloodied but unbroken, reappeared in a blur, daggers stabbing through shadow after shadow.

Together, they forced the Monarch back one step.

Kuro's emberlight flared, pushing harder. His voice roared. "I'm not nothing. I'm Kuro Jin!"

With a final surge, he drove the emberblade forward. The Monarch released him, stepping back onto his throne.

The chamber trembled, cracks racing across the pillars. The Monarch's emberlight eyes narrowed, no longer amused.

"…You defy me still. Good. Then I shall break you fully."

He raised his hands.

And the throne itself split apart, transforming into a colossal avatar of living shadow.

Chains coiled into limbs, spires into claws, runes into burning eyes. The First Monarch no longer sat upon his throne—he was the throne.

[System Alert: Final Seal Form – Monarch's Avatar Awakened]

[Warning: Power Scale Beyond Tier]

The ground shattered as the avatar stepped forward, towering over them.

---

Elira's frostfire spiraled into wings behind her. Her voice was fierce despite her trembling. "Kuro—we can't win if we fight him alone!"

Kuro's emberlight eyes burned hotter. He raised his blade, flames spiraling up his arms. "Then we don't fight alone. Anchor with me."

Reina smirked despite the blood on her lips, daggers spinning in her hands. "Tch. Always knew you'd drag us into madness."

Akira gave a single nod, katana steady. "Together."

[System Alert: Frostfire Pact – Reinforced]

[Anchor Points: Stable]

Their flames, frost, steel, and shadow surged together, colliding against the Monarch's avatar in a storm of light and darkness. The throne's chains shattered, the runes screamed, and the abyss trembled.

The war for the Final Seal had truly begun.

---

[To Be Continued...]

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