The throne room was obscene with wealth.
Gold leaf covered nearly every surface, while threads of real gold ran right through the polished marble floor. Heavy tapestries lined the walls, each one showing off a victory won by the Royal bloodline. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, flooding the room with a warm light that made everything sparkle.
At the far end, raised above the floor on a platform of white stone, stood the throne.
It had been carved from a block of black obsidian and shaped like a mountain of thorns, with the Royal crest etched into its backrest in diamonds.
Emperor Regis sat upon it.
He had changed out of the white suit he’d worn at the garden gala. Now he was dressed in full royal regalia, a black military coat with gold epaulettes, medals covering his chest, and a crown of black iron and red gems resting on his head. His face was pale and his eyes were red around the edges.
He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days and had spent every waking moment thinking about murder.
Holden walked through the throne room doors. The Void Mantle kept his Rank 3 aura hidden, leaving behind nothing more than the faint energy signature of a Rank 1 student wearing a fancy cloak.
For a moment, there was only silence.
"So," the Emperor said, his voice carrying through the empty hall. "The slum rat returns."
Holden stopped in the center of the room, roughly fifty feet from the throne. He didn’t draw his sword. He simply stood there, looking almost bored.
"I have to admit, you’ve caused me more trouble than any single person in my thirty years on this throne." Regis leaned forward slightly. "The Sterling scandal. The Spire incident. The control-rune broadcast. And now the Divine-Spark Gem."
He slowly rose from his throne.
"You walked into my palace, humiliated my guards, and kicked in my doors like some common thug." He stepped down from the platform, his eyes narrowing. "Do you know what happens to people who do that?"
"A plaque?" Holden suggested. "Maybe a certificate of achievement?"
The Emperor’s face twisted.
"You think you’re clever. You think your little tricks and cheap artifacts make you untouchable." He took another step down. "Let me show you what real power looks like, boy."
His aura exploded.
Rank 4 energy flooded the throne room with enough force to make the crystal chandeliers rattle. Cracks spread through the marble floor while the tapestries along the walls rippled violently. The air itself seemed to become heavier, pressing down on Holden with the weight of a mountain.
This was Rank 4, the level Emperor Regis had spent decades reaching with the resources of an entire Kingdom behind him.
Holden rolled his shoulders.
That was it.
The pressure washed over him like a strong wind. It was uncomfortable, but nothing more. His Aether-Steel body absorbed the force without strain, his reinforced bones and hardened skin refusing to buckle beneath the Emperor’s aura.
To anyone watching, it might have looked as though some defensive artifact was protecting him.
Holden pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the shape of the Sovereign’s Pendant hidden under his shirt.
"Nice necklace trick, Your Majesty," he said. "But my jewelry is better."
The Emperor blinked.
The pressure hadn’t worked.
This Rank 1 kid was standing right in front of him, rolling his shoulders as if he had just walked through an annoying gust of wind. The pendant. It had to be a defensive artifact of some kind, powerful enough to block Rank 4 pressure.
Rage flashed across Regis’s face, but he forced it down.
"An interesting toy," he said, his voice becoming more controlled. "But every artifact has limits. And you’re still a child playing dress-up in a man’s palace."
He walked down the remaining steps and stopped twenty feet from Holden.
"I’m going to enjoy this," he said quietly. "I’m going to take my time."
The Solar-Forged Sword appeared in Holden’s hand. He rested the blade against the floor and leaned casually against it.
"Your Majesty, I’ve fought Warlords, Golems, Wyrms, and your own executioner this week. You’re somewhere below the Wyrm on my list of scary things."
He paused.
"And the Wyrm was kind of boring."
The Emperor’s composure cracked.
"You insolent little..."
"I’m sorry. Was that rude?" Holden tilted his head. "Let me try again. You’re a corrupt old man who sends kids into death traps because you’re too weak to handle your own problems. You sit on that throne and smile for the cameras while ordering assassinations behind closed doors."
Holden’s expression hardened.
"You’re not a king. You’re a coward in a crown."
"SILENCE!"
The Emperor’s roar shook the throne room. His Rank 4 aura surged again, doubling in intensity as the chandeliers finally shattered, sending crystal raining across the marble floor.
Holden didn’t flinch.
Something broke behind the Emperor’s eyes.
The sleepless nights, the failed plots, the public humiliation, and the stolen gem seemed to collapse inside him all at once. Whatever remained of his royal composure disappeared, leaving behind something raw, furious, and completely unhinged.
"You think you’ve won," the Emperor whispered. "You think your tricks, your friends, and that stupid necklace make you safe."
He reached under his robes.
When his hand came back out, he was holding a dark crystal about the size of a fist. A deep purple light pulsed inside it, but the color felt deeply wrong.
Holden’s 10,000x processor immediately issued a warning.
The energy coming from the crystal made his skin crawl.
This wasn’t a normal artifact.
It was Abyssal corruption, refined and condensed into physical form.
"I found this in the Royal Vaults," Regis said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "A little gift from the Second Age. They say it can grant mortal men enough power to kill gods."
"Regis." Holden’s voice sharpened. "Don’t."
"But there’s a cost."
The Emperor plunged the crystal into his chest.
CRUNCH.
The crystal sank into his body as though his flesh had opened to swallow it, and Regis’s eyes widened before rolling backward. When they snapped forward again, they were filled with pure ecstasy.
Dark veins spread from the wound across his chest, crawling up his neck and down his arms like black spiders. His skin turned gray, then darker, hardening as patches of black chitin began to form across his body.
"The cost," Regis gasped, his voice already beginning to change, "is humanity."
His body expanded.
The military coat tore apart as his frame grew, black armor erupting across his torso in overlapping plates of Abyssal chitin. His fingers stretched into massive claws, each one long enough to resemble a dagger, while his legs bent backward and reshaped themselves for something far more suited to leaping than walking.
His face twisted last.
The jaw stretched forward into a muzzle, revealing rows of teeth that no longer belonged to a human mouth.
The crown fell from his head, clattering hard against the marble.
Five seconds later, there was no longer a man in front of Holden.
An eight-foot monster stood where Emperor Regis had been, its body covered in black chitin and its purple eyes glowing beneath a heavy brow. Dark saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling when it touched the floor. The torn remains of the Emperor’s royal clothing still hung from its body, making the creature look even more unnatural.
It threw its head back and roared.
The sound was nothing like a normal animal’s roar. It was high-pitched and guttural, a distorted scream that seemed to tear through the room itself. Every window in the throne room shattered, sending broken glass raining into the palace courtyard.
The monster lowered its head and fixed its purple eyes on Holden.
"HOLDEN VOSS."
The Emperor’s voice came from somewhere deep inside the creature, distorted by a throat no longer shaped for human speech.
"I AM THE LAW."
It spread its claws.
"KNEEL."
Holden looked at the creature that had once been the most powerful man in the Kingdom.
Then he tightened his grip around the Solar-Forged Sword.
The crimson blade blazed to life.
"Nice makeover," Holden said. "Very intimidating."
He smiled.
"But you still rank below the Wyrm."
The monster launched itself at him.
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