--
The air outside the ruins of Abyss Root was still, thick with unease.
Jayden stood at the edge of Sector Nine's outskirts, eyes closed, hands extended, and shadows licking outward from his boots like ink spilled over the concrete. Around him, rebel scouts looked on with uncertainty.
Abyss Root — his Dominion Throne — was no longer confined to the Echobound plane. It was seeping into the physical world, dragging a piece of the Dominion with it.
---
[System Notice]
> Throne Expansion Activated: Realm Merge at 2%
Territory Influence Radius: 50 meters and growing
Living Shadows Manifested: 6 (Autonomous Patrol Mode)
---
Rika approached warily, her flame-kissed gloves smoldering faintly.
"You're making a lot of people nervous," she said, not unkindly.
Jayden didn't open his eyes. "They should be."
The ground cracked with a sharp pulse as the shadow aura surged outward another five meters. Concrete warped. Plants withered. Even the sky above dimmed ever so slightly.
Rika stepped closer. "That wasn't a threat, was it?"
"No," Jayden said. "It was a promise. To protect them. From what's coming."
---
She didn't respond immediately. But her flames flickered with thought. Finally, she said, "Then make it official."
Jayden looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"A Pact," Rika said. "You're Dominion. I'm Flamebound. Your shadow wraps around things — mine burns through them. If we combine them…"
"...We get something that scorches and controls," Jayden finished.
She nodded. "I trust you. But they won't unless I bind to you publicly."
---
[System Prompt Detected]
> Echo Pact Proposal Initiated: Dual-Class Bond (Shadow + Flame)
WARNING: Pact Will Alter Both Users' Core Signatures Permanently.
---
Jayden extended his hand. "Do it."
Rika took it.
The flames surged.
The shadows answered.
And together, a fiery-black corona flared between their joined hands.
They screamed—not in pain, but in transformation.
---
[Echobound Pact Formed: Shadowflame Covenant]
> New Ability Unlocked: Infernal Chain — A burning tether between bonded users, allowing shared strength and instant teleportation within 300 meters. Shared Echo Trait: Flame-Infused Constructs
Pact Anchor Embedded in Throne: Abyss Root now resists thermal manipulation.
---
Cheers rose from the rebel camp as the energy dispersed.
For a moment, everything felt whole.
---
Until the knife came.
---
Jayden felt the killing intent before he saw the flash.
He twisted — but not fast enough.
The blade grazed his ribs. Blood spilled into the ground, and the shadows instantly recoiled.
A rebel—masked, cloaked, fast—lunged for the kill.
Jayden's mind didn't react.
His Dominion did.
The assassin was seized mid-air by twin void hands rising from the pavement.
A snap.
A scream.
Kairo — Jayden's general — stepped from the shadows behind the attacker, one arm already cracking with power.
---
"You," Jayden said, stepping forward, pressing his bleeding side. "You were part of Rika's elite squad."
The man snarled. "You're a monster. I saw what you did. Dominion is corruption!"
Jayden's voice dropped. Cold. Measured.
"You tried to kill your own king."
"I tried to save humanity from a second Nyxorath."
Jayden looked to Kairo. "Strip him of his Echo."
---
[System Command Confirmed: Echo Suppression Initiated]
> Echo Core Extracted: Rebel Class — Mid-Tier Flame Aura
Status: Neutralized
The man fell, unconscious.
---
Silence. Then murmurs. Then a single shout:
> "Long live the Shadowflame Pact!"
The camp erupted in support.
Jayden looked to Rika. "This is only the beginning."
She nodded. "And they're watching."
Far above, in hidden towers and broken skyships, the Apex Council took notes.
Jayden had done more than build a throne.
He had claimed allegiance. Fused powers. And survived betrayal.
---
[System Title Unlocked: Pact Monarch]
> Shadowflame Pact Active
Real-World Throne Territory: 12% of Sector Nine under influence
New Skill Tree Unlocked: Dominion Pact Arts