The moon was still bleeding.
Kael stood silently at the edge of a cliff, the ashes of the First Hunter's detonation still drifting through the air. His wounds throbbed. Not from pain, but from resistance—his body fighting to adapt to the Sovereign Void and the foreign power clawing through his veins.
Behind him, the Crownless remained quiet. Gorn leaned on a broken blade. Selena's cloak fluttered in the wind, her eyes watching Kael with silent concern.
Kael broke the silence first.
> "We need to move. The First Hunter wasn't a punishment—he was a warning shot."
Selena nodded. "Where to?"
Kael looked down at the Godbreaker Codex. Its pages no longer flipped—they pulsed.
> Vault of Forgotten Kings: Route Unlocked
---
[The Whispering Wastes Entrance to the Vault]
They arrived at the edge of a sand-blasted wasteland two days later. The earth was black and brittle, glassed over by ancient divine warfare. In the center stood a door.
No walls.
No ruins.
Just a door made of obsidian and bone, half-buried in the dust.
It pulsed with the same rhythm as the Codex.
Kael stepped forward and placed his palm on it. His Voidbrand flared.
[Codex Sync: Voidseal Recognized]
· Opening spatial breach…
The air screamed. The desert split. A stairway formed, spiraling into a voidlit abyss.
---
[Inside the Vault]
No torches. No light.
Yet Kael could see.
The walls of the Vault were carved with the faces of rulers long erased from history. Kings, queens, tyrants, prophets—all preserved in obsidian, all looking down in silent judgment.
"What is this place…?" Kiri whispered.
"A graveyard for forgotten sovereignty," Kael answered. "Where those who defied divine law were buried alive—or worse."
They reached a chamber where twelve thrones sat in a circle. All empty—except one.
A single corpse rested on it, wearing rusted armor and a crown made of broken blades.
And in his hand: a mirror.
"That's… Aetharion," Selena whispered.
Kael stepped forward. The mirror called to him.
"He was the last Sovereign who challenged the gods… before me."
---
[Codex Revelation – Aetharion's Last Message]
The moment Kael touched the mirror, it shattered.
The room went dark.
Then a voice echoed—not into Kael's ears, but directly into his soul.
"If you hear this, then the Vault has deemed you worthy. Or desperate."
"Know this: Sovereignty is not gifted. It is taken, at the price of all things."
"The Voidwalker path cannot coexist with the divine. You will either rule the heavens, or tear them down."
A burst of violet flame erupted from the floor, and the last throne crumbled.
In its place stood an obsidian pedestal. Upon it, a single relic:
A black crown. Twisted, jagged, alive.
[You have obtained: Crown of the Ashborn King]
· Type: Relic – Soulbound
· Effects:
— Permanently boosts resistance to divine suppression
— Unlocks Codex Tier 2 skills
— Installs "Flame of Rebellion" passive aura
The moment Kael touched it, it burned into his forehead before vanishing from sight.
---
[Celestial Response]
Far above, in the realm of the gods, the High Throne trembled.
A whisper passed between pantheons.
"He entered the Vault…"
"He wears the Crown…"
"Then it begins."
A figure in silver armor and blindfold stepped forward.
"I shall go myself," it said.
"The next time he ascends… I'll be there to end it."