🔱 Chapter 81
"To remember is to resurrect... and some memories should have stayed dead."
⚔️ Scene 1: The Battle in the Depths
The echo of Kael's corrupted blade clashed against Aeren's Time-Echo dodge.
Every strike burned. Every movement was blurred with afterimages.
Seris, still weak but recovering, began casting her power—her Dreambind Threads floated like ribbons of light, distorting space.
"Aeren! I'll link your perception—we'll sync your instincts!"
He nodded—and suddenly the world around him slowed.
His reaction time sharpened.
Kael struck again, this time using void steps—disappearing and reappearing behind Aeren.
But Aeren didn't even flinch.
"Saw it coming."
One movement. Aeren's elbow landed into Kael's gut, followed by a time-skipped kick from the side.
Kael stumbled back.
"He's syncing… with her power? Impossible. That requires a soul bond!"
Seris smiled faintly.
"It was never broken."
🧠 Scene 2: Memories Rewritten
As they fought, the ground cracked beneath them, revealing an ancient mosaic:
A kingdom in flames.
A throne made of bleeding gears.
A man cloaked in time, eyes glowing—Veleor.
And beside him… Seris, hand in hand.
"This place," Seris whispered, "was the site of the last Clockfire War.You sealed me here because I was the only thing that could hold back your Paradox."
Suddenly, Kael's blood fell on the mosaic, and it pulsed red.
Aeren clutched his head.
Flashes returned—
An army of monsters kneeling to him.
The gods fleeing as he warped their temples.
The Crimson Throne… rejecting even him.
"You were not meant to sit it," Seris said."You were meant to destroy it."
🧿 Scene 3: The Crimson Throne Calls
Kael activated a corrupted relic—a fragment of the Crimson Throne itself.
It floated into the air, pulsing wildly. Seris gasped:
"No! That fragment alone can pull in corrupted minds—!"
Aeren's Clock Core began spinning uncontrollably.
His body stiffened. Eyes glowing with both time-light and crimson mist.
"Aeren, stay with me!"
His vision blurred.
He saw himself, seated on a throne of writhing chains, monsters kneeling once again, this time whispering:
"King Veleor returns…"
Seris grabbed his hand, pouring her dream power into him.
The voices slowed.
Aeren screamed—and suddenly shattered the corrupted fragment in the air.
The entire chamber exploded in light.
🌒 Scene 4: After the Battle
Kael lay unconscious, wounded and contained inside a temporal freeze bubble cast by Seris.
Aeren slumped beside her, breathing heavily.
"You saved me… again," he said.
Seris smiled.
"It's what I was born to do."
"Who… was I really?"
Seris looked into his eyes.
"You were Veleor. Not a king. A destroyer of chains.You created the Clock Core not to rule… but to erase the Crimson Order and free those it bound."
"And now?"
"Now… you have to finish what you started."
🕳️ Scene 5: The Crimson Throne's Shadow Awakens
Far away, in the obsidian halls of Nexilis, the Veilmaster stood before a shattered monument.
He could feel the ripple.
"They broke the fragment…"
Another voice, deeper, older—echoed from the shadows:
"Then wake the others. The Throne still lives."
Behind the wall… other fragments of the throne began to glow.
And in the deepest abyss… something far worse than Kael opened its many red eyes.
🔚 End of Chapter 81