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/-\
Ashborn's voice followed him out of the void.
Not clearly.
"…remember this…" he said, his words stretching thin, dissolving like smoke caught in wind. "…what you carry now is not power alone.."
Arthur tried to focus.
"What?" he muttered, the sound barely forming. "Say that again.."
The voice faded further, distant now, like thunder heard from another world.
"…it will remember you… we shall talk one last time when you..."
Then
Silence.
Arthur's eyes snapped open.
He lay on his back among the roots of the World Tree, ancient bark pressing cold and uneven beneath him. For a moment, he didn't move, lungs dragging in air like it was something new.
His vision sharpened slowly.
Violet light burned faintly at the edges.
He turned his head.
Nidhogg lay nearby.
Dead.
Truly dead.
The last remaining head was twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes dull, scales cracked and lifeless. No aura. No pressure. No gravity warping the air anymore.
Just a corpse.
Arthur swallowed.
"…So it wasn't a dream.. I really did fight this thing."
He rolled to his side, groaning softly as pain flared but it didn't overwhelm him this time. He pushed himself up, legs trembling, then stood.
Barely.
His clothes were torn to rags, soaked in blood and things he couldn't name. His body ached in places he didn't even have words for. But beneath the damage, something had changed.
He was still weak.
But not empty.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair, fingers shaking slightly.
"What did he say in the end…?" he muttered.
The words were gone slipped through his grasp like water.
He exhaled and straightened.
"…Later."
His gaze lifted, violet eyes glowing more steadily now.
"I need to get to the altar now."
He began to walk, moving deeper into the roots, something strange happened.
He didn't hesitate. didn't search or question his direction.
He simply knew where to go.
Arthur frowned slightly as the realization settled in.
"…It's not another level," he murmured. "No teleport. No gate."
He stopped briefly, looking around at the endless lattice of roots surrounding him.
"For some reason," he continued quietly, "I know exactly where to go."
The thought unsettled him.
He shook his head once, as if trying to clear it.
"…Like I've been here before, long ago."
A few more steps.
Then he slowed.
"…No," he corrected himself softly. "Long doesn't do it justice."
His eyes narrowed.
"It feels like lifetimes ago."
The roots opened ahead of him.
Parted, revealing something.
And there it stood.
A massive ornate door, embedded deep within the heart of the World Tree itself. Its surface was carved from ancient stone and living bark fused together, etched with engravings that seemed to shift subtly when he looked at them too long.
Eight symbols were carved into the door.
Eight marks.
As Arthur approached, one of them dark and familiar for some reason.
Violet light pulsed softly from it, answering him.
Arthur stopped in front of the door, staring.
"…Eight symbols," he said under his breath.
A breath later.
"For eight Monarchs."
The glowing symbol flared brighter.
The door responded.
With a deep, resonant sound that echoed through the roots and beyond, the massive structure began to open stone grinding against stone, ancient mechanisms awakening after epochs of silence.
Arthur stood tall despite the pain, violet eyes fixed forward.
He stepped forward as the door opened fully.
And the door closed behind Arthur with a sound like a mountain settling into place.
there was only darkness.
Then
Fire.
One by one, massive torches ignited along the walls, their flames burning not orange but a deep, ancient violet mixed with blue. The light rolled outward in waves, revealing a hall so vast it made the depths of the World Tree feel cramped by comparison.
Arthur stopped at the threshold.
"…Wow, didn't expect this." he murmured.
The chamber was cathedral-like, carved from ancient stone, rock veined with faintly glowing writing. The ceiling stretched impossibly high, lost in shadow, supported by colossal pillars etched with histories no normal being could read.
Along the walls stood eight gigantic statues.
Each one towered dozens of meters high, carved from the same stone. Their faces were stern, alien, regal beings that were not mere beings, but concepts given form. Monarchs.
Between them stood other statues, still enormous compared to Arthur, though smaller than the eight figures holding instruments, blades, chains, and sigils. Not Monarchs themselves, but executors, heralds, remnants of an older order.
Arthur slowly turned in place, taking it all in.
"…The Monarchs," he said quietly. "That much is clear."
One statue caught his attention immediately.
Not because it was larger but because it was familiar.
At the center of the eight stood a figure split cleanly down the middle.
The right half was unmistakable.
A Shadow Knight, that armor sculpted, jagged yet regal, cape flowing. Violet light burned faintly from carved eyes. A king of shadows, unmistakable and absolute.
The left half
Was something he didn't expect.
Three radiant wings spread behind it, stone feathers carved with incredible detail. In its hand rested a long spear, elegant and terrible, its tip pointed downward in solemn restraint rather than threat.
Shadow and light.
Monarch and Ruler.
Death and authority, united in a single figure.
Arthur felt his chest tighten.
He didn't need to say it.
"Ashborn," he said softly.
The name echoed, not aloud, but within the hall, as if the stone itself acknowledged it.
At the center of the chamber lay the altar.
It was circular, raised slightly above the floor, carved with concentric rings of symbols that pulsed faintly as Arthur approached. At its heart rested a stone slab, smooth and ancient, with a message carved deep into its surface.
The System chimed.
[SACRIFICIAL ALTAR]
A rite predating the Gods.
Description:
All candidates who reach this place must abandon the self they were.
To inherit Primordial Darkness is to sever mortality, hesitation, and limitation.
Only those who surrender what they are may become vessels for what they must be.
Lie down. Be unmade. Claim Destiny or let it claim you.
Arthur stared at the words.
He let out a quiet breath.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "I never enjoyed this kind of messages anyways.."
He stepped onto the altar without hesitation and lay back against the cold stone, arms spreading slightly at his sides. The surface felt unnervingly warm.
Arthur stared up at the dark endless ceiling, violet eyes calm despite everything.
"I know where this is going," he said evenly.
"C'mon. Deal the final blow."
The moment his back fully touched the altar
The chamber changed.
The statues began to sing.
Not with mouths but with resonance.
A deep, layered choral sound filled the hall, voices overlapping in a language older than fear itself. Ominous and majestic, mournful and triumphant all at once. The sound vibrated through Arthur's bones, through his shadows, through something deeper still.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"…Hopefully they are not singing for my funeral," he muttered.
He didn't move.
Just stared upward, as if this were another grim inconvenience in an already absurd day.
Then
Stone moved.
Arthur's gaze snapped forward.
The statue of Ashborn lit up.
Violet light flooded its eyes, then traced along the divide between shadow and light. Stone cracked deliberately as the figure stepped forward.
One foot.
Then another.
The sound shook the hall.
The statue descended from its pedestal, spear in hand, wings of stone and shadow casting long, converging silhouettes across the altar.
The singing rose higher.
Arthur watched it happen.
As the statue of Ashborn advanced, the air around Arthur ignited not with heat, but with shadow. Darkness poured over him like black fire, licking across his body, coiling around his limbs, flooding his chest and throat.
It felt alive.
Hungry.
And yet
It did not burn.
It did not harm him.
It recognized him.
Arthur lay there, breath slow, violet eyes reflecting the towering figure above him as the shadows wrapped tighter, heavier, until his body was half-submerged in living night.
The singing of the statues deepened, voices overlapping into something almost mournful now. The chamber trembled not violently, but as if acknowledging an old rite.
Ashborn stopped at the altar.
Up close, the statue was overwhelming. One half shadow-knight, jagged and absolute. The other half radiant Angelic ruler, wings spread in eternal restraint, spear held not like a weapon, but like a verdict.
The statue raised the spear.
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"…This is going to be painful." he whispered.
The spear came down.
Fast and deadly.
It pierced straight through Arthur's chest.
The impact was devastating.
Stone and authority drove through flesh and bone alike, shattering ribs, pulverizing his sternum, punching clean through his heart. The force of it lifted his body slightly off the altar before pinning him back down.
Arthur gasped.
Blood exploded from his mouth in a violent spray, splattering across the altar's runes. His eyes flew wide, breathing wasn't an option anymore, as pain pure, absolute consumed everything.
He tried to move.
Nothing answered.
His limbs were dead weight. His shadows froze mid-flicker. The world narrowed to the spear embedded in his chest and the overwhelming pressure crushing his existence inward.
Arthur's jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth.
"…Is… this..." he tried to say.
The words died unfinished.
His vision blurred violently, violet light dimming, edges dissolving into darkness. He couldn't tell anymore, whether he was slipping into unconsciousness…
…or into death.
The statue pulled the spear free.
Arthur's body convulsed once, blood pouring freely from the ruin in his chest. Sound faded. The singing distorted, voices stretching into something distant and warped.
The statue of Ashborn turned away.
Without ceremony or hesitation.
The statue walked back toward its place among the Monarchs, footsteps heavy and final.
Arthur lay broken on the altar.
His last clear thought drifted weakly through the void.
Darkness took him.
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want