The shattered heavens wept golden rain.
The ruins of the Academy smoked and crackled under the weight of forces mortals were never meant to witness.
And at the eye of the storm, Kai Arashi floated — bloodied, battered, but unbroken.
The Catalyst hovered across from him, their expression finally shifting from amusement to caution.
The world tilted.
The Systems of every surviving student flickered and died, unable to withstand the pressure flooding out from the two titans.
Inside Kai's mind,
the Abyss Copy System screamed warnings:
[WARNING: Host integrity at 13%. Overload imminent.]
[Initiating final protocol: Abyssal Crown Awakening.]
Kai's vision blurred.
The world dissolved into darkness — not the cold, devouring darkness he once feared,
but a deep, ancient warmth, like the quiet between heartbeats.
In that endless black, a voice spoke.
Not the voice of the Abyss.
Not the whisper of temptation.
His own voice.
"You are not their monster."
"You are not their weapon."
"You are you."
And with that, the darkness began to ignite — stars of black fire blooming across the void.
When Kai opened his eyes again,
he wasn't the boy who had once crawled through the gutters of a broken academy.
He wasn't even Asura, the Demon of the Abyss.
He was something new.
The first true King of the Abyss.
A crown — jagged, ethereal, made of shadow and flame — hovered above his head.
Black armor, trimmed with veins of burning crimson, formed around his body.
His right hand pulsed with the stolen, fused powers of every Sigil he had ever absorbed —
but now they flowed through him without tearing him apart.
They were part of him.
As natural as breathing.
The Abyssal Crown gleamed.
Not a crown of conquest.
Not a crown of tyranny.
A crown of choice.
Of defiance.
Of freedom.
Across the battlefield, the Catalyst flinched — a visible shudder passing through their perfect form.
For the first time since they had emerged from the ruins of the Third Sigil…
They felt fear.
Kai's voice carried across the ruined courtyard, steady and strong:
"You wanted a king?"
"You wanted someone to rule over a broken world?"
"Then kneel."
The Catalyst bared their teeth, summoning twin swords of searing light and abyssal flame.
The battle was not over.
It had only just begun.
The Abyssal Crown burned brighter,
casting shadows so deep they tore holes in the fabric of reality itself.
And the final war for the soul of the world ignited.