Just then...
The Obsidian Tower shuddered.
It's not the familiar tremor of drifting inertia nor the groan of a hull grinding against cosmic pressure.
This was a nudge.
Lucien's stone throat tightened. His borrowed lungs did not need air, yet the instinct to swallow remained.
Meanwhile, the gargoyle kings understood immediately.
Their kneeling bodies pressed lower.
"Ancestor," the lead Monster King said. "The one who bears the Emperor's mantle stands beyond the maw."
Another gargoyle spoke. "If our memory is true, he was your disciple. He was the first to hunger for your return."
A third added. "He has ascended. He is a Monster Emperor now. It was his will that led us through the void."
Lucien's spirit went cold.
A Monster Emperor.
Outside.
A single step away from the tower's entrance.
His disguise had fooled kings. It might not fool an emperor who knew the original voice, the original habits, and the original shape of silence.
