The throne was a ruin.
Once tall and proud, it now stood broken beneath the open sky, half-buried in ash and stone. Twisted pillars leaned like old bones, and the air still shimmered with the scent of fire and blood.
Alecto leaned against a shattered wall, watching me.
"You're really going to sit on that thing?"
I didn't answer right away. My body still ached from the Sovereign Trial. The Core's power was calm now, sleeping under my skin like a beast in hibernation.
I stepped closer to the throne and ran my fingers along the blackened stone.
It was warm.
Not from the sun—but from something else.
A spark.
A presence.
Almost like it wanted me here.
"She said this place was sacred," I murmured.
Alecto raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
"I don't remember. Just a voice I heard… during the bonding."
She didn't push. Probably because she didn't fully trust me yet—or maybe because I didn't fully trust myself.
I sat down.
The world didn't change. No flash of light. No new power.
But something deep inside me clicked into place.
Like I was finally where I belonged.
System Notice:
Ashborne Core Node – Linked
Domain Authority: 4%
New Feature Unlocked: Throne Command (Basic)
Skill Gained:
Ashborne Directive – "Echo of Will"
Issue simple commands to structures or constructs within territory
Range: 500 meters
Effect: Rudimentary restoration, defense triggers, energy pulses
"Whoa," I muttered.
"What?" Alecto asked.
"The ruins… they listened."
---
I stood up and raised a hand.
"Echo of Will: Rise."
The ground trembled.
At first, nothing. Then a low groan echoed across the ash plains. Pillars shifted. Stones rolled. Walls pulled themselves upward, piece by piece.
Dust billowed. Crows scattered.
From ruin came the shape of something new.
It wasn't perfect—not yet. But the outer walls of the fortress were rebuilding themselves.
"You've got to be kidding," Alecto whispered.
I grinned. "Welcome to the kingdom."
---
Over the next three days, we worked nonstop.
Well, I worked. Alecto mostly complained, sparred with shadows, and kept guard while I figured out how to use my new Domain.
The fortress—once just bones—was slowly turning into a living structure again. The Echo of Will could command the walls, light the old torches, even open or seal gates with a word.
Most importantly: it could protect.
System Update:
Ashborne Domain – Progress 9%
Current Defenses:
Wall Integrity (Partial)
Flame Traps (Manual Trigger)
Shadow Net (Unstable)
Population: 2
"Two," I laughed dryly. "What a kingdom."
Alecto tilted her head. "You're insane."
"You joined me."
"Didn't say I wasn't."
---
On the fourth day, the storm came.
It wasn't rain or thunder.
It was people.
Or monsters.
Or both.
The sky turned red around noon, and a dark wave of figures marched across the horizon.
Dozens of them—armored beasts, winged horrors, even a few walking machines.
All bearing one mark:
A red chain wrapped around a black flame.
Alecto's face went pale.
"The Scorchbind."
"You know them?"
"They're a mercenary faction… former Sovereign servants. They sell destruction for favor—and they hate anyone who wins a Core."
I stepped up onto the half-built wall.
The enemy stopped a hundred meters out.
One figure stepped forward.
A woman—barefoot, bald, and covered in chains that floated off her skin.
Her voice rang out unnaturally, like it echoed from a canyon.
"Surrender the Ash Core, half-breed. We'll make your death quicker."
I glanced at Alecto.
She looked worried for once.
I smiled.
"You can't have it," I called. "But you can try."
The woman raised a hand.
The army charged.
---
The walls roared.
Flame traps ignited.
I triggered everything we had—Echo of Will, fire, shadow, even basic pulse bursts—but there were too many.
They kept coming. Climbing. Flying. Screaming.
Alecto leapt into the fray like a whirlwind, blades glowing with sound energy. She cut through them like water, but they didn't stop.
One of the flying machines swooped toward me—too fast.
I raised the Sin Blade just in time and cleaved it in half, but its explosion knocked me off the wall.
I hit the ground hard.
Vision blurred.
Voices ringing.
And through the chaos, I saw her—the chain-woman, walking calmly through the fire.
Toward the throne.
"Get up," I growled to myself.
The Core inside me pulsed.
I called out.
"Echo of Will: Lockdown."
The gates slammed shut. The earth cracked.
The last standing towers pulled themselves upright.
She ignored it all.
I ran to intercept her, flames bursting from my feet.
But I was too slow.
She reached the throne and raised a black blade.
"Unworthy," she hissed.
Then stabbed the seat.
The stone shattered.
So did the sky.
Everything froze.
Time stopped.
---
And in the silence… something stirred beneath Ashborne.
Something ancient.
A growl.
No—a roar.
A voice that shook the bones of the earth.
You dare touch my throne?
The air burned.
Light exploded from the ruins.
Everyone was thrown back—Scorchbind, Alecto, even me.
Out from the broken ground came a massive claw.
Then a horned skull.
Then wings of ash.
A creature of pure flame and fury, bigger than any beast I'd seen.
A dragon?
No.
Not quite.
It looked straight at me.
Then spoke again—inside my mind.
You carry the Flame. Then you are my Sovereign.
Command me.