The Sovereign's Wrath didn't just sink; it groaned like a dying god as the black water claimed it. Standing on the tilting deck, I felt the fifth shard—the Shard of Truth—vibrating against my ribs. The "Iron Tide" was over, replaced by a terrifying, oily stillness.
Meera landed beside me, her azure robes tattered, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She looked at the sinking fleet, then at me. Her eyes widened, seeing the ring of saffron fire spinning behind my head.
"Ray... you look different," she whispered. "The way you're standing... you're not just a tamer or a beast anymore. You're a focal point."
"I'm a message," I replied, my voice carrying across the water without me even raising it. "Arjun wanted to see the Ashura. Now he's going to see the Requiem."
[System Notification] New Objective: Siege of Ashvamedha. Current Soul Resonance: 18. Army of the Damned: 1,200 (Tier 3-4 Necrotic Constructs under your command).
I raised my hand. From the depths of the Varuna Trench, the remains of the First Fleet's sailors and the Harpoon-Ghouls I had slaughtered began to rise. They weren't rotting corpses; they were infused with the violet aether of PatalLok, their eyes glowing with my own saffron light.
"To the Obsidian Spire," I commanded.
The Obsidian Spire: The Sovereign's Last Stand
Inside the capital, panic was a wildfire. The "Vajra Perimeter" had failed. The "First Fleet" was gone. The golden city of Ashvamedha, once thought to be the pinnacle of human cultivation, now lay beneath a sky that had turned a bruised, necrotic purple.
Arjun Pandit stood at the apex of the Spire. He had discarded his ceremonial robes, appearing now in a suit of golden plate armor forged from the scales of a Sun-Dragon. Beside him, his Celestial Wyrm let out a roar that shook the city's foundations.
"He thinks he can march on the seat of the Pandit bloodline?" Arjun snarled, his golden eyes burning. "He is a cub playing with matches in a house of stone."
"My Lord," the Librarian whispered, his eyes fixed on the horizon. "He isn't marching. He's... he's rewriting the geography."
Arjun looked. A wall of black water, miles wide and hundreds of feet high, was moving across the plains toward the city. Atop the wave stood Ray, a dark silhouette against the dying sun.
First Person POV: The Siege
The city's defense systems flared to life. Thousands of S-Rank tamers stood on the walls, their beasts—lions of flame, hawks of lightning—releasing a barrage of Dom energy. The sky was a chaotic tapestry of fire and light.
Internal Monologue: They still think this is a battle of tiers. They think if they hit me hard enough, I'll break. They don't realize I'm not the one fighting. PatalLok is.
"Meera, the Spire's base is protected by the Seventh Seal," I said, looking at the massive obsidian tower. "If we break it, Bali's physical form will begin to manifest. It'll level the city."
"Is that what you want?" she asked, her blue eyes searching mine. "To be the king of a graveyard?"
I looked at the common people in the streets below—the ones who weren't tamers, the ones Raghav had tried to protect. "I want the man on the throne. The rest is... collateral."
I leaped from the crest of the wave.
[Skill Activated: Ashura's Avatar - Descent]
I hit the city's main gate like a meteor. The shockwave leveled the guard towers instantly. I didn't use claws; I used the Will of the Underworld. With a wave of my hand, the shadows of the city's own buildings rose up, turning into spikes that impaled the defending beasts.
"Arjun!" I roared, the sound amplified by the five shards. "Come down and face the 'mistake' you made!"
Third Person POV: The Duel of Sovereigns
The Celestial Wyrm dived from the Spire, a streak of white lightning. Arjun sat atop its head, his golden dao glowing with the power of the sun.
"You dare speak my name, abomination?" Arjun screamed. He swung his blade, a crescent of golden energy cutting through the air, aimed directly at Ray's neck.
Ray didn't move. He caught the blade with his bare hand. The golden energy hissed against his obsidian skin, but it didn't cut.
"You call me an abomination," Ray said, his voice cold as the abyss. "But you're the one who built a throne on the bones of your own grandfather's soul."
Ray's shadow surged, forming a gargantuan, spectral version of his PatalLok Devourer form behind him. The shadow-claws clashed with the Wyrm's talons, a battle of titans that cracked the very Spire they fought beside.
First Person POV: The Sixth Shard
As we clashed, I felt a familiar pulse. It wasn't in my chest—it was in Arjun's armor.
[System Notification] Soul Shard Fragment (6/12) Detected: Embedded in the "Heart of Surya" (Arjun's Armor).
He's using a shard to power his own divinity.
"You stole it," I hissed, my necrotic energy flaring. "The Shard of Justice."
"I didn't steal it," Arjun laughed, his Wyrm biting into my spectral shoulder. "I inherited it. The Pandits are justice. You are nothing but the waste product of our evolution!"
He pushed the blade harder. The golden light began to burn through my palm. I could feel the Ashura's Breath faltering. Justice... it was a concept I hadn't felt in a long time.
If he has Justice, what do I have?
The voice of Bali whispered in the back of my mind: "You have the Requiem, boy. The song for those who were forgotten."
I stopped resisting. I let the golden blade sink into my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Arjun gasped, his eyes widening.
I grabbed his wrist, my eyes swirling with a violent, dark purple light. "I'm ending the song."
The Saffron Plane: The Final Note
Raghav Pandit's silhouette was nearly gone. He stood in a world of grey ash, watching the fight.
"The sixth shard is the turning point," Raghav whispered. "If Ray takes it, the balance of the Dominion shifts. PatalLok will no longer be 'below.' It will be 'everywhere.'"
Raghav looked at a seventh shard—the one he held in his own fading hand. "The Shard of Sacrifice. It's the only thing that can stop him now. But am I willing to kill my own heir to save a broken world?"
First Person POV: The Shattering
I ripped the Heart of Surya out of Arjun's chest plate. The sixth shard, a brilliant white crystal, pulsed once before turning pitch black in my hand.
[System Notification] Soul Shard Fragment (6/12) Acquired. Synchronization: 50%. Evolution Path Updated: The Harbinger of the Requiem.
Arjun fell. Without the shard, his golden armor turned to lead. His Celestial Wyrm let out a final, piteous cry and dissolved into golden dust. The High Sovereign of the Dominion lay at my feet, a man defeated by the very power he tried to harness.
"Finish it," Arjun rasped, his eyes filled with a mixture of hate and awe.
I looked at him. I looked at the city burning around us. I looked at Meera, who was watching me with a expression I couldn't read—fear, or hope?
"No," I said. "Death is too easy for a king."
I raised the sixth shard. "I'm going to show you the truth you've been hiding."
As I spoke, the ground beneath the Obsidian Spire gave way. The seventh seal didn't just break; it evaporated. A pillar of pure, black energy erupted from the hole, swallowing the Spire, the city, and the sky.
PatalLok was no longer a gateway. It was the destination.