Jayden stood alone in the shattered ruins of the eastern courtyard, the once-proud archways of Sector 5's Temple of Remnants now nothing but broken stone and scorched earth. Blood stained his gloves. Not all of it was his.
Shadow tendrils coiled around his arms like snakes caught in a silent storm. The air shimmered with residual power—his power—and at its core, something deeper stirred. Something ancient. Something alive.
> [Dominion Path: Qualified.] [A Throne stirs in the shadow of your will.]
The system prompt hit like a heartbeat echoing through his skull. Unlike the usual transparent interface, this message shimmered with unnatural weight, like it had carved itself into the space around him rather than simply being seen.
Jayden swallowed hard. "System," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "What does Dominion mean?"
The world seemed to hold its breath.
Then, with a flicker of spatial distortion, the air before him unraveled—unfolding into a black-and-silver grid of cascading data streams. Lines of glowing script spiraled outward like a galaxy collapsing inward. A new interface bloomed in front of him—sleek, darker, almost ceremonial.
> [Welcome to the Echobound Dominion Interface.] [Dominion is the extension of your will — a living construct shaped by your soul's resonance.] [It acts as battlefield, fortress, echo amplifier, and reality anchor.]
> [Status: Foundational Spark achieved.] [Would you like to initiate the Throne Rite?]
Jayden's breath caught. A throne. His own Dominion.
But there was no triumph in his chest. Only the weight of everything he'd lost.
He glanced behind him. Smoke curled from a collapsed section of the Temple. Somewhere in the debris, Rika lay unconscious—protected only by Elira's mental barriers. The remnants of their last battle with the Apex Vanguard were still fresh in his limbs.
Silas Marrow's broken body was gone now, absorbed into the earth like he'd never existed. But the memory of his sacrifice still clung to the shadows.
Jayden clenched his jaw. He had no mentors left.
"I can't keep bleeding for a power I don't understand," he muttered. "If I do this... I need control. Real control."
> [Acknowledged. Initiating Throne Rite. Please stand by.]
The sky cracked.
Literally—not metaphorically. The clouds above split like shattered glass, revealing a void filled with inverted stars and orbiting shadow orbs. Wind howled upward, not downward, and the gravity around Jayden reversed.
He was pulled—not just physically, but spiritually—into the darkness above.
---
System Realm – Core of the Throne Rite
Jayden opened his eyes within a space that defied geometry. There was no floor. No sky. Only floating stone circles layered like the rings of Saturn, each etched with glyphs that pulsed in sync with his heartbeat.
Floating between them were three cores, spheres of glowing emotion:
Wrath: Red-black flame swirling in constant agitation.
Regret: Blue-violet tears, endlessly looping.
Hope: Soft golden light, flickering with uncertainty.
> [Select your Core Echo. Your Dominion will be built around this anchor.]
Jayden approached Wrath first.
Memories surged: his first kill. The shadow berserk mode. The night he watched Silas die. The fury that had saved him—but nearly cost him Rika.
Then Regret: the moment he ran instead of fought. Letting Elira take the hit meant for him. The weight of failure pressed against his lungs.
He turned last to Hope. It was faint. A whisper of warmth. A moment on the rooftop with Rika. The way Enzo shielded him without hesitation. The way Elira said, "You're not broken. Just unfinished."
He reached for Hope.
> [Core Echo selected: HOPE. Sub-Echo Alignment: WRATH, REGRET.] [Constructing Dominion Frame.]
A pulse radiated outward. The glyph rings rotated rapidly. Pillars formed, then collapsed, then reformed again. The Dominion shaped itself from Jayden's own memories.
He saw the slums of Sector 5. The rooftop where he stood watch as a kid. The alley where he awakened. The cracked lenses of his first stolen goggles. The moment Rika smiled at him after their first victory. The throne took shape—not of gold, not of steel, but of remembrance and purpose.
> [Dominion Initialized.] [Throne Title: Shadow Sovereign.] [Realm Created: Shadowcall.]
> [Abilities Unlocked:] — Shadowcall Realm: Enter a personalized battlefield where Echo abilities are magnified, and time distortions favor you. — Dominion Anchor: Bind allies or enemies to your Realm for enhanced control or suppression.
---
Back in Reality
Jayden's eyes snapped open.
The ruins around him were no longer mundane. Vines of dark flame burst from the cracks in the earth, pulsing with energy. A false moon, purple and massive, hovered in the sky. Every shadow stood still, waiting for a command.
He had entered his own Dominion—and the rules had changed.
Rika stirred beside a broken column, her breathing shallow but steady. Her eyes fluttered open, blinking at the surreal landscape around her.
"Jayden?" she whispered. "What did you do...?"
"I made a world," he answered softly. "A world that listens to me."
But peace lasted only seconds.
> [Warning: Foreign Dominion Detected.] [Border breach imminent.]
A tear ripped through the fabric of reality ahead of him like a paper cut slicing through space. From the rift, a figure stepped forward.
Cloaked in jagged shadow armor, glowing with violet fire, stood Nyxorath—the godlike echo of Jayden's future, fully consumed by the Echobound System.
"So," Nyxorath said, voice echoing like wind through a mausoleum. "You finally built your throne. And yet... it still flickers with weakness."
Jayden stepped forward, his Dominion reacting to his will. Cloak rising, eyes glowing with three Echo marks across his neck.
"No," Jayden said. "It burns with hope. And that's something you lost long ago."
The Shadowcall Realm rumbled as the two Sovereigns faced one another.
> [Combat Lock: Dominion vs. Dominion] [Initiating Sovereign Clash Protocol.]