The sky cracked open, and from the shattered heavens came a beast wrapped in violet flame.
Massive, winged, armored in black stone and molten bone, the Ruinwatcher descended like a meteor of fury. Four eyes burned with ancient judgment. Its claws dripped molten silver. And from its mouth came a roar that split the stone around Raen's feet.
[Boss Identified: Ruinwatcher — Class A+][Title: Guardian of the First Throne][Traits: Flame Immunity | Soul Piercing Roar | Judgment Wings][Warning: Soul resonance detected. Beast recognizes you.]
The system's voice vibrated with tension.
Raen didn't move.
The throne behind him hummed faintly, pulsing in time with the heartbeat in his chest. His name… etched into it. Not just any throne. The First Beast King's throne.
"Why is my name here?" Raen murmured.
The Jester Wyrm hovered beside him, unusually silent. "I thought I was the confusing one," it mumbled.
Hollowfang stepped forward, snarling low. Despair Maw's breath came out ragged, its aura pulsing with rising fear.
The Ruinwatcher landed with a tremor, folding its wings like blades around its sides.
Then—it spoke.
Not in words. Not in sound.
In memory.
A vision struck Raen's mind.
He saw… himself. Or someone who looked like him. Cloaked in black flame. Crowned in thorns. Sitting atop the same throne with beasts kneeling at his feet.
And above him—gods trembling.
Raen staggered.
[System Interruption: Partial Ancestral Echo Detected.][This Ruinwatcher does not guard the throne. It guards the truth.]
The beast's voice—deep, guttural, and cold—finally rumbled into sound.
"You wear the soul of a king… but carry none of his chains."
Raen stood tall. "Then test me."
The Ruinwatcher's wings flared open. The challenge was accepted.
The courtyard ignited in violet fire.
Raen dashed left, barely avoiding a column of flame that melted the stone where he'd stood. The heat scorched the air. The beast moved like a storm—massive but fast, wings slicing downward with the force of falling stars.
"Hollowfang—flank it! Despair Maw, suppress its back legs! Wyrm, confuse it—now!"
"Madness, confusion, incoming!" the Jester Wyrm declared, spinning midair and releasing a prismatic flash.
The Ruinwatcher roared, its mind briefly fractured.
Hollowfang blinked through shadow, slashing at the beast's right foreleg. Despair Maw surged forward, unleashing its Grief Pulse, staggering the Ruinwatcher as sadness flooded the battlefield.
But it recovered fast.
Its tail whipped around—slamming Hollowfang against a shattered column.
Raen charged in, his blade pulsing with chainlight, and slashed across the beast's exposed underbelly.
[Critical Strike: Vulnerable Point Hit.]
The Ruinwatcher bellowed—and the earth trembled.
Then it spread its wings again—this time glowing with Judgment Light.
The sky above turned white.
[Warning: Soul Judgment Imminent.][Effect: Each bonded beast faces its worst sin.]
Raen's eyes widened. "System, counter it—!"
Too late.
Hollowfang froze mid-step.
It saw visions of its dead kin—flames, howls, and a single pup reaching out before being consumed.
Despair Maw fell to the ground, shaking violently, repeating a child's voice—"Why didn't you come for me?"
Even the Jester Wyrm's laughter broke into sobs.
Raen's heart thundered. The weight of his beasts' pain was his pain now—connected by their bond.
He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
[Judgment sync at 83%...][System Advice: Sever bonds to protect yourself.]
"…No."
[Repeat: Severing bonds will preserve host.]
Raen looked up at the towering beast. "You're testing me, aren't you?"
The Ruinwatcher stood unmoving, its gaze locked with his.
"You want to know if I'll abandon them… the way the First King did."
He rose.
Slowly.
Shakily.
But with purpose.
"I won't," Raen said.
He stepped forward—chains erupting from his chest, glowing with a new color. Silver. Pure. Raw.
His will flowed through them.
To his beasts.
"Get up," he whispered.
Hollowfang stirred.
Despair Maw whimpered, then lifted its head.
The Jester Wyrm muttered, "...Takes more than divine flashbacks to kill my punchlines."
Raen roared, and all three beasts rose with him.
Together—they charged.
The final clash shook the ruins.
Hollowfang dashed through flame and shadow, biting into the Ruinwatcher's wing joint. Despair Maw latched onto its leg, flooding the ground with despair energy. The Jester Wyrm wrapped its body around the beast's throat, three heads spewing chaos in melody.
And Raen—
Raen leapt skyward, blade drawn, wrapped in every ounce of power from his bonded beasts.
He struck down.
The chainblade pierced the Ruinwatcher's core.
Light exploded.
Then silence.
When the dust cleared, Raen stood panting.
The Ruinwatcher's body faded—not into mist, but into dust and light, like ashes being released after a long wait.
A voice lingered in the air:
"You are not him. But perhaps… you will not fail as he did."
A single feather drifted down—glowing violet and silver.
[Boss Defeated: Ruinwatcher — Class A+][Reward Gained: Beast Fusion Catalyst (Rare)][Codex Update: Throneblood Trait Unlocked.]
Raen caught the feather.
The moment he did—his chainmark burned on his palm.
[Beast Fusion Slot Unlocked.][New Trait Revealed: Throneblood — Raen Tiberis carries a bloodline fragment of the First Beast King.]
Raen stared at the feather, then at his beasts.
They were bruised. Burned. But standing.
Just like him.
And somewhere deep in the Abyss… something ancient stirred.
Something that had waited for Raen to remember who he truly was.