Chapter 14: The Throne of Ruin
Rayden stepped toward the Core.
The throne pulsed with ancient power, each flicker of red lightning slicing through his skin like whispers from a thousand mad gods. The Berserk Core hovered inches above the obsidian seat, twisting in shape—sometimes a heart, sometimes an eye, sometimes something unnameable. His own System stirred within him, not guiding, but watching.
[Warning: You are approaching an unstable System Core.]
[Touching it will begin irreversible synchronization.]
[Proceed at your own risk.]
He didn't hesitate.
His hand closed around the Core.
A scream—his own—ripped through the vault.
It felt like every part of him was being torn and rewritten at the same time. His memories were ripped open. The pain of rejection, the laughter of the other teens at the ceremony, the crushing silence in his mother's eyes—they all came flooding back, then bled into something darker.
He saw images. Not memories—futures.
Rayden, wreathed in black flame, marching across a battlefield littered with corpses. A kingdom on its knees. A tower of bones. A red sun. And always, the voice: "You are mine now."
Then—silence.
He collapsed to the ground, gasping, the Core burned into his chest like a brand.
[System Update: Core Assimilation Complete]
[New Skill Acquired – System Dominion (Lv. 0)]
[Sub-System Unlocked: Madness Threading]
[System Corruption: 13%]
The skeletal figure on the throne began to crumble. The First was finally fading. His last words were barely a breath.
"Rewrite the world… or burn with it."
The vault cracked.
Lightning arced between the walls. The runes along the pillars shattered. Rayden sprinted toward the staircase as the chamber collapsed behind him. Dust and fire chased him upward, but he reached the surface just as the temple split in two and buried the entrance beneath tons of stone.
He collapsed on the grass outside, staring at the sky.
His chest still burned with the mark of the Core. Something had changed—not just in his body, but in the System itself. It no longer whispered.
Now… it listened.
He sat up.
In the distance, something stirred. Black birds circling a village. Screams on the wind. A shadow moving faster than human eyes could follow.
A new threat. Or a test?
[New Side Quest: Hunt of the Pale King]
Objective: Investigate the anomaly at Duskvale Village.
Reward: Unknown.
Rayden stood, gripping his sword.
One path had ended. Another had begun.
He walked toward the screams.