The figure stepped into the light—and the air shifted.
His cloak was dark as coal smoke, his mask etched with symbols Isabella had only seen in the forbidden tomes hidden in Voss's vaults. But it was the aura around him that froze them all in place.
It wasn't just power.
It was familiarity.
Cassia's breath caught in her throat. "No… it can't be."
The man removed his mask.
And the world stopped.
He had Voss's eyes.
But younger. Sharper. And crueler.
"I am Caelen Voss," he said. "Born of the Prime Core. Son of the true line. The first heir, hidden beneath the frost, where even death could not reach me."
Isabella's heart pounded in her ears. "You were just a story. A rumor."
"No," Caelen said. "I was a contingency."
Shade stepped forward, shadows bristling at her back. "You're a relic."
"I am the origin," he replied, voice calm. "And now, with the Crownroot awakened, I will rewrite the bloodlines. All flawed empires will fall. And a new age will begin—with me seated on the throne that my father was too weak to claim."
He gestured toward the throne of fused bone and light. As he did, the structure groaned—and responded.
The root pulsed brighter, casting golden veins across the floor and walls. The chamber came alive with movement, gears churning beneath the surface, ancient programs awakening from their slumber.
"We'll never follow you," Isabella said.
"You won't need to," Caelen said with a thin smile. "You'll become me."
A blast of force erupted from him—Isabella, Shade, Cassia, and the others were thrown back as the Crownroot flared. Symbols swirled around them, drawing blood from their skin in glowing lines.
"It recognizes your blood," Caelen whispered. "You're not here to stop me. You're here to complete me."
The Split
Shade forced herself to her feet, blood trailing from her temple. "I won't be anyone's weapon again. Not yours. Not his."
"Then you'll die," Caelen said simply.
Isabella rose beside her. "Not today."
Together, they reached for each other—and in that moment, their power synchronized. The runes on their skin pulsed in unison. The Crownroot's energy fluctuated, confused.
Caelen stepped back, frowning. "What is this?"
"A bond," Cassia whispered, her hands glowing with old magic. "A mother's last defiance."
Energy exploded between the sisters—gold and black, light and shadow, fire and frost. The chamber screamed.
Caelen raised his hands, summoning the Crownroot's might, but this time—it hesitated.
Because in the clash of kings and monsters… the world had never seen sisters rise.
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To be continued in Chapter 128…