The throne pulsed beneath me, steady and alive.
The Abyss World bent to my will, a living reflection of my existence — vast rivers of light, towering obsidian mountains, endless skies stitched with stars.
And yet, despite the unimaginable power now coiled within my veins, the first thing I felt was...
her.
Kneeling at the foot of the staircase, head bowed low, was Velra.
No longer the girl who had first followed me into the unknown.
She had changed — beautifully, terribly — across the endless passage of unseen years.
Her hair, once a bright crimson banner, had darkened to a deeper, richer hue, like blood wrapped in flame. Her figure had sharpened, honed by battle and loneliness, but her eyes — when they lifted to meet mine — still burned with that same unwavering devotion.
"My King," she whispered, voice raw from years of waiting. "You're awake."
I blinked, my mind sharpening.
Something gnawed at the edge of my senses.
"...Velra," I said quietly, my voice echoing through the empty cathedral of the Abyss. "How long...?"
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
Tears gathered at the edges of her vision, but she refused to let them fall.She was stronger now. Hardened.
"Five years," she said, the words barely a breath. "I waited. Here. Always."
Five years.
Five years, while I slumbered atop this Throne, cocooned in awakening power.Five years alone in the Abyss, with nothing but the endless dark, the breathing world, and her unbroken oath.
I rose from the throne, the abyssal light casting long shadows down the staircase.
Each step I took toward her seemed to echo across those missing years.
When I reached her, Velra bowed even lower, forehead nearly pressed to the cold black stone.
"My King," she murmured. "I am yours. Forever. Even if you never—"
"Velra."
Her name, spoken aloud, silenced her instantly.
I knelt.
Not as a king descending to his subject.
As a man reaching for the one who never stopped believing in him.
I lifted her chin gently with my fingers. Her skin was warm. Alive.Trembling, as if even now she thought it might be a dream.
Five years.
Five years of loneliness, of waiting, of loyalty without expectation.
Her eyes — sharp, vibrant, and deep as the Abyss itself — locked onto mine.
"I remember," I said softly, "everything you gave me."
She gasped — a small, broken sound — and before she could pull away or fall apart, I pulled her into my arms.
Velra stiffened at first, unused to the touch after so long... then melted against me, arms wrapping tight around my chest, clinging like she never wanted to let go.
And for the first time, I did not merely accept her devotion.
I returned it.
Slowly. Carefully. Completely.
My hand threaded through her crimson hair. My other hand pressed against her back, feeling the life she had stubbornly protected in my absence.
"You waited," I whispered into her hair. "You never gave up."
"Never," she choked, voice breaking. "Never."
We stayed like that for a long time — a king and his knight, a man and his first true believer — wrapped in the soft breathing silence of the Abyss.
And as I held her, something shifted inside me.
Not power.
Not duty.
Something more.
Something that had survived the void, the trials, the endless loneliness of the Abyss.
Something called love.
And it was hers.
Forever.
[System Update!][Velra's Loyalty: Absolute → Eternal Bond Formed.][New Trait Unlocked: King's Covenant — Those who bind their hearts to the Abyss King gain accelerated growth and partial immunity to corruption.][Velra Status: Abyss Knight (First Oathbearer)][Affection: Boundless.][Love: Eternal.]
As we finally separated, I smiled — a true smile — and rested my forehead against hers.
"Come, Velra," I said. "We have a kingdom to build."
The Abyss shuddered, alive and eager.
And together, we would carve our legend across the world.